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The Open Government Partnership in Ukraine: a reload

9 June 2015, Kyiv – More than a hundred of civic activists, governmental officials, and representatives of international organizations gathered at the roundtable to discuss the progress in implementing the 2014-2015 Open Government Partnership National Action Plan approved by the Government in November last year.

 
20150605-sliderBy joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in 2011, Ukraine has started work on joining the Open Governance Declaration, which would increase the transparency of information and data to include citizens in decision-making processes, implementing the highest standards of professional and fair conduct of civil servants and expansion of public access to information and information and communications technology. Within the periodic obligations to the international community and its own citizens, the Government of Ukraine every two years develops a new action plan to promote fundamental OGP priorities.
 
Over the years, UNDP has been a consistent supporter of open and transparent governance. It has stood by the Ukrainian government in attempts to organize meaningful dialogue with the civil society on priorities such as anticorruption, e-governance, administrative services efficacy, participatory decision-making – all within the realm of the OGP commitments of Ukraine.
 
Amongst other things, UNDP worked side by side the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and Transparency International as reliable long-term partners to organize the first and second OGP national consultations that took place in 2012 and 2014 respectively. UNDP position vis-à-vis their national partners in this area has always been that one of open dialogue, trust, and voluntary commitment for increased governance effectiveness.
 
The 2014-2015 Action Plan (http://bit.ly/1G95uhR) was adopted after a series of consultative roundtables in Lviv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kyiv, which gathered more than 240 participants, over three quarters of whom were civic activists. The results of online voting, which took place from late May to mid-July, collecting views of everyone, were also considered. The strategic directions of the Action Plan are to be defined by the OGP Coordination Council for Ukraine, a new composition of which was approved in May this year (http://bit.ly/1Q9Gwph).
 
After updating the composition of the OGP Coordination Council, this is a first extensive discussion about the OGP priorities in Ukraine and the progress in the implementation of commitments that Ukraine has voluntarily undertaken alongside other 64 countries that are part of this international club.
 
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The meeting was kicked off by Inita Pauloviča, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine, who emphasized: "The progressive feature of the new OGP National Action Plan was that not only government, but also the civil society and the donor community were inscribed as the co-implementers and partners for putting OGP priorities to work."
 
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The roundtable discussion featured inspiring talks focused on the latest developments in the OGP field. Joe Powell, Open Government Partnership Support Unit Deputy Director, spoke of the international dimension of OGP, pointing what international practices can contribute to greater openness. He underlined: "OGP is providing a platform for reformers across the world to make change happen with civil society at the heart of that change."
 
photo 3Following the discussion on the new challenges to be faced by the renewed Coordination Council, spearheaded by Oleksandr Ryzhenko, Deputy Chairperson of the Council and Head of State Agency for E-governance, the participants were introduced to the progress on both National Action Plans (2012-2013 and 2014-2015), delivered by Oleksiy Khmara, OGP Coordination Council Member and Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine, Ivan Presniakov, Author of the IRM report for the first evaluation cycle and Ukrainian Institute for Public Policy Expert, and Olesia Arkhypska, OGP Coordination Council Member and Transparency International Ukraine Governance Expert.
 
photo 4After the Question and Answer Session, Natalia Oksha, OGP Coordination Council Secretary and Deputy Director of the Department for Information and Public Relations at Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, took the stage to sum up the discussion and define prospects for the upcoming meeting of the OGP Coordination Council. She called for establishing civic working groups to work along the Council in achieving OGP priorities in the country.
 
The second part of the event revolved around the strategy for further development of the OGP in Ukraine, which is especially relevant in view of the country's international obligations taken under the OGP, renewal of the OGP Coordination Council for Ukraine, and the need for dialogue concerning the progress of the 2014-2015 OGP National Action Plan.
 
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After a speech on how OGP benefits from civil society involvement in the world, delivered by Nout van der Vaart, Programme Associate of the Open Government Partnership's Civil Society Engagement team, there was a brainstorming session on how to jumpstart OGP in Ukraine. Civic experts presented the preliminary recommendations that they have developed over the course of this visioning process.
 
 
 
The event was organized by UNDP Ukraine in partnership with Transparency International Ukraine and members of the Coordination Council for OGP initiative implementation in Ukraine.