The Brazilian co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, Jorge Hage, during his opening remarks April 17 at the OGP conference in Brazil, will invite volunteers to serve on a “Working Group on Meeting Outcomes.”
“This group will sit in on the various plenary, breakout and exhibition sessions throughout the meeting, take note of key highlights during the event, and jointly draft a formal meeting outcomes document for presentation to all meeting participants during the final plenary on April 18, 2012,” according to a posting on the OGP website.
The posting explains further:
The purpose of the meeting outcomes document is to capture the key messages, achievements and concerns emphasized by OGP stakeholders during the annual meeting, and create a collective agenda for OGP stakeholders over the coming year. This will include a special emphasis on capturing key strategic recommendations for OGP’s overall development as they emerge during discussions, The document will be posted on the OGP website and will be used to help the Steering Committee refine OGP’s strategic plan for the coming year.
Hage will invite interested participated to volunteer “immediately following” the welcome plenary session and 10 participants will be chosen – five from government, and five from civil society. “The first five governments and five civil society representatives to volunteer for the group will be selected, with the caveat that OGP will attempt to balance regional and thematic diversity among working group members when identifying the final members of the group. Only one civil society representative per country will be allowed, and OGP will attempt to ensure that government and civil society representatives from all regions are present on the working group,” according to the announcement.
The OGP Support Unit “will be stationed at a table outside of the plenary area during the coffee break to accept volunteers.”
“At the conclusion of the coffee break, the Governance and Leadership Sub-Committee and the Support Unit will identify the 10 Working Group members. At the beginning of the next plenary session—before the next set of talks commences—OGP will announce the Working Group members to all participants. Regional and thematic diversity will be taken into account when finalizing the composition of the group.”
The tasks of the working groups are further outlined:
- Once selected, gather immediately following the second plenary (12:30pm) on day one to confer as a group and assign responsibilities to members
- Attend each plenary and breakout session, along with the innovation village on day one, and document key highlights, lessons learned, challenges, etc…
- Meet at the end of the first day with the Working Group and members of the Governance and Leadership Sub-Committee to confer on initial outcomes and create a draft outcomes document incorporating group members’ contributions
- Attend each plenary and breakout session on day two, and document key highlights, lessons learned, challenges, quotes, etc…
- Meet during lunch and the final coffee break (4:00pm-4:30pm) on day two with the Working Group and members of the Governance and Leadership Sub-Committee to incorporate additional outcomes into the draft document
- Provide the outcomes document to the Support Unit to print for meeting participants and post on the website
- Identify one government and one civil society representative from the Working Group to present the outcomes document to the plenary during the closing session (4:30pm-6:00pm)
- The final meeting outcomes document should be no longer than 2 pages.
- The outcomes document will be shaped by listening and observation during discussion sessions, rather than by any sort of formal negotiations or agreements among participants during the meeting. Therefore, the document should be constructed as a compelling high-level summary of the event, which highlights key messages and areas of progress, innovation and continuing challenges that were emphasized by OGP stakeholders over the previous two days.
Criteria for Working Group Participation
All volunteers for the working group should possess a strong willingness to devote substantial time and energy over the course of the two-day meeting towards:
- Observing and documenting various aspects of the event
- Conferring with Working Group and OGP Governance and Leadership Sub-Committee colleagues, including during coffee breaks, lunches and in the evening
- Contributing to drafting the final outcomes document
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