Group 1 (EN) and Group 2 (SP) Bringing Access to Justice to the heart of OGP
Participants in this group will discuss how the Open Government Partnership can better address access to justice issues. These domains are currently under-represented in OGP Action Plans, yet are urgent priorities for many citizens, and would potentially make OGP relevant to a broader group of civil society actors. If you work in topics such as accountability, impunity, marginalized communities, security, human rights we would like to hear your ideas about linking these topics to National Action Plans. Are there ways for OGP to support more countries to commit to ambitious commitments in this area? Who could be champion countries and/or civil society actors to lead on this?
Group 3 (EN) and Group 4 (SP) Caucusing for ambition: strengthening national and cross-country networks on Open Government
This group will discuss how national and cross-regional collaboration can strengthen civil society’s advocacy efforts around open government. In some of the participating countries we are starting to see smart, coordinated civil society strategizing to get big priority commitments delivered. For example UK civil society got a breakthrough on beneficial ownership. We’ve also heard from you that global coordinated advocacy - using both OGP and other international platforms - could help advance thorny issues and/or raise the bar on issues. This advanced way of caucusing is a relatively underexplored opportunity. What is needed to use both these national and global opportunities? Join to discuss this and other ideas!
Group 5 (EN) and Group 6 (SP) How have you done it? Peer-Learning to get better national OGP Processes
One of OGP’ strengths is the many opportunities for peer learning - whether at events, through webinars or by peer exchange. Participants in this group will share experiences regarding civil society’s role in the development of Action Plans, creation of local Steering Committees monitoring and evaluation of progress etcetera. If you were successful in getting coordinated amongst each other as civil society, developed a shadow Action Plan to lead advocacy, created a solid permanent dialogue mechanism, play a successful role in implementation or used the Independent Progress Report smartly to get a better next plan than this is the session for you to share your tips & tricks, pitfalls and challenges ahead!
Group 7 (EN) and Group 8 (SP) What does the research tell us? - Exploring the Present and Future Open Government Research
Advocacy, spin, promises and planned commitments are all part of the open government game. But to know if OGP is really making a difference we need to distinguish fact from fiction. After 4 years there is a lot of material on how is OGP doing, from case studies to dozens of Independent Progress Report to academic papers. Participants in this group will be introduced to the wealth of material available by now and based on that have a conversation about the latest research findings related to open government. If you are interested in research or have engaged in any related projects join us to share your findings and help us think about additional research that is needed in the field!
Group 9 (EN) and Group 10 (SP) What can the SC do for you? A conversation with the incoming SC co-chairs
Join our new civil society chairs to reflect on the Steering Committee roles, responsibilities and expectations. They will share their ideas for the coming years and answer all questions you might have. What issues should OGP prioritize? What are their ideas for improving the OGP process? How can the Steering Committee help national processes that are stuck? How can you become a Steering Committee member? What is working in OGP for you - and what not? This is a great opportunity to share success stories or challenges with the OGP Steering Committee and help shape priorities moving forward.
Group 11 (EN) and Group 12 (SP) Sourcing international support for Civil Society’s Local OGP Advocacy Efforts
“We need more resources to be able to ‘do OGP’” is something we hear a lot, especially now that civil society support is becoming more difficult to source in many regions across the world. Different stakeholders (multilaterals, funders, OGP Working Groups, etcetera) have successfully supported CSOs working on OGP at the national level. Participants in this group will hear various examples and smart advice. If you have a story to share or have detected opportunities, then help us shape this discussion!
Group 13 (EN) and Group 14 (SP) Engaging New Actors in the Open Government Game
Broadening the base of open government champions at the national level is one of the best ways to make the change we are pushing for a change at scale and one that sticks. In some OGP countries we have successfully expanded the range of actors who are involved – whether parliaments, private sector, or new networks of civil society actors. In this session we will showcase success stories in which a diverse array of actors have supported open government efforts at the national level and discuss what new groups we should particularly target. What should our engagement be with the private sector? How can we more deeply engage the human rights and development communities in the push for SDG-related commitments? What is the role of religious groups or informal leaders at the community level? Share your experience broadening engagement beyond the usual suspects and contribute your ideas on who and how to target.
Group 15 (EN) and Group 16 (SP) Building commitments that impact the lives of the people – how do we do it?
In this session we will discuss a perennial question for a lot of us working in OGP processes – how do we build ambitious and innovative commitments that have the potential of impacting the lives of citizens. There are good examples in the Action Plans - commitments on health, education, the environment. With the Sustainable Development Goals signed - and OGP’ ambition to be a platform for delivery of those - the time is right to join us to share your stories and challenges in this area.
2 Additional Bilingual Tracks TBC