Preparing for OGP Steering Committee meeting- Bali

At the beginning of next week Indonesia will host the first 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... Meeting of 2014. This ministerial level meeting will take place on the days before the Asia Pacific Regional Meeting and has a packed agenda.

What should you be watching and where can you find the key documentation? The Support Unit will upload the final agenda and supportive documents here and my take on the core issues below.

The agenda is very much built around learning from the OGP experience so far and looking ahead. The first day for example includes an “OGP Health Check” that provides solid time to discuss the lessons learned from the first two rounds of IRM progress reports as well as lessons and challenges around the country level support to both governments and civil society.

Those frank discussions feed nicely in what is at the heart of the second day agenda: the strategy for the next 4 years of OGP. Topics to be discussed are the priority areas of work, a revised funding model and a new organizational set-up. The discussion on the revised funding model builds on earlier discussions on the question if each member country should pay a contribution and on how to get the right balance between public and private funds. The new organizational set-up includes the proposal to integrate the independent civil society coordination team into 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..... That is obviously is a big change for us – and potentially for you – so let me get back to that one in a bit more detail.

The afternoon of the second day is quite packed, some of the key issues are:

• An update on the rotation process of the Steering Committee including getting agreement on the next government and civil society co-chair (after Rakesh Rajani and Indonesia step down).
• Discussion on the priorities of the Peer Learning & Support subcommittee – and opportunities for Steering Committee members to contribute to this work area (e.g. thematic working groups, regional meetings)
• Discussion and hopefully adoption of the ‘rapid response policyThe Response Policy is used when an OGP participating country appears to be taking actions that undermine the values and principles of OGP, as articulated in the Open Government Declaration, in a way ... to uphold OGP values’ as proposed by the Criteria & Standards subcommittee.
• Agreement on language around the membership eligibility for disputed territories.

Circling back to the proposed integration of ‘my team’ and the civil society support work into OGP proper. This is a big step that has been debated for at least a year and both Emilene Martinez and I have discussed the pros and cons with many of you. Why integrate? What problem does it solve, or what extra opportunities does it open up? As the global OGP civil society community you are (and will continue to be) our ‘customers’, so what will you gain or lose?

There are a number of aspects of the current set-up that have at times been confusing. For example, even though we are independent, we need to work closely with the Support Unit to be effective, are governed by the Steering Committee CSO co-chairsThe leadership of the Steering Committee is made up of four co-chairs who provide strategic guidance and support to advance OGP’s overarching priorities. Co-Chairs serve two-year terms beginning on ... and supported by the same funders as OGP. And although we are not officially representing OGP, for many we are the face of OGP.

OGP was established as a multi-stakeholder initiative, with a principle of collaboration and ‘co-governance’ between government and civil society.  By us supporting civil society it automatically came across as if the Support Unit was there just for governments.  Integrating the Civil Society team within the OGP Support Unit will help ensure that OGP provides equal support, representation, and voice to both constituencies. 

From the 2013 survey and the conversations we held we have a pretty good idea what the community in general values about our work. What matters to the majority is that we are approachable, responsive and provide you with the right information, resources and tools. You appreciate that we are an integral part of civil society with a focused mandate to make OGP work for you and support your work, and that we are open to an honest dialogue about what works and doesn’t.

Any concept for integration should at a minimum keep those strengths in place. I think the proposal does just that and adds some additional benefits. The draft 4 year strategy has 3 safeguards for keeping what we have. First, all of our core activities are still in the mix of the new Support Unit. Second, there is a set of operating principles that define the level of autonomy needed for this team to continue to work with and for you on the same basis. Third, there continues to be dedicated staff for the civil society work.

One of the key questions I heard was: what will this mean for the voice of civil society? I think it will stay the same. We are and will continue to be a ‘listening post’, to observe and to convey key civil society insights and needs into the OGP system. We will actually have better direct access to the full Steering Committee. As before, you can also reach out directly to the civil society Steering Committee members or to the director of the Support Unit to raise issues and voice concerns.

Additionally, the new set-up will allow us – as part of a bigger team – to focus more of our time on making OGP work in-country and secure sustainable funding for the coming years. This should help enable us to bring on some highly needed additional capacity, close to the regions, which will enable us to work intensely in more countries (matching the growth of OGP). This builds on our positive experience in Latin America. The structure and the governance will be simplified, which might not be of big interest to you, but is a relief to us.

There are risks too, inevitably, to the integration. Despite the safeguards we might lose some of our space or be challenged on it. That’s where you come in to keep us sharp and speak out if you are not getting what you need to make OGP work.

For me the energyEnsuring universal access to sustainable, dependable, and affordable energy is critical to every aspect of prosperity. Increasing public oversight and transparency in the energy sector can help to ens... More, advocacy and knowledge civil society brings to OGP is essential for its success over time. We will continue to support civil society in understanding, using and shaping OGP so that you can get it to deliver those ambitious results you strive for. Does the new set-up provide the safeguards we need to create space and flexibility while building a stronger overall OGP support? To me it does.