TISL participated in an Open Government Partnership (OGP) working group session organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 3rd of April, to discuss the progress made towards the 12 OGP commitments.
The OGP working group session was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Dr. Harsha De Silva, and included a panel consisting of Esala Weerakoon (Secretary to the Minster of Foreign Affairs), Harim Peiris (OGP Government Coordinator) and Sashee de Mel (OGP Government Coordinator).
The OGP was launched in 2011, to provide an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. Through this initiative, government and civil society works together to develop and implement reforms which advance open government. Sri Lanka became a signatory to the OGP in October 2015.
TISL took on the role of Civil Society Organization (CSO) coordinator for the OGP process in Sri Lanka, and, in collaboration with the CSO OGP Steering Committee and civil society, developed a two-year National Action Plan (NAP) that received cabinet approval in October 2016. Sri Lanka’s OGP NAP tackles 12 commitments broken down into 9 key themes- Education; Health; Local Government; Corruption; Right to Information; Women in Political Governance; Women; Information and Communication Technology; and Environment.
The session commenced with each government representative providing an update on the success they have had in completing the requisite milestones and planned implementation activities for their respective thematic area/ commitment. This was followed by an update by their CSO counterpart who discussed any issues, shortcomings or concerns experienced during the implementation of particular milestones. The government representatives were also asked about the delays in implementing the milestones, in accordance with the NAP timeline.
The TISL OGP NAP milestone tracker and timeline can be viewed here.