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Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala

Action plan – Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, 2025 – 2027

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Action plan – Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, 2025 – 2027

Action Plan Submission: 2025
Action Plan End: November 2027

Lead Institution: Open Government Directorate

Description

Duration

Jan 2028

Date Submitted

26th May 2025

Foreword(s)

The Municipal Open Government Action Plan aims to become a milestone in local public management, not only in the municipality of Antigua Guatemala but also as a model at the national level. This plan seeks to create effective spaces for citizens to actively participate not only in the co-creation of innovative solutions to the municipality’s challenges but also in the decision-making processes, thus promoting a more inclusive, transparent, and collaborative form of governance.

Additionally, one of the plan’s strategic pillars is the strengthening of an open government community at the local level. This involves the consolidation of a network of diverse actors — including citizens, civil society, the private sector, and government — committed to developing proposals that contribute to the municipality’s sustainable development, through practices grounded in transparency, accountability, and citizen participation.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

Antigua Guatemala faces key challenges in advancing open government, including limited institutional capacity, low levels of civic engagement, and gaps in digital accessibility. Additionally, there is a need to build greater trust between the municipality and citizens through more transparent and participatory processes.

Despite these challenges, there are valuable opportunities. The municipality has shown strong political will, and local actors (such as youth, civil society, and academia) are increasingly willing to engage in co-creation processes. Recent efforts to improve digital infrastructure and foster inclusive dialogue have created a favorable environment for innovation and collaboration.

The strategic vision for this action plan is to position open government as a core governance principle in Antigua Guatemala, through three priorities:

  1. Strengthening transparency and access to public information;

  2. Expanding inclusive participation and co-creation mechanisms;

  3. Encouraging innovation through civic technology and community engagement.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

Since the beginning of the current administration, several initiatives have been launched in alignment with the core principles of open government, aiming to strengthen transparency, citizen participation, and institutional collaboration.

Firstly, the Open Government Commission was established by resolution of the Municipal Council. This body is responsible for promoting and institutionalizing open governance practices within the municipality. Additionally, the Municipal Open Government Directorate was formally incorporated into the municipal organizational structure as the technical unit in charge of coordinating related efforts.

In terms of transparency, digital transparency dashboards were developed to present budgetary information—including revenues, expenditures, and procurement processes—in a clear, accessible, and user-friendly manner, ensuring public access to key data.

To enhance citizen participation, the Municipal Camps initiative was implemented. These are community outreach events in which the municipal leadership team, including the Mayor, travels to specific villages to engage directly with residents, listen to their concerns, and channel their needs to the relevant departments.

Furthermore, Sectoral Dialogues were introduced. These are structured meetings between the Mayor and representatives of specific citizen groups and private sector actors to address key topics and develop collaborative solutions.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

Antigua Guatemala faces deeply rooted challenges in its governance structure and local political culture. For decades, the institutional model operated under a vertical and closed logic, lacking defined mechanisms or genuine spaces for direct citizen engagement. The absence of specialized channels to implement open government principles highlighted the need to build new institutional bodies and tools from scratch to advance toward a more transparent, participatory, and collaborative administration.

Furthermore, the political culture is characterized by a critical citizenry with low levels of active participation in public affairs. This paradox stems from a history of political exclusion and repression that has limited the full exercise of civic rights in Guatemala. For a long time, the political system perpetuated practices that discouraged citizen participation, generating mistrust in institutions and weakening democratic fabric. Overcoming this legacy requires not only opening spaces but also building trust, empowering social actors, and ensuring conditions for inclusive and sustained participation.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

The municipal government’s medium-term open government goals focus on institutionalizing transparency, expanding inclusive citizen participation, and strengthening collaboration with civil society and the private sector. This includes improving access to public information, promoting co-creation, using digital tools for engagement, and building internal capacity to ensure these practices endure beyond the current administration. The aim is to build a more transparent, inclusive, and responsive local government.

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

This action plan contributes to the Open Government Strategic Vision by addressing key local challenges such as low citizen participation and limited institutional capacity, through concrete commitments aimed at strengthening transparency, fostering inclusive participation, and promoting innovation. It builds on existing political will and growing civic engagement to establish open government as a central pillar of public management in Antigua Guatemala.

Furthermore, the city aims to become a national benchmark by developing a replicable model of open governance, positioning Antigua Guatemala as a leader in this field.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

The Municipal Open Government Action Plan aims to create and strengthen effective political participation spaces, enabling citizens not only to identify and propose innovative solutions to local problems but also to actively engage in government decision-making processes. This plan promotes a continuous and transparent social auditing approach, ensuring that the residents of Antigua Guatemala have real and ongoing access to monitoring and evaluating municipal actions.

More than just a tool, this Action Plan represents a strategic starting point to transform public management in the municipality by establishing a culture of openness, collaboration, and shared responsibility between government and civil society. This lays the foundation for more inclusive, participatory, and efficient governance that responds to the community’s real needs and strengthens citizens’ trust in institutions.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

  • Open Government Directorate

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

Antigua Guatemala took a historic step by creating the first Open Government Municipal Council Commission, demonstrating a strong institutional commitment to transparency, citizen participation, and accountability. As part of this process, the creation of an Open Government Directorate was included in the Manual of Organization and Functions (MOF), reinforcing its institutionalization. This new directorate is also incorporated into the Institutional Strategic Plan, ensuring alignment with the municipality’s medium- and long-term objectives. Lastly, an SNIP project was developed to strengthen open government efforts, securing the necessary resources and tools for effective implementation.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

Fifteen citizen consultation forums were held across various sectors of Antigua Guatemala, including territorial communities, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, and auxiliary municipalities. The purpose was for citizens, through a participatory methodology, to identify and prioritize the most pressing issues to address. Approximately 500 people attended these forums.

Additionally, an Open Government Committee was established—a multi-stakeholder forum equally composed of citizen representatives and municipal technical staff. This committee is responsible for monitoring the co-creation process and approving the commitments.

Furthermore, four thematic working groups were convened based on the topics prioritized during the citizen consultation forums. These groups addressed key issues such as mobility and transportation, environmental management, water management, and security. Around 80 specialized actors participated, collaboratively developing the corresponding commitments.

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

Each citizen consultation forum was held in different locations and territories, prioritizing the villages, with the aim of directly hearing marginalized communities and including their voices in the design of public solutions. Additionally, efforts were made to ensure that the Open Government Committee had a gender-balanced composition, with 6 women among its 12 members.

Who participated in these spaces?

Citizens, Civil Society Organizations, Territorial Organizations, Business Sector, Academia, Community Development Councils (COCODES), Auxiliary Mayors.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

35

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation process?

19

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

Each commitment included in the Open Government Action Plan has a specific co-creation component aimed at ensuring active citizen participation in its design and development. To achieve this, the municipality will use the database collected from the citizen consultation forums, thematic roundtables, and the open government community to convene key stakeholders and interested citizens for targeted co-creation workshops.

The Open Government Directorate will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing this process, including planning the calls for participation, developing participatory methodologies, and providing technical follow-up for the workshops. This approach aims to ensure that public policies reflect the real needs of the population and strengthen the legitimacy of the open government process in Antigua Guatemala.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) expressed strong interest in serving as the Independent Monitoring Body, as it is currently promoting open government models through both advocacy and academic research, actively integrating them into its institutional projects.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

Periodic reports on the progress of the Open Government Action Plan will be produced and shared through the established open government community network, the official website, which includes visual tools to display the progress of each commitment, and the municipality’s official social media channels.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

The Open Government Directorate is not only responsible for guiding the development of each commitment but also for auditing its compliance. To achieve this, regular and ongoing meetings will be held to assess the progress, results, and challenges faced by each municipal department involved.

Since this is a priority established by the mayor and the municipal council, all departments are obligated to meet the deadlines set within the milestones defined for each commitment.

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

The progress and results of each commitment will be published through newsletters shared via the open government community, the official website, and institutional social media channels. Additionally, a communication campaign will be planned that includes the distribution of printed materials throughout the various communities.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

  • Annelisse Escobar, coordinator, Diálogos Guatemala
  • Mariana Rohrmoser, coordinator, Frente Ciudadano Contra la Corrupción
  • Norma Bajan, coordinator, El Directorio de ONGS Guatemala
  • Engel Tally, Researcher, FLACSO
Filed under: Action Plan Government

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