Action plan – Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, 2022 – 2023

At-a-Glance

Duration

Dec 2023

Date Submitted

29th November 2022

Foreword(s)

The Open Government commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... of the District of Cartagena Mayor’s Office is focused on generating trust in its citizens, based on the fight against corruption and the development of inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More and citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More processes.

It is important for the Salvemos Juntos a Cartagena Government Administration to face the challenges of the city, which is why it is essential to have a direct and permanent dialogue that allows us to establish collaboration networks and build the city, as well as inform citizens about the processes implemented.

Tools are developed for these purposes which allow establishing direct communication with citizens, so they know the actions carried out and so the government is aware of the needs and can make the proper decisions. With this, we strive to consolidate Cartagena, as a foreground that champions the fight against corruption, through transparent, participatory, and collaborative processes that promote co-responsibility among its different actors.

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?

The long-term vision of the current Administration, the Salvemos Juntos a Cartagena government, consists of generating transformation in management through more transparent processes that allow for strengthening the trust of citizens towards the institutions and increasing citizen participation in public matters.

Transparency and access to information are pillars to build trust that allow the design and co-creation of innovative instruments/tools with a high percentage of impact in local government, where the citizen is a central part of the public sphere.

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

Initiatives of the Salvemos Juntos a Cartagena administration:

• QR codes

As a tool for public information access, QR codes were implemented on the billboards of public works that are built in all sectors of the city. This code can be scanned by any citizen who is interested in knowing the contractual information of the worksite and allows them to follow up on it, as well as to communicate any irregularities that they may identify regarding these.

• Let’s talk transparently

To generate a dialogue between institutions and citizens, a strategy called Let’s Talk with Transparency was opened, a stage that encourages an open, direct conversation facing the city with regard to the problems that affect its development.

This space was created to consolidate a shared vision of the city alongside district management, with the aim of putting the needs of society on the agenda.

• Transparency Fair

A strategy that allows citizens to know how public resources are invested, directly exposing the current hiring plans of the office of the District Mayor of Cartagena.

• Virtual channels for receiving complaints of possible acts of corruption.

Two virtual channels were implemented for citizens to file their complaints of alleged acts of corruption, directly or anonymously:  https://www.cartagena.gov.co/denuncia y transparenciayanticorrupcion@cartagena.gov.co

• Open Government Platforms

Open Management  and Open ContractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More

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

One of the great challenges in terms of open government is to generate appropriation and use of the tools that are designed, both within the entity and by its citizens. The challenges that this represents translate into the use of ICTs to implement participatory and collaborative actions, both face-to-face and virtual.

Another challenge that the entity faces is to modernize the processes of attention to the citizen, through the digitalization of these and the procedures, they must be made more transparent, faster, and in a virtual way in their entirety.

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

The open government goals of this government are concentrated in the following lines of work:

– Transparency, institutional strengthening, and access to information: Visibility and use of information as an instrument to promote and strengthen citizen participation and social control.

– Anti-corruption citizen culture: Participation, belonging, and appropriation of the public.

– Prevention of corruption: Anticipation of risks of corruption and reintegration.

In this context, open government actions and tools are framed by the citizen as the predominant actor in their implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, which must be accessible and inclusive.

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

The opening of public information for the citizenry, as well as prioritizing the fight against corruption, are pillars of the current government, which allow public admiration to be brought closer to the citizen and generate trust in the institutions. This is why we assume the city challenges with the citizens.

The action plan allows the Cartagena District Mayor’s Office to implement and strengthen actions focused on one of the pillars of the 2020-2023 Development Plan, Cartagena Transparente, which aims to make information visible through processes that promote transparency. For trust with citizens, involving them in decision-making that affects them, and monitoring them.

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

For the current government, Let’s Save Cartagena Together, transparency and the fight against corruption are fundamental to its open government strategy, and it favors the rescue of citizens’ trust, through actions that allow different sectors of the community to be involved. city ​​and make decisions collectively.

It is recognized that aligning the open government processes implemented by the entity with its own processes favors the appropriation and socialization of values ​​such as transparency, participation, accountability, and collaboration, which directly contribute to the view of the current administration.

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.

• Transparency and Anti-Corruption Advisory Group
• IT Advisory Office
• International Cooperation Office
• Communications Advisory Office
• Participation and Social Development Department
• Planning Department
• School of Government and Leadership

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

Each of the actions developed for the preparation of the 2023 Open Government Action Plan was led by the Transparency and Anti-Corruption Advisory Group of the Cartagena District Mayor’s Office, in coordination with the Planning Secretary, the Participation Secretary, the School of Government and Leadership, the International Cooperation Office, the Information Technology Office and the Communications Office.

Seeing as that the agencies implement actions focused on transparency, access to information, the fight against corruption, and open government, it was decided to have periodic work groups that allow internal coordination of activities and decision-making regarding the action plan. In accordance with technical criteria and temporal scope for such 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.

For the elaboration of the 2023 Action Plan of Open Government for the District Mayor’s Office of Cartagena, a methodology based on the co-creation method was established, which allowed collaborative work between the government and the citizenry, under the approach that the solutions/initiatives/actions are determined by the recipients of the institutional offer, that is, the citizens themselves.

For this, two stages were established, one in person and one virtual, the first was the co-creation phase, in which citizens of the different interest groups of the city participated and different formats were established for this procedure depending on the size of actors foreseen by each sector/group. As a result, 23 working groups were held between the months of September and October 2022, and more than 120 citizen proposals were gathered.

The virtual consultation phase was created as the second part; a microsite was developed on the website of the Mayor’s Office, where the open government process within the framework of which the local OGP was evidenced, as well as the inventory of citizen initiatives, and the of a consultation form for a week in November of 2022, in which citizens were able to enter and choose between 12 previously analyzed and evaluated initiatives. This phase allowed the selection of the proposal to be developed within the framework of the 2023 Open Government Action Plan.

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

For each of the stages of the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... of the 2023 Open Government Action Plan of the District Mayor’s Office of Cartagena, the context of the city was considered, for which sectors and populations were prioritized for the co-creation phase. These included:

– Organized civil representation

– Academia

– Majority Groups (elderly, youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More, women, ethnic communities, populations of diverse identities, people with disabilitiesA government is not open unless it is accessible to all, and governments are working to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equitable services and opportunities to participate. Technical spec..., migrants)

– Communal sector (neighborhoods from the 15 communal government units and 3 rural areas)

– Political sector

For the virtual consultation phase, the participation panorama was broader, all the citizens were invited to participate through the platform designed for this phase.

Who participated in these spaces?

For each of the stages of the co-creation process, different parties participated, including:

– Identification of open government strategies of the District Mayor’s Office of Cartagena aligned to OGP. For this, different departments of the entity were articulated.

– Definition of technical support for co-creation. For this, we had the support of Funcicar and the USAID Together for Transparency Program for the development of each of the spaces designed for the phases of the process.

– Management of the facilitator before the citizens. Funcicar had the role of facilitator with the citizens and facilitated the conversations in the different co-creation spaces. Additionally, Funcicar held conversations with allied organizations in order to obtain logistical support for the spaces.

– Co-creation Phase. Sectors and populations were prioritized to develop the co-creation process: a) Organized civil representation; b) Academia; c) Majority groups (elderly, youth, women, ethnic communities, populations of diverse identities, people with disabilities, migrants); d) Communal sector (neighborhoods from the 15 communal government units and 3 rural areas); e) Political sector.

– Virtual consultation phase. This space was socialized and disseminated through the institutional channels available to invite all citizens to participate.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

7

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

23

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

In each sector/population co-creation space developed, representatives were democratically selected to constitute the Citizen Committee for Monitoring the 2023 Open Government Action Plan.

This committee has an important role, in overseeing, validating, and monitoring each of the stages and the commitments established by the Mayor’s Office in the Action Plan.

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

In order to search for the monitoring body of the co-creation process and the action plan 2023 of open government, the consultation and invitation to several universities in the country were carried out to that independently carry out the evaluation of the results. After the consultation and invitation, the University of Los Andes, specifically a team from the School of Government, responded positively to carry out the activities of the monitoring entity.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Camilo Gonzalez, Professor at the School of Government, ci.gonzalez@uniandes.edu.co

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

Considering the fundamental principles of the OGP Local, which are accountability and learning, which promote the implementation of ambitious reforms, the body of monitoring contributes to the process of the Action Plan of the District Mayor’s Office of Cartagena lessons learned, accountability, and legitimacy to the process.

The activities that the Universidad de Los Andes will implement in its role as a monitoring entity will develop in three instances:

1. Action plan co-creation process

The monitoring entity must gather evidence of the co-creation process from the action plan, and with this information, it must prepare an initial report, which it will evaluate the degree and the process quality.

2. Results of the commitments implemented

The monitoring entity should gather evidence to evaluate the commitments once they have been implemented and prepare a final report.

3. Final learning exercise

Once the implementation of the action plan is complete, the monitoring entity must document a process of reflection and learning, which shows how they participated different actors in the action plan, and mention elements that will improve for the next action plan.

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

For the implementation of each of the commitments signed with OGP Local, an area responsible for the District Mayor’s Office of Cartagena, will be reporting in a timely manner on the execution of the commitment to the monitoring entity. In addition to this, working tables with the areas responsible for the commitments so that the monitoring entity will be aware of directly how the commitments are being implemented and whether there are obstacles.

The regularity of the reports and the workgroups will depend on each commitment and the dates stipulated for the development of each milestone.

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

The reports presented by the monitoring entity will be published on the microsite assigned by the OGP Local and the open government microsite on the website of the District Mayor’s Office of Cartagena.

OGP Local Microsite: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/es/members/cartagena-de-indias-

Colombia/

Open Government Microsite: https://www.cartagena.gov.co/transparencia/ogp

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Eliana Salas, Civil Society,
• Eugenia Mier, Civil Society,
• Odelys Salcedo, Academy,
• Edilson Bello Ospino, Academy,
• Kevin Zabaleta, Population groups,
• Diana Guerrero, Population groups,
• Alejandro Vásquez, Communal Township 1,
• Edilberto Licona, Communal Township 1,
• Victoria Daza, Communal Township 3,
• Luz Maide Ávila, Communal Township 3,
• Luz Dary Moreno, Communal Township 2,
• Marco Pertuz, Communal Township 2,

Cartagena de Indias_Letter of Support 20221
Cartagena de Indias Open Government Page