On June 25th, around 90 reformers from Europe’s OGP community convened for the online discussion ‘Open Response + Open Recovery in Europe: What’s Next?’. The discussion focused on how the community has been using the OGP platform during the pandemic and the impact on civic space. This is what we heard.

Collaboration is key to success

During the event, lightning talks were given by Bojana Selaković, Program Director of Civic Initiatives, Vasyl Zadvornyy, CEO of ProZorro, Niklas Kramer, Senior Policy Advisor at the Federal Ministry of Health of Germany, and Sanjay Pradhan, CEO of OGP. A common thread throughout all of these talks was the importance of citizen and civil society collaboration to deliver solutions and build trust during the pandemic, from providing community support and legal assistance, to civic monitoring of emergency procurement contracts, to developing a secure, open source contact tracing app.

Civil society is a crucial player

Our conversation clearly showed that the pandemic cannot be tackled by governments alone. Civil society, activists, journalists and ordinary citizens have played a critical role in responding to COVID-19. Collaboration among all these different actors has strengthened in many countries during the pandemic, with a real sense of solidarity emerging among citizens in order to help those most in need. In Bojana Selaković’s lightning talk, we learned how Serbian civil society came together to support vulnerable groups and deliver legal 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... during the pandemic. 

That said, the pandemic is posing a real challenge for civil society sustainability. Donors, international organisations and governments must continue to provide space and funding for civil society organisations to continue their activities.

Digital concerns

Public concern about privacy and surveillance has grown under the pandemic. As we heard from Niklas Kramer, it is imperative that governments work together with civil society and citizens when building track and tracing tools and place 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 and accountability at the center of  these efforts to ensure that citizens’ right to privacy is not eroded under these exceptional circumstances.

From schooling and conferences, to family reunions and Zoom weddings, many of our lives have become digital. But this is simply not the case for everyone. Not all children have access to sufficient high-speed internet to carry out their studies. Many elderly citizens are not well-connected, particularly in rural areas. The digital transition under the pandemic risks leaving some people behind and needs to be addressed quickly by governments. Furthermore, all members of society, including governments, need more 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 ... and training on digital safety and security.

See the privacy protections module from OGP’s Guide to Open Gov and the Coronavirus and Taking the OGP Process Online. 

Open gov rollbacks

Europe has seen some significant open gov rollbacks under COVID-19. Eight European OGP members have documented suspensions or alterations to their regular right to informationThe legal right to request information from the government allows the public to follow government decision-making, participate in ensuring better decisions, and hold the government accountable. Techni... procedures. When it comes to freedom of assemblyPeaceful assembly — a fundamental human right — is essential to healthy and effective democratic institutions. Technical specifications: Protection of the individual right to peacefully assemble, ... More, more than 3 in 4 OGP countries in Europe imposed measures during the pandemic that prevented people from meeting others outside of their household unless strictly necessary. This is nearly double the rate of other regions, and in some countries, worryingly, there are no time limits for these restrictions. Furthermore,  judicial oversight has been severely affected in at least two countries from the region. Governments need to ensure that any restrictions or limits used to curb the pandemic are proportional, transparent and time-bound.

For more recommendations, see the civic space module from OGP’s Guide to Open Gov and the Coronavirus.

OGP in times of crisis

OGP remains an important platform for many countries to continue dialogue between government and civil society during the pandemic and an avenue to make concrete commitments related to the response to COVID-19. Even where 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... co-creation processes have slowed down or paused, using multi-stakeholder forums and the open government community as a means to discuss the response to the pandemic has been crucial. 

However, this is not the case in all countries. In some places OGP has lost momentum. Governments and civil society should sustain the OGP process through multi-stakeholder dialogue, and work with the OGP 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 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... to get processes back on track.

Road to recovery

As Europe begins to slowly open up again and look towards recovery, governments must adopt  an open approach and open communication about next steps in order to build trust in a society that has been profoundly affected by the events of the last months. For example, when governments roll out stimulus packages, the spending must be transparent, accountable and open to public scrutiny. Some participants at the discussion suggested a need to explore a global transparency standard for these stimulus packages.

For more information, check the fiscal openness module of the Guide to Open Gov and the Coronavirus.

In sum, our conversation highlighted the need for an open approach to build mutual trust between governments and citizens and to develop effective solutions to address the coronavirus, and how OGP can be used as a platform to deliver on these.