Africanising the Open Government Partnership | Open Knowledge Foundation Blog

"The government of Kenya recently hosted the first ever OGP regional forum in Africa. The event aimed to establish guidelines for OGP activities for African countries; track and take stock of progress on the agenda to date and to think about how to Africanise the global OGP movement further. It attracted a range of delegates from across the continent involved and interested in the pursuit of open governance – government representatives, civil society actors, academia, the media, private sector, and multilateral institutions (see link for details).  Open governance is built on the principle of the universal right to access to information on the conduct of government and it places its value in enhancing effective public oversight. It aims to open up government affairs, (previously kept secret) to make it easier to scrutinise public officers and hold them to account. The argument is that access to government information enhances public participation and facilitates the audit of government actions. The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a new multilateral global governance and transparency initiative formed in 2011. It aims to secure commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. The OGP outlines a set of principles augmented by a declaration that form the basis of the open government. To date 45 countries (three African) have endorsed the declaration, 11 others (two African) are currently processing commitments and many more across the globe are working towards attaining eligibility.   At the heart of the event was the question of how different partners could together put in place a strategy to strengthen open governance in the continent and bring forth an African perspective to the global OGP movement. Participants shared their experiences on the push for open and transparent institutions, accountable to the people, and brainstormed ideas on how the global OGP could respond. Discussions focused on: the role of big data, public statistics, analytics and technology’s role in improving service delivery; managing extractive industries to ensure processes are open, transparent, participatory and accountable; and how to leverage technology and the media to bolster citizen engagement and enhance public integrity.  Key issues emerging from the discussions included ..."