The OGP Local Group
The OGP Local program aims to harness the innovation and momentum demonstrated by local governments and civil society partners across the world. OGP is a platform for these governments and civil society to come together to make their governments more open, inclusive and responsive, modeling the values and principles of the Open Government Declaration and processes.
Why does OGP work with local governments?
Local governments are closer to the people and their work has a more direct impact on citizen’s everyday lives than national level governments. With increased populations in urban areas come increasing demands for services and the need for more effective and responsive local level governments. But it’s not just city governments that are facing challenges that could benefit from the OGP’s support. States, regions, provinces, and counties deliver crucial services, especially within federalized systems, where much of healthcare and education is administered at the state and local county levels. These governments are often more nimble than national level governments and are in closer proximity to the people they exist to serve. This makes the impact they have through participating in OGP sizable. They are also sometimes inadequately resourced and thereby have a greater need for support.
Improved visibility of the types of open government initiatives happening at all levels of government helps OGP to better serve not just local but national level governments as well. Many innovations and open government reforms are happening at the local level and the OGP Local program helps to build partnerships between local governments and CSOs to make their governments more open, accountable and responsive to citizens.
OGP Local | Become a Member
In 2020 a new generation of local governments will be part of OGP. Local jurisdictions from countries that are participating in OGP at the time of applications, will be able to apply. There will be no population threshold and no restrictions on applications from countries that already have a local jurisdiction participating in OGP. To learn more about the 2020 application process, click here.
The application process will be broken in two parts:
- Expressions of Interest (EOI)
Government and non-government stakeholders must file a joint expression of interest indicating reasons for interest in the program, track record, capacity and resources available for implementation, what they would like to get out of participation in OGP, and term limit of the current administration.
- Full Application
The full application will include a letter from the Head of the Local Government (or level equivalent to Ministerial level) supporting the application, committing to meeting OGP values and support participation of their jurisdiction in the local program; thematic policy areas they wish to advance through their participation; details of how they could help spread the practice of open local government amongst other locals in their jurisdictions; thematic policy areas where they can contribute good practices and lessons learned for other members of the cohort.
Both stages will be scored on a high-medium-low-unclear scale (3 points for high, 2 for medium, 1 for low, 0 for unclear) by a selection committee. A minimum score of 75% (similar to threshold for nationals) could be set as minimum threshold for selection.To learn more about the approval process, please check the OGP Local Implementation plan or please reach out to local@opengovpartnership.org or Patrick Kazyak-Albaladejo (patrick.kazyak@opengovpartnership.org)
Criteria:
- Commitment of political leader(s) as evidenced in the supporting letter from the Head of Government, and commitment of civil society leader.
- Track record on open government or co-creation with civil society (at least one open government reform or successful example of co-creation in the past 3 years). This could include a track record from participation in national open government initiatives.
- At least 18 months left in the term of the current administration to ensure they can participate and conclude the action plan process without interruptions.
- Ambition of future directions of open government action identified in the application (relative to the starting point or maturity of the agenda in the applicant’s context) and their alignment with OGP’s strategic and thematic priorities, especially as it relates to engagement of citizens in shaping and overseeing policies and services.
- Capacity and resources for co-creation and implementation, including Identified staff in government and identified civil society/non government counterpart.
If there is significantly more interest in the program, than spaces available, the following will also be considered:
- Clarity on available mechanisms for co-creation and monitoring
- Clarity of value proposition or benefit for the Local in joining OGP
- Willingness to participate in peer learning and sharing experiences, both within the cohort and with other Locals in their respective countries, and thematic fit with other potential Cohort members.
OGP members from RA՝
Armavir Community - https://www.
Gyumri - https://www.
vanadzor - https://www.
Yerevan - https://www.