Current OGP Commitments - The International Center for Not

Current OGP Commitments Almost 200 commitments specifically impact civic space. Legislative/Institutional Commitments to open space for civil society 20112013 cycle

9 legislative/regulatory commitments impacting public participation and/or nonprofits.

8 countries: Albania, Chile, Croatia, Guatemala, Montenegro, Peru, Ukraine, Turkey

20132015 cycle

27 legislative/regulatory commitments impacting public participation and/or nonprofits.

16 countries: Ireland, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Sierra Leone, UK, Philippines, Guatemala, Uruguay, Ghana, Panama, Armenia, Tunisia, Latvia, Ukraine

Examples Bulgaria (2013-2015): Amendments to the Non-profit Legal Entities Act to set up a Council for Development of the Civil Society.

Latvia (2013-2015): Establish a sustainable model of financing NGOs to enhance the institutional capacity of associations and quality participation of NGOs in decision making, in order to strengthen them as social partners and promote the delegation of public functions to associations and foundations, especially in matters of civic education.

Process Level Commitments to enable civil society participation I.

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CIVIL SOCIETY: These commitments cover the set of activities to enhance the skills, competencies, abilities, understanding, systems, processes, and institutional infrastructure of civil society or citizens to achieve or accelerate results in a particular open government policy area. Activities include but are not limited to training programs for civil society representatives, development and distribution of guidelines, standards, toolkits, and other learning resources. Examples 201118 12 countries: Brazil, Mexico, 2013 commitments Philippines, South Africa, Colombia (2011-2013): Policy guidelines and statute cycle Azerbaijan, Colombia, Estonia, of citizen participation: The country will work on Georgia, Latvia, Macedonia, Peru, Slovakia strengthening the national policy on citizen participation mechanisms to generate actions aimed 201336 20 countries: Brazil, Ireland, at capacity building of officials, public authorities and 2015 commitments Macedonia, Croatia, Estonia, citizens, and the implementation of effective cycle Greece, Lithuania, Mongolia, US, opportunities for participation. Within these actions a South Africa, Chile, Guatemala, unified methodology of accountability for all entities Uruguay, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, El Salvador, Jordan, Latvia of the national government and the regional governments will be developed. Slovakia (2011-2013): Proposal for three processes "Dialogue on Strategy...: using the participatory methods and training of involved public administration staff and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

II.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: These commitments cover the forums (formal or informal), mechanisms, and processes that allow citizens to consult, comment or provide feedback on the actions of government either through organized discussions with government agents and CSOs or through online interfaces that allow for public feedback on policy, public service delivery, etc.

20112013 cycle

20132015 cycle

111 commitments

192 commitments

35 countries : Brazil, Philippines, South Africa, UK, US, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro Peru, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Ukraine, Uruguay, Honduras, Kenya, Turkey, Lithuania, Norway 23 countries: Brazil, Ireland, Macedonia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, US, UK, South Africa, Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico, Norway, Guatemala, Finland, Netherlands, Panama, Tunisia, New Zealand, Serbia, Ukraine

Examples Tanzania (2011-2013): Establish an open forum in collaboration with civil society to review quality, integrity, depth and pace of progress against OGP commitments. Kenya (2011-2013): Improving service delivery by government, both National and Devolved Government, by engaging the public in defining County and Constituency Electoral boundaries as a means of bringing government closer to citizens. Public participation has to be inclusive through available channels: web, mobile, radio, TV and public hearings. Chile (2013-2015): The government submitted a bill on communal plebiscites to strengthen citizen participation in public policy to Congress.

Types of Public Participation Commitments PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING: These commitments cover mechanisms and processes of involving the public (individuals or CSOs) in various phases of the budget cycle. Examples Honduras (2011-2013): Implement assessments jointly with civil society organizations on fiscal management and public services.

20112013 cycle 20132015 cycle

5 commitments

3 countries: Philippines, Croatia, Honduras

8 commitments

8 countries: Brazil, Ireland, US, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Finland, El Salvador

Croatia (2011-2013): Support cooperation programs between local and regional self-government units and civil society organizations in strengthening budget transparency and citizen participation in planning and monitoring local budget implementation. Brazil (2013-2015): Develop a methodology for Social Participation on the monitoring of the Pluriannual Plan and on the formulation of the Federal Public Budget, in order to promote participation, training and dialogue with the civil society for the monitoring of the public planning cycle.

E-PETITIONS: These commitments cover the electronic tools that enable the public to petition their government and call for action on issues in the public interest. Examples Ukraine (2011-2013): Development and implementation of a unified single online platform enabling citizens to file petitions and information requests with government agencies and local selfgovernment bodies.

20112013 cycle

10 commitments

7 countries: US, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Slovakia, Ukraine

20132015 cycle

6 commitments

5 countries: Georgia, Moldova, US, Tunisia, Latvia

Montenegro (2011-2013): By affirming dialogue and partnership as the core directions and principles of work, in December 2011 the Government announced that it will open an online platform to enable citizens of Montenegro to create and sign electronic petitions about anything that the Government is responsible for. Georgia (2013-2015): Launching electronic platform I-change (www.ichange.ge) for e-petitions will increase civic engagement in public policy; it will enhance transparency of government activities and decisions and will further stimulate interrelation between the government and Georgian society. The portal will enable citizens to initiate epetitions on the issues within the competencies of the Government.

SOCIAL AUDITS: These commitments pertain to the process of a public review (by the public or through intermediary CSOs) of government financial records to determine if the reported expenditures match the actual disbursement of funds or delivery of services on the ground. 20111 1 country: Philippines 2013 commitment Examples cycle 20137 6 countries: Brazil, Philippines (2011-2013): The Commission on Audit will 2015 commitments Macedonia, Philippines, create an internal unit as a mode to institutionalize the cycle Guatemala, El Salvador, engagement of civil society organizations in conducting Serbia participatory audits of government projects. For 2014, the Commission will jointly conduct four pilot audits of infrastructure projects with partner CSOs. El Salvador (2013-2015): Promote citizen oversight to ensure participation in the formulation of budgets, presenting of proposals or investment needs, and in monitoring through observatories or other mechanisms for the efficient use and allocation of public resources.