More than 60 coutries debates about transparency in Washington

11/07/2011

On 11 and July 12 government representatives and civil society from more than 60 countries will convene to discuss the "Open Government Partnership (OGP)" in a meeting to be held at the State Department U.S. government in Washington. The OGP is a new international initiative to secure concrete commitments by governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fighting corruption and harness new technologies to make government more transparent, effective and accountable. (See the schedule and the sites of the U.S. government and the CGU)

The initiative is an effort by several countries and Coordination Committee is under the responsibility of the U.S. and Brazil. The representatives of Brazil at a meeting in Washington / DC will be the ministers: Antonio Patriota, Foreign Affairs, and Jorge Hage, the Comptroller General (CGU). The Steering Committee is composed of nine representatives of governments and nine civil society organizations, including the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc), represented by Atila Roque, a member of the college management of the institution. The choice of the Institute was due to the recognition of his work in analyzing the state budget, which is in development for almost twenty years (since 1992).

In the day 11 will be a closed meeting of the Steering Committee, and on day 12, approximately 200 representatives of governments, the private sector and civil society will attend the event. The official opening will be attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Antonio Patriota and Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State. Atila Roque will also participate in one of the panels, which will discuss the importance of transparency and social control on the public budget in context with the provision of state services. The Minister Jorge Hage, representative of the Brazilian government Coordinating Committee, will also address the issue of transparency as a performance tool for governments.

The initiative was born in January 2011, when the U.S. government invited some countries to discuss the idea of an international initiative to promote transparency. At the time, were present nine countries and nine representatives of civil society in their respective countries namely: Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States.

At that moment, was also set up a Steering Committee, where its members are committed to making diplomatic contacts in order to invite a broader number of governments to adhere to the idea. Discussions in days 11 and 12 will feature more than 50 countries and the proposal is to present the OGP and encourage these countries to participate in the initiative.

Then, in September, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), the OGP will present a statement of principles to be signed by all UN member countries.

Learn more about the OGP? The partnership of open government is a new multilateral initiative that promotes open government and accountable to its citizens, under the supervision of a committee composed of nine governments and nine civil society organizations. Among the objectives of the OGP are: 1) Reinforce the rules around access to public information, 2) Show innovations in democratic governance of the developed countries and developing countries; 3) obtain concrete commitments by governments to fulfill the agenda of open government and 4) To have the civil society as an essential partner in the initiative of the OGP.

Watch Secretary Clinton's annoucement of the OGP.

Watch the conversation with Warren Krafchik, Director of the International Budget Partnership on the OGP.

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