Fwd: [ogp] Take the Open Gov Challenge on Open Gov Week!

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Alexander Howard

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May 28, 2024, 3:08:50 PMMay 28
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I’m sharing this message to the global OGP listserv domestically, as OpenGovWeek begins. My apologies for any crossposting. I’ll put this on a public website later today. 

As I noted below, the Open Government Partnership posted the IRM’s official action plan review for the 5th US NAP on May 22. No OGP account nor US official has amplified it online yet. 

-Alex

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Alex Howard <al...@governing.digital>
Date: Tue, May 28, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Subject: Re: [ogp] Take the Open Gov Challenge on Open Gov Week!
To: OGP Civil Society community <o...@dgroups.org>, <OPENG...@listserv.gsa.gov>, <us-open-g...@googlegroups.com>


Thank you so much for hosting this webinar and your many efforts to open governance, Alessandro. 

It is inspiring to hear about these international examples when the situation in the United States remains so grim. To date, our government is extolling the benefits of open governance for OTHER nations.


This is in keeping with President Obama’s 2017 assessment of the impact of OGP internationally (versus domestically) which was just disclosed under our freedom of information law: 

“we started this thing called the Open Government Partnership that's gotten 75 countries around the world doing all kinds of things that we've been poking and prodding them to do for a long time. It's been really successful making sure that people know what their budgets are and how they can hold their elected officials accountable, and we're doing it in Africa, in Asia, et cetera. And now, if we get a President who doesn't release his tax returns, who's doing business with a bunch of folks, then everybody looks and says, well, what are you talking about? They don't even have to, like, dismantle that program, it's just -- our example counts too.”

The power of that example remains dimmed: 

Establishing a FACA in the General Services Administration is a meaningful step, but is far away from how policy is made and power is used. 

For example, in 2024, President Biden and President Ruto made no mention of OGP in their press conference, only a passing line in the joint statement, unlinked to our action plan: 

As the White House noted when the USA co-founded OGP back in 2011, "National Action Plans are intended to be living documents, and the Administration plans to add additional commitments." https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/open/partnership/national-action-plans

That hasn’t happened since 2016. As a reminder, a coalition of the top good governance organizations offered consensus recommendations in August 2023 to the president prior to the Summit:
https://governing.digital/letters/letter-to-president-biden-on-advancing-ambitious-new-commitments-on-open-government-to-defend-democracy/

This White House did not reply, nor change direction. 

Today, I found that OGP posted the IRM’s official action plan review for the 5th US NAP on May 22, and that no OGP account nor official has amplified it online yet: 

There is still no official response to the OGP finding that the USA had acted contrary to process for the third time, as the world can see here: 

Given the issues documented in the IRM report and ongoing strategic silence by the White House, OGP’s decision not to place the USA under review after our government acted contrary to process three times looks inscrutable. 

It certainly has further undermined the ability of US civil society organizations to use OGP as a platform to achieve the ambitious reforms Sanjay and others are extolling this week in other nations: 
(The fact that OGP subsequently received millions more in funding from USAID after this decision is unfortunately notable, along with the continued lack of promotion of negative IRM reports that document openwashing, opacity, and unaccountability.)

I had hoped that this OpenGovWeek, in the spirit of "acting, following up, and developing those ongoing relationships” White House officials recently cited that the Biden-Harris administration would take up this challenge and address the serious issues that have plagued our country’s participation in OGP. 
In concrete terms, that would mean:

1) the White House revising existing commitments, as the OGP IRM recommended: 
2) The White House co-creating new “challenge” commitments for the 5th National Action Plan (5.5) – as the Obama-Biden administration repeatedly did, to show that officials will back up their words with action after many “listening sessions” - drawn from the themes. Given our country’s challenges with lies about the integrity of our elections, adopting a prebunking approach would make sense, learning from Canada, Estonia, Taiwan, & others: 
3) The White House committing to issuing guidance to agencies to co-create new agency open government plans with stakeholders this fall, in keeping with the Open Government Directive which remains in effect, coupled with a new executive order and rebooted wh.gov/open

If none of those efforts are forthcoming this OpenGovWeek, I hope the Secretariat & OGP support unit, members of the Steering Committee, & the global community of open government advocates all take public note of the yawning gaps between what the United States could and should be doing to support open governance at the federal, state, local, & international levels.

Our democracy hangs in the balance. Please don’t hold back constructive criticism that could push good governance here in a healthier direction.

Best,
Alex Howard

On Tue, May 28, 2024 at 1:34 PM Alessandro Bellantoni <a.bell...@opengovpartnership.org> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
 
This Open Gov Week, OGP is excited to share our webinar on the Open Government Challenge! Though we are facing a host of crises, it is through these hard times that we see the power and potential of democracy and open governance. We know that when government and civil society work together, we see more ambitious and impactful reforms transform our communities.
 
In this pre-recorded session, we go through an overview of the Open Government Challenge and its objectives, how countries and local governments can participate, and the policy areas the Challenge seeks to address. 
 
Reformers from four OGP members in the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Costa Rica, and Finland also share some of the commitments they have submitted to participate in the Challenge and what they hope these actions will achieve. 
 
Hear from: 
- Milagros Ortiz Bosch, General Director of Government Ethics and Integrity of the Dominican Republic;
- Zavhorodnia Tetiana, Deputy Head of the Legal Analysis and Rulemaking Division of the Anti-Corruption Policy Department, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention of Ukraine;
- Daniella Guevara Walker, Public Participation Program Coordinator at the Judicial Branch of Costa Rica;
- Katju Holkieri, Head of Governance and Leadership Policy Unit at the Ministry of Finance of Finland.
 
Join us, learn from these global examples, and become a part of the movement towards more open, inclusive, participatory, and accountable governments. It’s our time to meet the moment. Join the Open Gov Challenge!
 
Best regards,  
Alessandro Bellantoni
Director, Policy and Partnerships 
Open Government Partnership
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