Global Co-Creation Week Facebook Live Remarks

Monday, March 27th 11:30 EDT
Watch the recorded remarks here.

SANJAY:

Hello and welcome! I am Sanjay Pradhan, the CEO of OGP coming to you live from Washington DC.

Welcome to the first ever Global Co-creation week.

During the next few months, government officials, civil society activists, academics, and citizens from 30 countries will come together to co-create ambitious OGP commitments. Our goal in launching Global Co-creation Week is to support this process.

The 30 National Action Plans or NAPs that will be co-created acquire particular significance this year.  In particular, at the global level, we have witnessed dramatic events over the last several months, and at the Paris Global Summit, OGP got positioned as a positive global force for deepening and reinvigorating openness and democracy and as a countervailing forces against the rise of closed government, including rise of authoritarianism, exclusion and citizen distrust in government.  We look to the upcoming 30 NAPs to live up to this global vision.  

At the country level, as you will recall, we launched OGP’s strategic refresh in Paris in December which committed us to achieving much greater transformative impact in the lives of citizens through ambitious open government reforms. Currently, only 5% of OGP commitments meet the Independent Reporting Mechanism’s “starred” gold standard of being transformative and completed. In recently assessed action plans, 70% of countries had no starred commitments.  As I proposed in Paris, let us challenge ourselves so that every OGP country has at least two starred commitments in their next 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....

So, for the 30 NAPs that are being co-created, we must go beyond basic consultation practices and simple commitments. We need to aspire to a higher standard for both process and content. And we have several resources at your disposal in order to address this challenge.

On the process, the New Participation and Co-creation Standards that were developed with your collaboration will help us strengthen co-creation processes to develop meaningful commitments. We will showcase these standards throughout the week and provide assistance on the new rules to civil society and government officials.

In the last five years, OGP countries have found new and creative ways to broaden participation to ensure a truly collaborative process in the NAP development process. Every year more and more countries, like Georgia, Nigeria, Costa Rica, the UK and Romania, have set up Multi-stakeholder forums to promote better engagement and dialogue between government and civil society.  Establishing such a multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... is now a basic requirement of OGP. But this is not all, innovations are popping up all over the world from Paraguay where they not only broadcast online all their Open Gov sessions, but they have also developed a TV show where ministers discuss open gov initiatives; to countries like Ireland and Canada where they have combined online and in person engagement to reach people from all the country; to examples like Honduras or Colombia where consultation and awareness exercises have gone beyond the capital cities and into other towns and states; to Costa Rica, which featured the 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 of historically marginalized, indigenous people. We hope countries will broaden the stakeholder base in OGP processes to include key line ministries in Cabinet and CSOs fighting for issues like health and educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ....  

Process is necessary but not sufficient for delivering transformative impact. As we committed through the strategic refresh and at the Paris Global Summit, in this next phase of OGP, let us commit to ambitious content to complement the focus on 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 with deepening 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 and helping restore trust between citizens and government.  

One key priority is to deepen citizen participation in policy making, with commitments such as participatory budgeting in Brazil or Canada’s Open Dialogue mechanism.  And we look to commitments where government invites and responds to citizen feedback on services that affect their lives.   

Another vital priority this year is to raise our collective ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... to tackle the toughest challenges such as elite capture and grand corruption that underpin citizen distrust in developing and developed countries alike.  Here too we have inspirational examples that we hope will be scaled up in some of the 30 upcoming NAPs.  For instance, 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 in Ukraine, 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 transparency in Slovakia, lobbyingLobbying transparency allows the public to ensure that there is diversity of participation and contribution to public decision-making. Technical specifications: Policies and actions affecting lobbying... reform in Chile and Ireland, asset disclosureAsset declaration laws are an essential safeguard against corruption that require public servants to disclose information on their wealth, possessions, and other interests. Technical specifications: A... of top officials in Ukraine which revealed some glaring discrepancies with income, or political party financing transparency in Georgia which watchdog groups are now using to track if donors benefited from public contracts.  

So you see – this is a vital, exciting year where reformers from government and civil society and other stakeholdersCivil society organizations (CSOs) are indispensable actors in the OGP process. Governments are required to engage with civil society toward a clear and open process of participation. Civil society ma... can come together to shape a robust 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... and co-create commitments that can really make a difference in citizen lives and position OGP credibly as a positive global force for openness and a countervailing force against closed government.  There is a lot at stake in commitments you co-create.

We hope that you take advantage of our Global Co-creation Week activities as an opportunity to tap into our shared knowledge on how make your action plans as ambitious as possible.

I now pass it off to my colleague Madaleine Weber, a Communications Officer at OGP, to outline how you can participate.

MADALEINE:

During Global Co-creation Week our goal is to make sure that government officials, civil society organizations, and activists are all aware of their country’s consultation timeline, planned activities, and government points of contact so that everyone who is interested can participate in the development of their country’s next action plan.

The cornerstone of the week will be a series of four regional webinars where local activists, government officials and 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.... staff will share best practices and success stories on how to co-create a strong National Action Plan. The dates and times of the webinars can be found on the OGP website.

We will also have a social media campaign where you can share your ideas, ask questions, and make requests for your country’s next NAP.  To do so, use the hashtag #OGPcocreate + #[country name].

We also encourage you to use the hashtag #myNAPask + #[country name] to make specific 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... proposals and requests that the Support Unit will deliver to relevant government officials.

Tweets can be sent in English or in your local language but should always use the #OGPcocreate and #myNAPask hashtags.

Governments are also encouraged to use the hashtag #OGPcocreate + #[country name] to publish, promote, and raise awareness about their co-creation activities.

We will also be featuring blogs from the community throughout the week and a co-creation themed newsletter at the start of April. If you have ideas or experiences that you’d like to share to with the community, let us know!