Stories

The opening scene of James Bond’s Spectre is one beautiful invitation to visit Mexico City - especially during the Dia de los Muertos. In the first scene it takes you back to the square in front of the Palacio de…

For the past several weeks friends and colleagues have been asking me whether the third global OGP summit held in Mexico City at the end of October was a success. Initially, I was somewhat stumped. When you are on the…

On Tuesday, November 17, 2015 the 38th General Conference of UNESCO adopted a resolution declaring September 28th International Day for Universal Access to Information[1]. Sponsored by Angola, Nigeria and Morocco the resolution also: Invites all Member States, United Nations system…

OGP is much more than Action Plans, Commitments, Policies and Best Practices. OGP is a powerful network of motivated people with a common goal, to drive a revolution around the world to make governments more open, accountable and responsive to…

On the second day of the OGP Summit in Mexico City I sat on the floor, in the stately ‘town hall’, with a group of people who wanted to talk about how OGP could work with subnational governments, as we…

‘The government is our common heritage and our common property. We are the ultimate stakeholders and shareholders of that powerful force in the public domain we call government. We elect our representatives in local Councils and Parliament and thereby give…

The role of open government in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was a major theme of the Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Mexico City last month. At the Summit, government and civil society leaders highlighted the opportunity…

The dangers of fiscal opacity in the extractive sector are well known: corruption, mismanagement and waste. Resource revenues might be poured into pet projects rather than to where society needs it most, while companies underpay on their taxes. But what…

A month ago we saw the ink dry on the dotted lines of the Sustainable Development Goals, which were painstakingly crafted with the critical input of civil society. Furthermore, two weeks ago the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the…

Modern democracy calls for transcending electoral processes and requires the consolidation of state mechanisms that promote transparency, ethics, the right to information and citizen participation. The combination of these principles of open government result in a more efficient, effective and…