Dominican Republic Results-Report 2022-2024

The Dominican Republic’s fifth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... achieved a remarkable level of implementation, with 8 out of 10 commitments completed or substantially completed, including two that delivered significant early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More. Furthermore, 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... achieved significant levels of participation, reflecting the multi-stakeholder forum’s growing expertise and contributing to the plan’s legitimacy. Moving forward, there is an opportunity to maintain these levels of participation during the implementation of future plans.

This Dominican Republic’s fifth open government action plan stands out for its high levels of completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More. Six of its 10 commitments were fully implemented, while two others were substantially implemented. Four achieved early results, and two of them achieved significant early results.

Both during the co-creation and implementation periods, the country met the minimum requirementsAll OGP participating countries are expected to adhere to the Participation and Co-Creation Standards. Each Standard includes clear and measurable minimum requirements that all OGP participating count... established by the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) to advance the commitments.

Compared to previous action plans, this cycle improved the level of completion and the achievement of early results, establishing a positive evolution in the capacity to implement reforms and generate impact on citizens.

Among the areas where the commitments achieved the greatest impact and benefits for citizens are: transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and direct access to public information, open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., attention to users by institutions that provide public services, generation of participation mechanisms, tools to involve citizens in public policy matters, and the establishment of accountability mechanisms.

The “National Action Plan for Open Data” (first 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...) stood out for achieving broad public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... and generating an extensive citizen consultation process that helped improve the initiative’s results.

The sixth commitment, aimed at creating the “Public Service Quality Monitoring and Assessment System,” successfully developed a system for users to rate the quality of services received. Through an accountability process, institutions are then required to improve services based on the suggestions and ratings provided and report on their results.

Implementation

During the action plan’s implementation, civil society participation was primarily channeled through the multi-stakeholder forum, convened by DIGEIG as needed rather than according to a fixed schedule. This methodology favored informal and on-demand communication, frequently via WhatsApp, to address specific project needs and deadlines worked by DIGEIG, the implementing institutions, and civil society organizations. Therefore, records of these interactions and communications are not kept as part of the commitment implementation process. The minutes of the three formal meetings held during the process in 2022 are available in the official repository^[1].

Members of civil society perceive a lower level of involvement during implementation than during the co-creation phase, with participation being primarily informational. Civil society was notified about progress and actions but had less influence on decision-making or project feedback^[2].

The open government portal now features a dedicated section that tracks progress and actions taken to fulfill each commitment. This represents a valuable tool for monitoring and an accountability mechanism that facilitates citizen oversight of implementation activities^[3].

Participation and Co-Creation

The multi-stakeholder forum designed and implemented the fifth action plan’s co-creation process, prioritizing issues related to health, vulnerable groups, the environment and open data, public services, technology and innovation. It included 15 open workshops (9 in-person and 6 virtual) and an outreach campaign, conducted mainly through social media and institutional websites, resulting in the involvement of 992 people from diverse sectors^[4]. Additionally, an online form and a special section on the open government website were made available to collect citizen proposals. Upon conclusion of the process, 349 proposals were submitted, 217 of which were selected for their alignment with open government principles^[5]. To ensure transparency and adherence to public consultation standards, the methodology was documented and made publicly available in advance^[6].

The prioritized proposals were published on the open government portal, where the multi-stakeholder forum selected the most relevant ones based on their technical feasibility and impact^[7]. The General Directorate of Ethics and Governmental Integrity (DIGEIG), together with a specialized commission, consolidated and drafted the commitments, which were subsequently reviewed by state institutions and presented to the public in consultative sessions.