Sustainable Development Goals to get capacity boost through the Open Government Partnership Initiative

April 12, 2018

Photo credit: UNDP in Ukraine / Mykola Musiyko

The Ukrainian Government commits to align key commitments under the Open Government Partnership  (OGP) with the Sustainable Development Goals. The fourth OGP Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2020 is discussed today at the high-level event and is to be finalized by mid-September.

Ukraine has joined OGP Initiative back in 2011. Since then UNDP has been closely cooperating with the Ukrainian Government to make it more open, accountable, and responsive to its citizens.

Having committed to OGP objectives, Ukraine has managed to introduce innovative tools for citizens’ participation in public affairs, improve access to public information and enhance government–civil society cooperation. OGP Ukraine Action Plan for 2012-2013 was implemented by 90%, and the Action Plan for 2014-2015 by 83%.

“UNDP welcomes an initiative from the Ukrainian Government to use the OGP platform to advance implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDG indicators. Such an approach will encourage Ukraine to adopt the core OGP values, including access to public information, civil society’s involvement, accountability, and introduction of technologies and innovations, into policy- and decision-making at both national and local levels,” says Blerta Cela, UNDP Deputy Country Director.

The engagement of civil society remains crucial not only for keeping close eye on the implementation of the forthcoming OGP Action Plan, but also for sharing responsibility with the Government regarding the commitments that match the civil society’s activities and areas of expertise.

Oleksandr Saenko, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers, stressed that the OGP Initiative promotes cooperation between Government and the civil society institutions. Such a fruitful cooperation has already brought significant achievements, including creation of the ProZorro electronic public procurement system, disclosure of 80% of state registries, introduction of electronic petitions, monitoring of public funds distribution, access to information about end-beneficiaries, open data development (Ukraine climbed 30 positions up in Global Open Data Index). Civil society is also involved in decision-making and strategic planning at the level of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The discussion session aimed at defining Ukraine’s priorities within the Open Government Partnership was organized by the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine and the International Renaissance Foundation. The strategic discussion brought together 40 representatives from the civil society sector, members of the OGP Coordination Council, top officials from the line ministries, representatives of international organisations and key donors.

About Open Government Initiative

The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, OGP is overseen by a Steering Committee including representatives of governments and civil society organizations.

The Open Government Partnership formally launched on September 20, 2011, when the 8 founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) endorsed the Open Government Declaration, and announced their country action plans. Since then, OGP has welcomed the commitment of 67 additional governments to join the Partnership. In total, over 70 OGP participating countries and 15 subnational governments have made over 2,500 commitments to make their governments more open and accountable.