OGP International Expert Panel Statement on Attacks on Montenegro IRM Researcher

The Open Government Partnership’s International Expert Panel is concerned by the recent personal attacks on Vanja Calovic linked to her work in ensuring open, transparent, and accountable government. Montenegro is a part 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. As a member of the Open Government Partnership, countries pledge to improve 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, civic participation, and accountability in order to control corruption and improve the performance of government. In addition, governments pledge to submit to an evaluation by an independent researcher as part of 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 ... process, which is overseen by the International Expert Panel. Ms. Calovic is an integral part of the Independent Reporting Mechanism, working in her personal capacity to review the implementation of Montenegro’s 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.... It is absolutely essential that each IRM researcher have the adequate space to ask questions about, and carry out investigations on, the state of open government in each OGP country. We look forward to action by the government of Montenegro to ensure that this space is adequately protected.

Q&A

Does the the IEP statement represent other parts of OGP such as OGP participating countries, 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...., or the OGP 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...?

No. The IEP is an independent body with a mandate to assure the quality of reporting and the ability of IRM researchers to carry out their work. If other parts of OGP may make statements, as some Steering Committee members may have already done, they do so separately from this statement.

Is making public statements part of the IEP’s mandate?

The IEP Technical Advisors do not, as a matter of regular habit, make statements on current affairs in their roles as IEP members outside of official events and publications. It has, however, since its inception, had the mandate to assure that all IRM researchers and interviewees have the ability to carry out their research to 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 in safety and free of harassment.

Contact

irm@opengovpartnership.org