Great Recognition for OGP is a Call to Action for the Development Community

This post is adapted from OGP Executive Director Linda Frey’s November 2014 remarks, delivered as she joined OGP’s co-chairs to accept the Commitment to Development “Ideas in Action” Award. The Center for Global Development’s prize has been given annually since 2003. 

This Award is truly a great honor, not just for those of us working for the Open Government Partnership Support Unit, but for the visionary founders of OGP, and of course for the thousands of reformers in 65 countries who are using OGP to make their governments more open and accountable to people. 

If you’re not already involved in OGP, you should be — because the more people get involved in OGP, the more powerful it will be.

Three observations that give me tremendous optimism 

First, OGP represents a new approach to multilateralism.

It is not a development initiative, nor is it an exclusive ‘club’ of top performers. Instead, it brings together a wide range of countries in a race to the top. 

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Presidents of Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa at an OGP event, New York, 2014

Every country – regardless of its size or stature – plays by the same rules and is subject to the same independent reporting on their progress. In the past three years, a truly diverse group of countries have stepped up to lead OGP at the global level, working in close partnership with an equally diverse group of civil society leaders.

Second: OGP is not a diplomatic talk shop, because the ‘doers’ are at the table. 

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Civil society representatives shared the speaker platform at a 2014 OGP event with world leaders

On the government side, OGP leads are domestic ministries charged with implementing open government initiatives. On the civil society side, participants are actively involved in OGP in their own countries. So, when we come together for OGP events, we are not talking about what governments should be doing, we are talking about what governments actually are doing, and how they are doing it. The UK is comparing notes with Mexico on 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... standards, while Brazil and Tanzania are talking about how best to implement access to information legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r.... And Sierra Leone is asking the U.S. and Ghana how they partner with civil society on OGP. 

Third: when the most senior political leader of a country voices a strong commitment to OGP – as 10 heads of state recently did in New York – we have seen how it can unlock real progress on the ground.

At last year’s OGP Summit in London, President Kikwete committed that Tanzania would pass freedom of information legislation within the next year, and Prime Minister Cameron announced that his government would create a publicly accessible database on who ultimately owns and controls companies. 

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UK Prime Minister David Cameron addressing OGP in 2013

Civil society organizations in both countries had been tirelessly advocating for these reforms for years. But OGP helped provide a well-timed nudge – and a global stage – for these political leaders to act.

These three dynamics have given OGP tremendous momentum in the past three years. This approach has struck a chord, and we are just beginning to deliver on its potential.

However, no one said it was going to be easy or that progress would be linear. Not every participating country will take OGP seriously. In some, there are questions about whether civil society has a real seat at the table. In others, there is concern that the OGP 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... is only addressing the low-hanging fruit.

Therefore, the key challenge for all of us in the next two years is to persistently push for more ambitious OGP commitments that tackle challenging issues that citizens care about — like budget 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, 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, and fighting corruption, among others.

There are many great examples already – Georgia and Chile have pursued 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... and political financing reform to strengthen electoral processes. The Philippines is opening space for citizens to monitor public works and service delivery through social auditsInstitutional and legal frameworks are necessary for providing assurance of the integrity of financial information and of compliance with budgetary rules and procedure. Technical specifications: These.... And Peru and Liberia are releasing 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 that aim t... More data on public websites.

These countries are setting a high bar, but many more must do the same.

How you can help

1. If you are part of a global NGO, look at the recent pledges by Transparency International and Oxfam International and make a pledge of your own to mobilize local civil society partners to engage in OGP.
2. If you are an analyst: do some research – take a look at the IRM data and reports, write an article or blog, and help us get a public debate going on what is or isn’t happening via the OGP platform. 
3. If you are part of a multilateral or bilateral aidMore and better information about aid helps partner countries and donor institutions plan and manage aid resources more effectively, parliaments and civil society to hold governments accountable for t... agency, find a way to contribute, either to support the OGP secretariat, or to provide on-the-ground technical support for the implementation of OGP commitments.

This Award honors those reformers around the world who are using OGP to make government work better for people. This won’t happen over night, and it certainly won’t happen through OGP alone. But the more people use OGP, the more leverage it will have to change the culture of government. We look forward to your ideas and support to make that happen.