On this International Women’s Day, we’re reflecting on what OGP has learned over the past year and where we hope to take inclusive open government in 2020. The good news: 2019 was a big year for genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... in open government plans, co-creation processes, and conversations. In fact, gender is now the fastest-growing thematic area for 2019-2021 action plans. 

Just a year ago, OGP launched Break the Roles — a campaign to encourage open government actors to look beyond traditional roles and responsibilities and to be intentional, strategic, and ambitious in bringing women and gender diverse perspectives into open government. Through the campaign, governments were asked to consider a gender action they could take to make co-creation more inclusive and ensure commitments better reflect the priorities of those across the gender spectrum. Our goal was for 30% of our 98 members to take a concrete action, whether through commitments or by making their process more inclusive. I’m pleased to report that we hit our goal with 31% of members taking a gender action by the end of 2019. 

Open Heroines at the 2019 OGP Global Summit

What does that mean in practice? 2019 action plans included commitments on:

• Collecting gender-disaggregated employment data in Argentina to better understand where and how women engage in the workforce
• Creating a cross-governmental women’s empowerment plan in Afghanistan led by a new Presidential gender council  
• Integrating gender into Extractive IndustriesApplying open government values of transparency, participation, and accountability to extractive industries can decrease corruption, safeguard community interests and needs, and support environmental ... 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 Initiative (EITI) & natural resource commitments in the Philippines and Nigeria 
• Drafting a gender-integrated open parliament planMany parliaments have engaged in the OGP process by co-creating and implementing their own open parliament plans, alongside the typical OGP national action plans. Technical specifications: indicates t... in Sierra Leone
• Designing a beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More registry with gender-specific ownership data in Italy
• Reducing gender-based violence against women and the LGBTQ+ and transgender communities in Ecuador through the co-creation of a new gender-based violence national plan

For 2019 action plans, we also saw new commitments bring a gender lens to core OGP themes and policy areas, such as:

• Citizens shaping public services (nine commitments) 
• JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... (seven commitments) 
• Extractive Industries (three 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...) 
• Environment and ClimateThe values of open government — transparency, public participation, and accountability — allow governments and citizens to see the true costs of climate change, discuss alternative approaches for ... (four commitments)
• 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... (four commitments) 
• Beneficial ownership (four commitments)

And there have been many firsts. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, and the Philippines all made gender-related commitments for the first time in 2019. In countries like Sierra Leone, Argentina, Afghanistan, and Mexico, representatives from women’s organizations participated in the leadership of the national steering committeeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... or multi-stakeholder groups.

Looking ahead, we’ll work in partnership with you to continue this momentum and make more ambitious, higher impact gender commitments a reality across action plans. We’re looking for key opportunities to mainstream gender into focus themes (see here in the 3YP). Gender – and inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. This includes many historically oppressed groups such as persons with disabilities, women, lesbian, gay, bi... more broadly – continues to be a considerable priority for the Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... and our current and future co-chairsThe leadership of the Steering Committee is made up of four co-chairs who provide strategic guidance and support to advance OGP’s overarching priorities. Co-Chairs serve two-year terms beginning on .... 

As we deepen this work in partnership with government and civil society partners, we’ll place disproportionate bets on a few key cross-cutting themes: natural resourcesOGP participating governments are improving transparency and citizen participation in natural resource governance to help detect corruption, safeguard community interests, and support environmental su... governance, gender-based violence, justice, public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments enhancing ... and economic opportunity, pay equity and salary transparency, inclusive public services and the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies.... You’ll hear more about this work through the Feminist Open Government research published this spring, coalition member blogs and spotlights, and exciting partner projects funded by IDRC and the Multi-Donor Trust FundWith the support of development partners and working together with the World Bank, OGP established the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) to support World Bank client countries and local entities that part....  

OGP will also explore the impact of gender and evolving technology, such as commitments on artificial intelligence, data-driven algorithms, and mass social networks, while encouraging partners to consider threats like disinformation, discrimination, and privacy concerns. As digital governanceAs evolving technologies present new opportunities for governments and citizens to advance openness and accountability, OGP participating governments are working to create policies that deal with the ... reforms increase in OGP action plans, care must be taken to ensure gender is mainstreamed into these discussions so as to not perpetuate inequalities and discriminatory inputs to policy.

The year ahead includes important opportunities to meaningfully advance gender within focus countries and thematic areas, especially with so many of our government and civil society partners participating in global moments like Beijing 25+ and the Generation Equality Forums in Mexico City, Paris, and New York. There, governments will make significant commitments to closing gender gaps. Open government solutions should be front and center in those conversations, embedding these pledges in OGP action plans so that they can be supported, transparently implemented, and independently assessed by OGP’s accountability mechanism, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ....

To the open government community: thank you for taking the call to action to heart and seeking new ways to ensure government serves a more inclusive group of citizens in your country, state, or city. We know it will take time and collective action to narrow persistent gender gaps in corruption, public procurement, justice, and civic space, and we are grateful for your partnership in the year to come. There is no question that together we will go further, farther, and faster.