Remarks by OGP CEO Sanjay Pradhan at the 2022 OGP Africa and the Middle East Regional Meeting

Watch OGP CEO Sanjay Pradhan deliver opening remarks at the 2022 OGP Africa and the Middle East Regional Meeting. 

Dear friends,

Good morning, Bonjour!

First, my immense gratitude to the Government of Morocco for hosting us.  

I am truly energized to be here – in three dimensions rather than on zoom – with this vibrant community of  reformers from national governments, civil society, local governments, parliaments from across the region.  

We need your vitality at this critical time, when the region is confronting a confluence of five crises: first, a lingering, debilitating pandemic; second, a dismally slow economic recovery; third, a sharp increase in extreme poverty and inequality; fourth, a continuing climate crisis; and fifth and most relevant for us, a deeper, cross-cutting crisis – a crisis of governance – impedes the ability of governments to tackle the other crises and manifests in deep citizen discontent.  

Prior to the pandemic, the Edelman Barometer showed that citizen trust in government had fallen to an all-time low, as citizens perceived their governments to be disconnected and unresponsive to their needs, or corrupt and captured by special interests.  During the pandemic, citizen trust fell further, as governments failed to live up to citizens’ expectations.  Populists have stoked this citizen anger to rise to power and then attack democratic institutions.  Today, an astonishing two-thirds of the world’s population live in countries that are non-democratic or where democracy is backsliding.  

While there are some exceptions in the region, we see this crisis of governance mirrored starkly across much of Africa and the Middle East. We see this in electoral fatigue in Africa – while 30 years ago, people were enthusiastic about voting for new leaders who they hoped would improve their lives, they now feel they did get the right to choose different leaders but they didn’t get better or different outcomes – in other words, they got “choiceless democracies”.  We see this in the growing discontent of citizens as democracies have failed to deliver tangible dividends to improve their lives. We see this in the rising restlessness of youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More, in unacceptably high youth unemployment, and associated crime and insecurity. We see this in protests, uprisings and coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Sudan.  We see this in electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More that have become mere springboards for leaders who, once in office, extend their terms and undermine democratic institutions.  We see this in Afrobarometer data from 34 African countries which shows that only a minority of Africans think elections produce accountable leadership. 

Therefore, elections alone have not proven sufficient in delivering on citizens’ aspirations.  OGP was founded precisely for this goal of delivering better governance for citizens.  Today, we have the opportunity and imperative to deliver on this promise for three reasons.  

• First, over the past decade, OGP has grown into a global platform with 77 countries and 106 local governments, including 15 countries and 23 local governments from Africa and the Middle East, along with thousands of civil society organizations.  We can leverage this global platform to deliver better governance.  
• Second, evidence from a ten-year review of OGP shows that the model works so when the government co-creates commitments with civil society, the reforms are more ambitious and results stronger. Over 90 percent of countries in this region have multistakeholder forums to co-create OGP action plans.  
• Third, the Independent Reporting Mechanism has assessed that over the last decade, hundreds of ambitious OGP reforms have made governments significantly more transparent, participatory, and accountable, thereby empowering citizens to shape and oversee their governments every day, not just once every few years when they cast their vote.  We call this “Democracy beyond the ballot box”.  

But the stark reality is also that these reforms are too few and far between.  So they just don’t add up!  Consequently, my call to collective action for all of us is to scale up five clusters of reforms that can deliver better governance for citizens.   Together these can also help tackle our confluence of crises – of democracy, economy, inequality and climate.  

First, let us fight corruption through open contracts, open budgets, open company ownership.  

• In Ukraine prior to the war, to combat the capture of public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... More by powerful oligarchs, OGP reformers disclosed opaque contracts as open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., resulting in 80 percent of businesses reporting reduced corruption, 50 percent new businesses bidding for contracts and fiscal savings of $1 billion in two years.   Most OGP members in the region have also committed to open contracts, but only two have produced strong early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More.
• The Panama papers unmasked vast amounts of stolen funds stashed in anonymous companies. Today, 30 OGP countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Slovakia are advancing beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More 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 to end anonymous companies.  
• Open contracts and open company ownership can level the playing field for businesses, and help usher new investments to spur economic recovery. 
• During the pandemic, governments mobilized massive stimulus packages, but corruption also proliferated.  To tackle this, Nigeria’s Finance MInister convened an OGP roundtable with civil society, donors and the Auditor General to monitor COVID stimulus and take corrective actions.  From civil society, the CTAP coalition across 7 African countries has been mobilizing citizens to follow the money and demand accountability. In light of spiraling debtOpenly disclosing information about government debt enables informed decision-making, mitigates the risk of financial instability, and allows citizens to hold their governments accountable for respons... More levels, we also need greater debt transparency, as Ghana and Sierra Leone have instituted through OGP.   

Second, let us empower citizens to shape public services that impact their lives.  Ghana’s Shama municipality is enhancing public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... in planning and implementing development projects. In Kaduna Nigeria, when an audit revealed that a health clinic paid by the budget only existed on paper – a ghost clinic, the Budget Director partnered with citizens to upload photos and feedback on public services using a mobile app, resulting in a record completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More of health clinics. In Panama and Ecuador, reformers are empowering citizens, especially those most vulnerable to climate change, to shape ambitious climate actions. Let us scale up such OGP commitments, especially at the local level such as through Morocco’s new Network of Open Local Governments – reforms that mobilize 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 to shape public services, and ensure that governments respond to citizen feedback.  

Third, let us fight inequality through inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More of marginalized groups.  Through participatory budgeting in Côte d’Ivoire, women’s groups fund public services that better respond to their needs.  Kenya has required that 30 percent of procurement contracts be awarded to women, youth or people with disabilitiesA government is not open unless it is accessible to all, and governments are working to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equitable services and opportunities to participate. Technical spec....  Jordan is enhancing youth participation in its National Youth Strategy. Let us scale up such reforms that build more inclusive societies.  

Fourth, let us leverage digital technology as a huge accelerator for open government and direct citizen engagement.  This for instance is a key pillar of the Moroccan government’s digital strategy.  OGP reformers are also tackling digital threats such as the insidious spread of disinformation by regulating online political ads in Europe or improving the transparency of algorithms used to deliver services in Canada.

Fifth, protect civic space.  Without this, open government doesn’t work.  Sadly, across Africa’s 49 countries, 88 percent are ranked as closed, repressed or obstructed in civic space. Through OGP we must advance commitments that protect our basic ability to freely speak, associate and assemble.  Such as in Nigeria in the aftermath of EndSARS protests against police brutality, where reformers and activists leveraged OGP to improve police oversight.

To advance these ambitious reforms, we must forge stronger and broader coalitions. We must begin by reinvigorating our own OGP community.  And we must forge new coalitions, such as with youth and social movements that can mobilize citizens as allies, or with broader Cabinet ministers who can advance open government across sectors. I call upon donor partners to support the country-owned OGP platform and the resulting ambitious OGP reforms, given evidence that Africa has the most ambitious OGP commitments across regions but the weakest implementation.   

Let me close on a personal note.

I grew up in Bihar – India’s poorest and most corrupt state – where I saw corrupt elites brazenly steal precious public resources that robbed the poor of basic public services. My father was responsible for building roads.  He fought a lonely battle for open government – even though the term did not exist then! – by insisting on awarding contracts through open tender, even though he was threatened and attacked by powerful forces. 

After retiring, my father persisted as an activist outside government, litigating against corruption in road projects till literally the day he fell and died.  He persisted till the end, but he was a lonely warrior.  OGP provides a precious platform to connect these lonely warriors from inside and outside government – like my father, like several of you – so we can find collective courage to advance our shared cause against formidable odds. 

Here in Morocco, “Twiza” – meaning collaboration – is a traditional practice where people join together to contribute to a shared cause.  So let us join together in this spirit of Twiza to put citizens at the heart of governance.  Let us advance ambitious open government reforms that deliver better democracy for and with citizens.   Let us help realize that precious, precious promise – a government that truly serves its citizens, rather than itself.  Merci beaucoup.