The Open Government Partnership (OGP) coordinating body has prepared a draft Action Plan for 2016-2018 and the Government Office submitted it for public consultation.
According to the decision made by the coordinating body, which brings together representatives of the state and non-governmental partners, the new Action Plan for 2016-2018 will focus on increasing the openness and inclusiveness of policymaking and the development of citizen-centred public services. As an innovation, the Riigikogu and local governments are now also involved in the work of the coordinating body.
After reaching an agreement on the priorities of the new Action Plan, the Government Office cooperated with the coordinating body to organise a gathering of ideas, which resulted in receiving 33 proposals for specific activities that were assessed by the coordinating body, who then selected nine activities to be incorporated in the Action Plan.
The public consultation is open until 18 June. The expected result of the consultation is feedback for the Action Plan that was compiled in cooperation with various parties, especially concerning whether important topics have been addressed, something vital is missing, and for the implementation of which activities the consultants would be ready to contribute.
The new Action Plan is scheduled to be approved by the Government at the end of June, so that it could then be submitted to the international secretariat of the OGP.
According to recent data from the OECD, involvement in policymaking has increased significantly in Estonia. Compared to OECD countries, Estonia is in 6th place (from 38 countries), whereas it had come 33rd (from 36 countries) in the previous report. This indicator shows to what extent the executive power includes other parties in policymaking; consultation methods, openness, transparency and feedback mechanisms are evaluated.
The OGP coordinating body was established in September of 2014. It is composed of the representatives of the state and non-governmental partners, including representatives of NGOs, employers and contractors, and as of 2016, representatives of the Riigikogu and local governments as well.
The whole task is to compile an Action Plan and coordinate its implementation, provide recommendations to participants and make decisions related to the partnership, as well as assess the implementation of the Action Plan and provide widespread publicity to the objectives and activities of Estonian participation in the Open Government Partnership.
Estonia joined the Open Government Partnership in 2012 and it currently connects 69 countries. The OGP is an international initiative that was created to promote good governance in the world by using opportunities arising from the development of technology. Open governance means exercising power in an honest and transparent way, and in dialogue with the citizens. The countries that have joined the OGP commit themselves to following the principles of an open government and develop a specific Action Plan in cooperation with various parties.
In order to assess the implementation of the Action Plan, both a self-assessment report and an independent assessment are compiled.
Read more about the Open Government Partnership at: www.valitsus.ee/avp
More information: Liis Kasemets, Adviser of the Strategy Unit of the Government Office, +372 693 5627, [email protected]