Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder Global Initiative with over 80 countries in the World participating. The focus of the OGP is to improve government transparency, accountability, responsiveness to citizens’ needs and promotes inclusive participation in decision-making, policy formulation, development planning, budgeting, service delivery, monitoring and reporting. OGP brings together government, civil society and private sector champions of reform who recognize that governments are much likely to be effective and credible if they open their doors to public inputs and oversight.
The OGP promotes the principles of democracy and sets the platform for transparent and accountable practices in government. This includes having access to vital information, involving citizens to be part of the decision-making process. Thus, aligning with the Government’s policy priority of attaining value for money while delivering goods and services through a scrutinized fiscal management system.
OGP in essence, introduces a domestic policy mechanism in which government and civil society establish an on-going dialogue on the design, implementation and monitoring of the commitments included in their OGP National Action Plan. At the International Level, OGP provides a global platform to connect, empower and support domestic reformers committed to transforming government and society through openness.
As part of the Global reform to promote transparency and accountability and inclusive participation in service delivery, the OGP was formally launched in September, 2011 in New York, United States of America with eight (8) founding governments – namely; Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United State of America, endorsed the Open Declaration and announced their Country Action Plans. These plans promote transparency, empower citizens, fight against corruption, and seek to harness new technologies to strengthen governance. At the core of this partnership is a commitment from participating countries to undertake meaningful steps in forming concrete action plans that are developed and implemented in close consultation with their citizens.
Currently, the membership has increased from 8 to over 80 countries and 3000 plus civil society organizations. Global leaders consider the OGP platform as a unique platform to work together with each other, hence government and civil society working together.