Open Gov Week 2021

A global call to action to transform the way governments serve their citizens

For one week in May, open government doers, leaders, and thinkers from around the world came together to share ideas, discuss solutions, and commit to new levels of citizen participation in government to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This 2021 Open Gov Week theme focused on how we renew or build again governments, institutions and societies that are transparent, accountable, participatory, and inclusive.

Learn more at opengovweek.org.

OGP Events

OGP hosted a series of events during Open Gov Week to bring open government champions together to find solutions to the biggest challenges we face today.

Recovering from COVID-19 and Renewing Democratic Values

This event has already occurred.

The response to and recovery from COVID-19 continues, and persistent, systemic challenges laid to bare by COVID-19 remain. Join this high level plenary session hosted by the Chairs of OGP aims to showcase concrete ways to use open government approaches to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face – from the catastrophic health crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, to the global economic recession, an accelerating climate crisis, and systemic inequalities of income, gender and race. All of these are further exacerbated by challenges to democracy witnessed globally.

OGP’s Open Renewal campaign is about thinking anew on how these challenges can be solved. Learn how governments and civil society from across OGP’s membership are using open government approaches to tackle these challenges, and how reforms on civic space, anticorruption and digital governance can help ensure we: 

• Drive a transparent and accountable recovery from the pandemic
• Tackle systematic inequalities of income, gender and race
• Address threats to democracy and civic space
• Enhance public participation to reinvigorate democracy

Watch the recording below or here.

High-Level Discussion on Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Africa 

This event has already occurred.

During Open Gov Week, Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) will convene leaders from government, civil society, public and private sectors for a high-level engagement on advancing beneficial ownership transparency in Africa. These leaders will  share best practice guidance on instituting beneficial ownership reform infrastructure to enhance its effectiveness and impact and ultimately mitigate corruption and mismanagement in the natural resource sector and beyond, as well as supporting governments in adapting to new challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Watch the recording below or here.

Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Africa Technical Roundtable 

This event has already occurred.

Open Government Partnership (OGP), Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)  and Open Ownership hosted a technical roundtable on beneficial ownership transparency in Africa. 

The technical roundtable aims to bring together technical officials from government agencies working on beneficial ownership transparency, business representatives, civil society and media representatives, members of EITI national multi-stakeholder groups (MGS), national secretariats and OGP multi-stakeholder forums (MSFs). Participants of the session expanded their technical capacity by sharing best practices and accessing practical tools to support implementation, address legal barriers, improve quality data collection and enhance options of data usage by stakeholders. 

Advancing the Integrity Reform Agendas in the Eastern Partnership: High-Level Launch of the EU for Integrity Programme

This event has already occurred.

High-level representatives from the EU, OECD, OGP and national authorities and civil society leaders from Eastern Partnership countries came together to launch the EU for Integrity Programme and discuss how to effectively advance open government reforms in the region.

Watch the recording below or here. The recording is also available in Russian here.

Learn more about OGP’s contribution to the program here.

Escazu Agreement: Opportunities for an Environmental Open Government*

This event has already ocurred. 

The Escazu Agreement entered into force on April 22, 2021. This regional instrument embodies a paradigm of environmental democracy based on transparency, participation and inclusion as the basis for social and ecological transformations in the region. The synergy with the platform offered by the Open Government Partnership (OGP), as a transparent and inclusive public governance model, allows coordinating and promoting the implementation routes of the Agreement while expanding its scope.

Be part of this discussion with environmental and open government reformers to discuss strategies to advance the implementation of the Escazu Agreement and identify opportunities, allies, and institutional resources through open government action plans.

Innovations in Open Government and Anti-corruption in Taiwan

This event has already occurred.

In this panel, Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang joined U.S. Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby, OGP Deputy Director Shreya Basu, and Transparency International Senior Program Manager Conny Abel for a discussion regarding Taiwan’s efforts to harness the innovative strength of civil society to advance open government solutions to public policy challenges at home and support anticorruption efforts globally. The conversation emphasized the role of technology in supporting information transparency, deepening public-private collaboration, and strengthening civil society and media efforts to achieve accountability for corruption.

Watch the recording below or here.

Seize the Moment: How to Revive the US OGP Process with the New Biden Administration

This event has already ocurred. 

Join us for this special launch of a new report that outlines how to get there: Seize the Moment: A Revived US Open Government Partnership Process with the new Biden Administration. This report offers five central recommendations on how to improve the next US OGP process and is based on a series of roundtables with 50 American civil society leaders working on diverse issues (from corruption and good government, to climate and justice reform).