Invitation to Comment on Progress Reports for Hungary and The Netherlands

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 ... is a key means by which government, civil society, and the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More can monitor the advances that have taken place in the framework of the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) in participating countries.

Today, the IRM is proud to announce draft reports for comment from two of the countries that submitted action plans to OGP in 2013.  The IRM calls on any interested organization or individual to comment on these reports to they are accurate and capture a wide variety of views.

About the IRM reports

The IRM partners with experienced, independent national researchers to author and disseminate reports for each OGP participating government. The reports assess governments on the development and implementation of OGP action plans and progress in fulfilling open government principles, and make technical recommendations for improvements.

The reports are intended to stimulate dialogue and promote accountability among participating governmentsOGP participating countries and locals – often referred to as OGP members – are committed to working with civil society to strengthen their adherence to open government values. To join OGP as a pa... and their citizens.

The big headlines

In Hungary,  Petra Edina Reszketo of the Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis summarized her findings as follows:

Hungary focused on initiatives that complemented its existing anti-corruption program. They had a fairly high rate of completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More. Initially, stakeholders welcomed the collaborative process, but mid-way through the process, larger political issues relevant to OGP led to a breakdown. If the OGP process is going to be strong, Hungary will need to continue to enhance cooperation and use OGP to address big picture issues.

In The Netherlands, Frans Jorna of Saxion University of Applied Sciences reported the following:

The Dutch 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... focused on initiatives to enhance access and accountability through online tools. While a number of commitments were potentially transformative, the lack of specificity of the action plan made progress and impact difficult to assess. Moving forward, the Dutch government should work with civil society to create a measurable and ambitious action plan. 

The fine print

The full reports for the countries mentioned above can be viewed here. To comment, please use the commenting button available at the link provided. You may also send your comments to irm@opengovpartnership.org

The comments received will be published separately from the reports. Where relevant, comments will be integrated in the final version of the report.