Press Release – Open Government Partnership Declaration in Support of 2030 Agenda

 PRESS RELEASE

 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

Open Government Partnership Declaration in Support of 2030 Agenda

New York, September 27, 2015 – At today’s ministerial-level meeting of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), members of its Steering Committee adopted the “Open Government for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” declaration. The declaration calls on OGP countries to use “Open Government Partnership National Action Plans to adopt commitments that serve as effective tools for implementation” of the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies... (SDGs).  In addition, the declaration outlines the importance of OGP’s core values of 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, accountability and citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More, if the 2030 Agenda is to succeed.

Addressing the gathering, Alejandra Lagunes, Coordinator of the National Digital Strategy Government of Mexico invited guests to help set, “the foundation of a new future for the Open Government Partnership” by promoting “open government as a cross-cutting enabler that will help us achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Suneeta Kaimal, OGP Civil Society chair and Chief Operating Officer at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, stressed the importance of citizen action, praising, “OGP for promoting the role of civil society in government decision-making”, adding “the value-add of governments and civil society working together cannot be stressed enough. As lead CSO chair of OGP, I’ve witnessed the tremendous benefit of OGP’s built-in dialogue mechanism, which has the power to bring together sometimes uncommon partners in order to create sustainable changes in government for the benefit of all citizens.”

OGP is most commonly linked to Goal 16 of the SDGs, which aims to, “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justiceAccessible justice systems – both formal and informal – ensure that individuals and communities with legal needs know where to go for help, obtain the help they need, and move through a system tha... More for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. However, in a seminal paper, “How Can the Open Government Partnership Accelerate Implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development?” presented at today’s meeting, authors Manish Bapna, Alejandra Lagunes, Mark Robinson, and Sonya Suter argue that OGP should be applied to the entire 2030 Agenda.

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.... Acting Executive Director Joe Powell added,

In the past four years the 66 OGP countries have shown that another way of doing business is possible, embracing true accountability and involving citizens in policy-making. The principles of open government are the only way to ensure that countries achieve the ambitious Global Goals they have agreed this week. Today’s declaration, and commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... to use the OGP platform to implement the Global Goals, is a strong start.

Also present at today’s event were members of the Open Government Partnership 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... including Mexico (lead OGP government co-chair) Brazil, Chile, Croatia, France, Georgia, Indonesia, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States and their civil society counterparts.  

The declaration is expected to be adopted by all 66 OGP countries on October 28 at the OGP Global Summit in Mexico City. This will be the first major political gathering to take place after this week’s ratification of the Post 2030 goals and discussion of SDG implementation will be a major topic.

About OGP

OGP is a multilateral initiative aimed at securing concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective, and accountable. It is fostering news ways of the citizen and the state working together to solve common problems.

OGP was formally launched in September 2011 by eight founding governments – Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. Today there are 66 participating countries and several hundred civil society organizations.

For more information visit: http://www.opengovpartnership.org

For questions contact Dietlind Lerner, OGP Communications Director

communications@opengovpartnership.org / Tel: +310 699 8775