The Open Government Challenge is a call to action for all members of OGP to raise ambition in ten areas of open government to help strengthen our democracies.
All members of the Partnership should aim to raise the ambition of reforms in 10 policy areas and demonstrate relevant progress in as many of the areas of the Challenge. In September 2026, on the occasion of OGP’s 15th anniversary, OGP updated what reforms are considered relevant and ambitious under the Challenge to ensure ambition keeps pace with new developments and to create space for new areas of action in open government.
Explore each of these areas and relevant reforms to address the challenge here.
We must act together to make a difference, because only when governments, public officials, and civil society work together, we see more ambitious and impactful reforms that transform our communities.
The most ambitious reformers may be recognized regularly in international fora, featured in inspirational stories, and can share their progress across the OGP community. Check our frequently asked questions page for more information.
How to Participate
Any public sector institution across all branches and levels of government of an OGP member can participate in the Challenge. Members are encouraged to participate in as many Challenge areas as possible. Challenge commitments should be the most ambitious, flagship actions by members. Where more than one public institution in an OGP member wishes to participate in a specific challenge area, the OGP Support Unit will aim to facilitate coordination between the actors.
Civil society and other partners are strongly encouraged to co-create and support a Challenge, but the Challenge must be owned and implemented by a public sector institution. At the time of awards, partners and civil society could nominate governments, as long as the reform is adopted and implemented by the government.
To participate:
- OGP Points of Contact can submit a commitment as part of the country’s OGP portfolio under the updated Action Framework. OGP Local members can submit a commitment as part of their action plan. We encourage this as the primary method of participation in the Open Gov Challenge.
- Public sector institutions that are not the OGP Point of Contact can also submit a commitment outside the country’s OGP portfolio using the form for standalone commitments available in English, French, and Spanish. We encourage all submitters to reach out to the OGP Point of Contact in their country before submission.
These are not mutually exclusive options. Members can participate in more than one of the above concurrently.
All commitments submitted to OGP will be automatically reviewed for Open Gov Challenge eligibility. Submitters will be notified if a commitment is accepted to the Challenge.
OGP will also enable members and non members to share stories for inspiration on their work on Challenge areas. Similarly, civil society and partners can share stories of government actions. These will not be used for measurement of Challenge performance, but may be used in our narratives and communication and inspiration efforts to promote the Challenge.
Eligibility
Actions or commitments that meet all of the following criteria:
- Thematic relevance: The action must aim to advance the goals of a Challenge area. Members are encouraged to submit ambitious commitments that are possible game changers for practices, policies, or institutions that govern a policy area, public sector, or the relationship between citizens and state; and/or generate binding and/or institutionalized changes across government. Ambitious commitments may also be actions within the Challenge areas that no one else or very few in the Partnership are addressing.
- Future-oriented: The action must be ongoing or planned, with future milestones. To be future-oriented, submitted commitments must include verifiable reforms that have yet to be implemented at the time of submission.
- Open government relevance: The action must be relevant to at least one open government value – transparency, public accountability or civic participation (see definitions below).
- Government-led: The action must be led by a public sector institution from any branch or level of government of an OGP member. Please see the “Expectations of Participation and Co-Creation” section below for rules on the involvement of civil society in Challenge commitments.
Challenge submissions must be relevant to at least one of the open government values below:
- Transparency: Government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the public, and meets basic open data standards (e.g. raw data, machine readability) where formats allow.
- Civic Participation: Governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to more responsive, innovative and effective governance.
- Public Accountability: Rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify to the public their actions, act upon criticisms or requirements made of them, and accept responsibility for failure to perform with respect to laws or commitments.
Expectation of Participation and Co-Creation
Commitments included in a member’s OGP portfolio must be co-created in line with the OGP Participation and Co-Creation Standards and are assessed through the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM).
OGP Local commitments must also be co-created and are assessed by the Independent Monitoring Body (IMB).
In that same spirit, commitments submitted outside a member’s portfolio are strongly encouraged (and expected) to follow the same principle of collaboration with civil society in their design, implementation, and/or evaluation.
Timelines
Commitments may be submitted to OGP at any time. Challenge commitments should aim to be completed before March 2028, in line with the end of the 2023-2028 OGP Strategy.
To find out more about the Challenge, including the process to include commitments in actions plans and more, please visit our Open Gov Challenge Frequently Asked Questions page.