The upcoming meeting of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee in London will address many critical issues for the OGP’s future.
Strategic direction, finances, Steering Committee membership and the independent review mechanism are some of the items on the agenda. Also, initial national action plans will be presented by a number of relatively recent members.
The agenda for the April 22-24 meetings was posted recently on the OGP website under “events.” The three newly announced civil society members on the 18-person Steering Committee are expected to attend. (See related FreedomInfo.org report.)
In addition to the two-day “Working-Level Steering Committee” meetings, a one-day “Ministerial-Level Steering Committee” meeting will be held April 24, to be attended by representatives of the 58 member countries.
The ministerial session includes a “Business Session” at which ministers are slated to review and approve proposals from four OGP subcommittees.
The OGP has not yet published associated documents for the meeting, but has in the past.
The minutes of a Governance and Leadership Committee meeting in February in Indonesia has been posted, apparently the only minutes available on subcommittee activity in 2013. The last Steering Committee meeting was held in December.
The meetings are closed to the public and the press. Past requests for access by FreedomInfo.org have been rebuffed.
(Link to all previous FreedomInfo.org coverage of the OGP.)
Steering Committee Agenda Announced
The items on the Steering Committee agenda include:
Review and agree proposals related to: 1) Steering Committee rotation; 2) subcommittee membership & mandates
Discuss strategy update and agree key questions for Ministerial mtg.
Discuss UK proposal, including theme, format, role of subcommittees in planning, Media Council, PR, etc.
IRM update and Q&A with IRM Program Manager and IEP member Rosemary McGee. Discuss timeline, budget and dissemination.
Discuss strategy proposal and identify questions for ministerial meeting. Update on Africa Regional Meeting.
Review and agree proposals related to: 1) self-assessment reports; 2) eligibility criteria; 3) future OGP (and IRM) calendar
Review and agree proposals related to: 1) OGP’s annual financial reporting; 2) Support Unit fundraising and budget. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report on OGP finances.)
Action Plan 2.0 – Lightning Talks – What changes are you considering in updating your action plan?
5-minute presentations by each new OGP country to highlight key commitments included in their OGP action plans.
Action Plan “Clinics” – Divide into small groups pairing new countries (government and civil society) with current SC members who will review action plans in advance and provide feedback.
Ministers to Dicuss Vision, Strategy
For the one-day ministerial meeting, the agenda items include:
OGP Vision and Strategy: discuss and resolve key strategic questions for 2013-2014.
October Annual Conference – Agree on the priority outcomes of the conference.
Discuss Country Support and Peer Learning strategy and identify top priorities for 2013.
Self-assessment Reports – Lightning Talks: SC members share top 3 lessons learned from year 1 of OGP implementation. Discuss implications for OGP calendar.
Business Session – Review and approve proposals from Governance & Leadership, Finance & Audit, Criteria & Standards, Peer Learning & Support.
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