Local Roundup | June 2025

Featured:

• SMC Climate

Participatory climate action is gaining ground—through citizen assemblies, co-created climate action plans, and digital tools for public oversight. Discover some of the experiences shared by Buenos Aires (Argentina), Yerevan (Armenia), Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana), Austin, TX (USA) and Democracia en Red during the latest session of the OGP Local Climate Circle. 

• SMC Anti-Corruption

Effective communication can boost anti-corruption efforts when it’s tailored, targeted, and well-tested. Experts and local leaders shared practical strategies to get the message right in the latest OGP Local Circle on Anti-Corruption.

Selected News:

• More OGP Local members have delivered their OGP action plans, focusing on civic engagement, digital governance, climate action, and public participation. See how they’re opening up governments to improve lives!
• Local governments and civil society from Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco launched the Arab Open Government Communication Group to raise awareness and expand open government across Arabic-speaking countries.
• Rosario (Argentina) hosted a peer exchange workshop on children and youth participation as part of its second action plan co-creation, drawing insights from Navarra’s (Spain) comic on open government for kids, Nuevo León’s (Mexico) activity guide to support children’s right to participate, and the Chicos.net website on digital citizenship  programs for young people.
• Kaduna State (Nigeria) brought together government, civil society, the private sector, and media to validate its new, real-time open contracting portal—developed with CoST and based on global data standards (OCDS/OC4IDS)—as part of its OGP commitment. The platform already hosts 1,000+ projects and will launch soon.
• Madrid City Council (Spain) launched the Open Data Reuse Awards, inviting companies, projects, or researchers to apply. Also, for the seventh consecutive year, the city received the InfoParticipa Seal for Transparency from the University of Barcelona, highlighting its commitment to open government values.
• Last chance! Apply by July 1, 2025 for the People Powered Accelerator and Mentorship programs, designed to support governments and civil society organizations delivering projects engaging youth, women, and displaced people in Latin America, Africa, Asia, or Eastern Europe.

Roundup: 

Latest OGP Local Action Plans

Seven OGP Local members delivered their OGP action plans, focusing on civic engagement, digital governance, climate action, and public participation. See how they’re opening up governments to improve lives!

• Buenos Aires (Argentina) launched its fourth action plan, including updating its climate strategy and platform, making elections more accessible, and improving the city’s data protection law. 
• Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima’s (Morocco) second action plan includes boosting participation through training, creating thematic consultation committees, establishing a children’s council, digitizing services, and simplifying the citizen budget via a mobile app, as well as addressing climate change with a regional advisory body and local service centers.
• Nandi’s (Kenya) second action plan seeks to expand data access through ward-level Information hubs for rural and marginalized communities and to set up ward-based Citizen Service Centers and a digital tracker to improve service delivery and public feedback.
• Plateau State’s (Nigeria) second action plan includes establishing a multi-stakeholder Climate Assembly for dialogue on emerging climate issues, developing a digital governance policy, and improving public services through citizen-focused units in all government offices.
• In its first action plan, Agadir (Morocco) seeks to launch a digital platform with AI to simplify citizen-government interactions and to promote inclusive digital participation through training, neighborhood support, and public access points.
• Antigua’s (Guatemala) first action plan includes the co-creation of its first Municipal Environmental Policy to guide sustainable water and energy management. It also seeks to promote citizen participation in urban planning and mobility and to hold roundtables to co-design security protocols and improve the use of municipal resources.
• Tamale’s (Ghana) first action plan seeks to establish Community Health Committees to improve access to quality healthcare services and to implement a multi-stakeholder School Management Committee to improve the quality of education delivery.

Advancing OGP Local Process 

• Bogotá (Colombia) promoted an online vote for its second OGP action plan via Chatico, the District’s virtual assistant, allowing residents to participate easily through WhatsApp.
• Rosario (Argentina) hosted a peer exchange workshop on children and youth participation as part of its second Action Plan co-creation, drawing insights from Navarra’s (Spain) comic on open government for kids, Nuevo León’s (Mexico) activity guide to support children’s right to participate, and Chicos.net’s digital citizenship programs for young people.
• Nuevo León (Mexico) brought together government and civil society for an Open Government Day featuring panels on lessons and challenges in advancing openness, followed by co-creation sessions that used a customized version of the Mexican lottery game to identify priorities for its 2025–2027 OGP action plan.
• Athens (Greece) held a two-day series of thematic workshops to co-create its first OGP Local action plan, bringing together citizens, civil society, and local actors to shape actions on energy, housing, accessibility, and transparency. 
• São Paulo (Brazil) held an open online vote to elect the fourth Shared Management Forum, a parity group with six representatives of civil society and six from City Hall that will be in charge of implementing and monitoring its next OGP action plan.

Showcasing Open Government in Action

• Kakamega (Kenya) held a Public Participation Forum on the Proposed Budget Estimates for the 2025–2026 Financial Year and published them online. The county also conducted a comprehensive report on the needs of people with disabilities to inform a more inclusive budget. In addition, it held a tree planting session to help conserve the Kakamega Forest, reaffirming its commitment to environmental conservation. 
• Córdoba Province (Argentina) conducted a meeting to institutionalize the Open Government Inter Ministerial Roundtable, a new permanent space to strengthen transparent and citizen-focused public management. They also celebrated progress in publishing data in the Open Management Portal. 
• The State of Goiás (Brazil) hosted the fourth edition of its Municipal Public Compliance Program, supporting municipalities to adopt practices ensuring ethical, transparent, efficient, and integrity-driven public administration, while promoting citizen participation and enhancing public services.
• Ouellé (Côte d’Ivoire) launched municipal council meetings in various villages to promote proximity and citizen inclusion. It also organized a public forum with youth to discuss their needs, including professional insertion, and local agriculture support.
• Dar Chaabane (Tunisia), in partnership with the Tunisian Association for a Better Future, co-organized the webinar “Launching the Citizen Budget for All” and held an online working session to discuss an expert report on the city’s climate situation.
• Kaduna State (Nigeria) brought together government, civil society, the private sector, and media to validate its new real-time open contracting portal—developed with CoST and based on global standards  (OCDS/OC4IDS)—as part of its OGP commitment. The platform already hosts 1,000+ projects and will launch soon.

Expanding the Reach of Open Government

• Local governments and civil society from Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco launched an Arab Open Government Communication Group that seeks to raise awareness and expand open government across Arabic-speaking countries.
• Navarra (Spain) promoted a new Volunteering Law through a cycle of citizen assemblies,  ensuring that the new regulation aligned with the reality of volunteering.
• Córdoba Province (Argentina) launched a social media campaign to highlight new features of the Open Government Portal and promote its use among citizens, as part of its commitment to “Strengthening the Public Management Portal.”
• Madrid City Council (Spain) launched the Open Data Reuse Awards, inviting companies, projects, or researchers to apply. Also, for the seventh consecutive year, the City received the InfoParticipa Seal for Transparency from the University of Barcelona, highlighting its commitment to transparency.
• In Catalonia (Spain), the Head of Transformative Innovation, Tatiana Fernández, shared in an interview about the region’s updated innovation strategy, which focuses on social innovation and how empowering citizens at the local level is the way to tackle global challenges. 
• Peñalolén (Chile) held a session on “Challenges of Integrity and the Prevention of Offences by Officials,” a space for reflection to strengthen the commitment to transparent and responsible management.
• Ahead of the Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Coalition for Cities and Regions, Yoff (Senegal) joined the coalition and organised community clean-ups, raising awareness among young people and promoting sustainable solutions among the community in line with its OGP action plan.
• Centre LSD (Nigeria) launched the Intersectional Leadership Fellowship In N’Delta to champion climate justice at both local and national levels, where the 24 selected fellows from communities impacted by oil, gas, and mining exploitation undergo a week-long intensive training and technical and strategic support. 

Opportunities

• Last chance! Apply by July 1, 2025 for the People Powered Accelerator and Mentorship programs, designed to support governments and civil society organizations delivering projects engaging youth, women, and displaced people in Latin America, Africa, Asia, or Eastern Europe.