Georgia fights to win Open Government Partnership Award
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, October 22
The OGP, the international platform launched in 2011 committed to making governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens, has just announced the OGP Government Champions Award among its 66 member states.
The Award was intended to showcase the ideal co-creation dynamic between the government and civil society while elaborating on the National Action Plan, the obligation Georgia took in February 2015 when the Parliament of Georgia joined the OGP.
The creation of the Action Plan offered by the OGP envisaged the drafting of such amendments that would make the government’s actions more transparent and beneficial to citizens.
To draft the Action Plan, an 11-member Inter-Factional Working Group was established in the legislative body consisting of majority and minority members.
It should be noted that anyone could nominate an OGP government team before the 4th of October for the Award. However, the nominations could only be made by non-governmental actors who were asked to provide a short summery and a homemade video, showcasing why their nominees should succeed.
A local Non-Governmental Organisation – the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) - has nominated the Inter–Factional Working Group for the Award.
The IDFI stated that the Group has put an active input in the process of implementing the Action Plan and highlighting the associated commitments, which Parliament is supposed to execute in the years of 2015-2016.
“The Inter-Factional Working Group has worked hand-in-hand with civil society organizations and safeguarded the initiatives stemming from the civil sector.
“Thus, the IDFI has provided the OGP with short a summary and a video showcasing the work and contribution of the Inter-Factional Group of the Parliament,” the IDFI said.
Three semi-finalists were selected by the Award selection committee on the 9th of October while an award winner will be determined by a public vote on the following website - https://review.wizehive.com/voting/ogp-champions. Voting will be open from October 15th to the 27th.
