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11 May 2012
By Abhinav Bahl
Bahl works for Global Integrity, which published this article May 9.
The Open Government Partnership is officially afoot with the Articles of Governance formally approved and adopted at the first annual meeting in Brasilia last month. With…
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30 April 2012
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee on April 16 engaged in a discussion, still partially unresolved, of how to handle members who fail to live up to their commitments, according to minutes released April 30.
The committee – made up…
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30 April 2012
The next major stage in the history of the Open Government Partnership will occur as the 55 members review their implementation of their national action plans, and have their compliance reviewed by experts.
This Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) process was…
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27 April 2012
The Open Government Partnership spent almost $1.5 million ($1,497,563) in its first year of operation, according to a recently posted budget.
Much of that amount, 46 percent ($696,000), was, or will be, dispersed to other organizations, according to the budget,…
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27 April 2012
In the week after the Open Government Partnership meeting in Brazil April 18-19 a number of articles have appeared with reflections on the conference, largely favorable but sometimes raising issues such as government accountability and civil society participation.
Canadian blogger…
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19 April 2012
The process through which the Open Government Partnership will review the implementation of national action plans is still being developed, according to OPG Steering Committee members.
The basics of the process are contained in the recently adopted Articles of Governance, but further…
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19 April 2012
The Open Government Partnership meeting in Brazil concluded April 18 with new leaders praising the energy shown during two busy days on panel discussions and interactions and looking to the future of the fast-growing institution.
Founded officially seven months ago…
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19 April 2012
“Welcome to a work in progress,” began Warren Krafchik.
The new co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, representing civil society, was addressing a room filled with about 150 civil society group representatives, his constituency, who had come to Brazil for…
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18 April 2012
By Toby McIntosh
The Open Governance Partnership Steering Committee has set the structural framework for the future of the unusual multilateral organization run by governments and civil society organizations.
In new Articles of Governance, the OGP describes how the organization will…
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18 April 2012
Forty-seven national “action plans” were discussed at the Open Government Partnership meeting in Brazil April 17, some earning praise from civil society organizations and others getting critical reviews.
But the controversies were not unexpected, or entirely unwelcome, to OGP organizers.…
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17 April 2012
The Brazilian co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, Jorge Hage, during his opening remarks April 17 at the OGP conference in Brazil, will invite volunteers to serve on a “Working Group on Meeting Outcomes.”
“This group will sit in on…
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16 April 2012
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee April 16 approved the creation of a third co-chairman, to represent the nine civil society organizations on the committee.
Warren Krafchik, of the International Budget Partnership, who has been a Steering Committee member from…
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16 April 2012
“This feels like a transparency festival,” remarked a civil society activist as she greeted colleagues from other organizations at the Brasilia, Brazil, airport.
The organizers of the Open Government Partnership conference being held April 17-18 now expect attendance of about…
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10 April 2012
By Toby McIntosh
The adoption of “Articles of Governance” is a major topic on the agenda of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee meeting April 16 in Brasilia, Brazil, according to the agenda released April 10.
As the agenda was…
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6 April 2012
About 440 persons are expected to attend the Open Government Partnership conference in Brazil April 17-18.
Only a few national action plans have emerged in advance of the meeting, but more than 40 will be unveiled during the two days…
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12 March 2012
The Open Government Partnership has disclosed the members of its four Steering Committee subcommittees and indicated that its governance plan will be out before the April 17-18 OGP general meeting in Brazil.
While the names of the four subcommittees could…
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9 March 2012
A civil society group in the United States, OpenTheGovernment.org, has established a website to coordinate U.S. CSO activities in the context of the Open Government Partnership and is offering to help CSOs in other nations create websites, too.
The new…
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5 March 2012
Trinidad and Tobago is the 53rd country to join the Open Government Partnership.
A Feb. 22 letter from Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communication Surujrattan Rambachan indicating a desire to join was added to the OGP website March 3.
With…
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2 March 2012
The Open Government Partnership has released the draft agenda for its April meeting in Brazil and there are indications that other countries are interested in joining.
The OGP also posted a searchable list of about 60 “suppliers” – organizations available to…
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24 February 2012
Seven other countries participating in the Open Government Partnership have submitted interim reports on their efforts to write national action plans.
According to a FreedomInfo.org review, Estonia, Georgia, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Montenegro and Sweden sent in updates within the past week that are posted…
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23 February 2012
By Toby McIntosh
The Open Government Partnership Feb. 22 announced the names of 35 persons from civil society organizations who will represent their countries at the April 17-18 OGP meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.
Their selection comes along with a few…
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17 February 2012
By Greg Michener
This article first appeared in Michener’s blog: http://observingbrazil.com/
As co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, in a very few months Brazil will play host to a meeting among more than 50 countries participating in an unprecedented global initiative: a…
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13 February 2012
Twenty-one governments have yet to report on their progress toward developing Open Government Partnership action plans, according to a FreedomInfo.org tally.
In the action plans that have been submitted, however, it appears that governments are holding consultations and preparing draft…
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6 February 2012
A top United Kingdom minister Jan. 30 said progress on transparency will be an important factor in British foreign aid decisions.
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, spoke at the World Bank about the ascendency of transparency in the U.K.…
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6 February 2012
Russian President President Dmitry Medvedev Feb. 6 suggested that Russia should consider joining the Open Government Partnership, according to a Russian media report.
“I believe it stands to reason for us to consider participation in this [initiative],” Medvedev said, according…
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6 February 2012
The Open Government Partnership Feb. 4 invited private sector companies to attend its April 16-18 annual meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.
Last month the OGP issued a call for civil society participation at the meeting which also will be attended by…
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4 February 2012
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Governance Working Group has recommended that a representative from an African government be added to the Steering Committee.
The group also said that “all” OGP meetings will take place under Chatham House rules, with remarks…
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3 February 2012
The Open Government Partnership has begun posting updates from member countries about the progress they are making on their national action plans.
The OGP announcement Feb. 2 said 19 updates had been received, but not all of them were available…
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27 January 2012
We have an #OGP civil society co-chair!!
That’s Martin Tisne’s enthusiastic tweet about a development in the closed meeting of the governance subcommittee of the Open Government Partnership.
The subcommittee met Jan 26 and 27 in Washington to work out…
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20 January 2012
The Open Government Partnership is continuing its preparations for the April meeting in Brazil, putting out calls for suggestion of panel topics and “thematic side meetings.”
The OGP also reminded member nations to submit short updates on their efforts to…
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13 January 2012
The Open Government Partnership is advertising for a coordinator of civil society organizations and Costa Rica has joined, making the OGP a 51-nation multilateral effort to promote transparency.
Hivos, a Dutch development organization “guided by humanist values,.” is doing the hiring…
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6 January 2012
The Open Government Partnership has invited applications from civil society organizations (CSOs) for participation in the OGP April meeting in Brazil.
The OGP has clarified that contrary to earlier indications, the CSO representatives, possibly more than 100, will be allowed…
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30 December 2011
By Toby McIntosh
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee plans to invite many civil society organizations to the April OGP meeting in Brazil and to have CSOs elect their representatives to the OGP government body.
These are among the decisions…
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23 December 2011
The Open Governance Partnership Steering Committee is continuing to develop its policies on governance and disclosure while many of the 50 member countries are grappling with the preparation of national action plans that are due in April.
Official notes from the…
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12 December 2011
The civil society members of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee Dec. 12 issued a statement critical of South Africa for its current efforts to pass a bill designed to protect government information that has been widely criticized as a…
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8 December 2011
The two-day Open Government Partnership meeting in Brazil concluded Dec. 8 with a request from the Brazilian co-chairman for new OGP members to submit plans for civil society consultation by late January.
The request came from Minister of State Jorge…
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7 December 2011
By Toby McIntosh
The Open Government Partnership began a two-day “peer exchange working level meeting” Dec. 7 as Greece’s commitment to join brought OGP membership to 50.
Most of the sessions were nonpublic, but some tidbits emerged via Twitter postings…
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2 December 2011
What to do about member countries that backslide on transparency will be discussed Dec. 6 by the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee, with the backdrop being South Africa’s plan to adopt what critics call a “secrecy bill.”
At least one…
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28 November 2011
Demark, Armenia and Paraguay have joined the Open Government Partnership, bringing OGP membership to 49.
Their commitments come as the OGP prepares for a meeting in Brazil Dec. 7-8 and as comments arrive on the organization’s proposed disclosure policy.
In…
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11 November 2011
Countries that will participate in the upcoming Open Government Partnership meeting in Brazil have been asked to make short presentations on their efforts to date to develop national action plans, according to the OGP website.
In other recent OGP news:…
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25 October 2011
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee Oct. 25 proposed a disclosure policy, inviting public comment by Nov. 25.
The draft policy begins with a pledge. “The Open Government Partnership is committed to modeling best practices and embodying the principles of…
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21 October 2011
The Open Government Partnership will release its own proposed disclosure policy Oct. 25 as the organizers continue to develop the international effort.
The OGP steering committee also is preparing a governance policy that will, among things, deal with how to…
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30 September 2011
Countries who do not currently qualify for membership in the Open Government Partnership have been asking how they could get in the door.
Botswana, Mauritius and Tunisia are among a half dozen ineligible countries that have expressed an interest, according…
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27 September 2011
By Rakesh Rajini
Rajani is head of Twaweza Tanzania. This article is an edited version of a presentation he made on behalf of civil society at the Sept. 20 launch of the Open Government Partnership in New York on Sept.…
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22 September 2011
Unusual among the action plans by the eight founding member governments of the Open Government Partnership, Norway included gender equality as one component.
Norway is a founding member of the OGP, officially kicked off in New York City Sept. 20.…
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22 September 2011
The Mexican commitments made in its Open Government Partnership action plan promise a range of information disclosures about government services, release of databases and creation of online windows for commercial and corporate transactions, among other things.
Mexico is one of…
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22 September 2011
The United Kingdom’s plan submitted as part of the Open Government Partnership initiative drew attention for focusing on foreign aid transparency and also contains a number of other proposed activities for the home front, including on open data.
In Associated…
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22 September 2011
The Indonesian “action plan” announced Sept. 20 as part of the Open Government Partnership aims to be execution-oriented, people-oriented and have a snowball effect, according to the words of the preamble.
Indonesia is one of the founding members of the…
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20 September 2011
World leaders inaugurated the 46-nation Open Government Partnership Sept. 20 in New York City with speeches about the value of open government.
Endorsing a declaration on open government, the partner countries agreed to issue national action plans in which they…
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20 September 2011
The Brazilian government Sept. 20 issued its action plan for improving open government.
The announcement came in connection with the kick-off of the Open Government Partnership, a multinational effort that Brazil co-chair with the Unites States. The eight core members…
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20 September 2011
The United States Sept. 20 made 26 specific commitments as part of its national action plan for participation in the Open Government Partnership.
Some part of the plan have announced previously, but a few items are new.
“Probably the biggest…
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20 September 2011
The national action plans of the eight founding Open Government Partnership countries are now available online.
The plans indicate commitments made the United States and Brazil (co-chairs), South Africa, the United Kingdom, Norway, Mexico, Indonesia and the Philippines. (Click on…
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19 September 2011
Canada, Romania and Uruguay will round out the roster of 46 countries joining the Open Government Partnership, according to an OGP Twitter post late Sept. 19.
In addition, the OGP has released the declaration that joining countries will sign and…
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16 September 2011
With the only a few days to go before the Sept. 20 launch event, 43 countries have agreed to join the Open Government Partnership.
The latest seven to appear on the official list are: the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Latvia,…
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14 September 2011
Eight more countries have indicated their intention to join the Open Government Partnership – Azerbaijan, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Jordan, Montenegro, Tanzania and Turkey.
OGP membership now stands at 36. The OGP website lists 28 countries that have agreed to participate…
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9 September 2011
Twenty-eight countries have committed to participate in the Open Government Partnership and the list may grow by another dozen, according to informed sources.
The official tally of countries having sent in a “letter of intent” was first made available early in…
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8 September 2011
Italy and Estonia have joined the list of countries joining the Open Government Partnership, according to information posted on the OGP website.
The OGP also unveiled the agenda for the “Power of Open” conference to be held Sept. 20 in…
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6 September 2011
There are 22 countries are now committed to joining the Open Government Partnership, with the latest five additions being Bulgaria, Israel, Croatia, Mongolia and Lithuania, according to a U.S. State Department official.
These countries join nine others whose names were…
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2 September 2011
Nine countries plus the initial core group of eight have pledged to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a U.S. official told FreedomInfo.org Sept. 2, bringing total membership to 17.
The nine countries that have sent in “letters of intent”…
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25 August 2011
Efforts by the eight conveners of the Open Government Partnership to draft their national “action plans” are slowly emerging, according to a FreedomInfo.org survey.
However, in most countries the development of a plan does not appear to involve the wide…
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16 August 2011
Consultations on a “National Action Plan” in conjunction with the multinational Open Government Partnership (OGP) have begun in the United States, but are being slighted for falling below the OGP’s consultation standards.
The OGP is a U.S.-initiated multilateral effort to…
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8 August 2011
The Open Government Partnership has invited governments, civil society, private firms and others with expertise in open in government to participate in a “Networking Mechanism.”
The Open Government Partnership is “a new multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments…
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4 August 2011
The Open Government Partnership has published the names of the 79 countries eligible to join, and their qualifying scores.
The list is now available on the OGP website under the “More Documents” heading. The site also includes an explanation of…
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15 July 2011
Eight governments have indicated their intention to join the Open Government Partnership, according to Maria Otero, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs.
Speaking at a reception following the July 12 kick-off event in Washington, Otero listed Kenya,…
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12 July 2011
By Toby McIntosh
On the eve of the kick-off event for the Open Government Partnership, India dropped out, but the show went on, with enthusiastic pro-transparency speeches at a day-long event at the U.S. State Department in Washington.
The unexpected…
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8 July 2011
By Toby McIntosh
Organizers of the Open Government Partnership hope that more than 55 countries will be motivated by a kick-off event in Washington July 12 to prepare pro-transparency “action plans.”
The action plans, to be drafted with public input,…
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6 July 2011
By Toby McIntosh
The United States will host a multinational meeting July 12 at which representatives from more than 50 countries will discuss ways to bring more openness to their nations.
Sixteen categories of transparency will be put on the…
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10 June 2011
The United States on July 12 will host a meeting of the now nine-nation Open Government Partnership, at which time the coalition is expected to reveal more about the effort.
Maria Otero, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, is the…
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22 April 2011
Brazil has agreed to be the co-chair with the United States of an international effort to encourage freedom of information, a plan that has been in the making since it was broached last fall by President Obama.
No official announcement…
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23 September 2010
President Barack Obama Sept. 23, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, called for “specific commitments to promote transparency.”
His proposal came after he spoke about the need for open societies, open government, and accountability.
He then stated: “In all…
