Stories

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…

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations on September 2015 represents a historic milestone. The new agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formulated through an unprecedented, open and participatory process led by governments…

As Sierra Leone enters its second year as a full member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), I am proud of the steps we are taking to embrace the principles of transparency and accountability in all that we do as…

World leaders have just agreed upon the Global Goals for sustainable development; a to-do list for the world for the next 15 years with the lofty ambition of ending extreme poverty. There is a receptive global public -- a movement…

Citizens today have higher expectations and demand effective solutions to every day issues and challenges. From climate change to expedient postal services, governments are required to act with transparency and diligence. Public accountability demands us, public servants, to act with…