NGOs Address Georgian PM Regarding OGP

Several Georgia-based Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which are participating in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Forum, have addressed Georgian Prime Minister, Mamuka Bakhtadze, regarding the OGP process in Georgia, and the progress of the country in this OGP Chairmanship year.

The NGOs say that during the chairpersonship, Georgia has to make commitments on carrying out meaningful reforms that will be directed towards resolving important issues in the country and that will have a positive impact on the lives of citizens.

“Georgia has not met the expectations on ambitious reforms stemming from the Chairpersonship year. Not only is there a lack of ambitious commitments in the Action Plan proposed by the government, but the joint proposal by civil society on the creation of an independent anti-corruption policy has not been taken into account, notwithstanding the fact that in the Co-Chair Vision of OGP, advancing transparency and fighting corruption was declared as one of the strategic goals of Georgia," the statement reads.

The organizations have major concerns regarding the co-creation process, adding that civil society was given an extremely limited time to provide feedback and recommendations to the draft 2018-2019 OGP National Action Plan.

“It is alarming that in spite of the willingness of Georgian civil society to come to a compromise, government agencies turned down alternative proposals at the very last minute, leaving no time or room for further negotiation. We believe this goes against the spirit of co-creation and casts a shadow on the government’s declared goals to stand out in the year of OGP Chairmanship,” the statement reads.

The NGOs claim it is a “tremendous harm” to the reputation of Georgia as an OGP Chair country, now in the international spotlight due to the Summit, adding the responsibility for “this failure” fully rests with the Georgian government, together with the Ministry of Justice of Georgia which was in charge of leading this process.

As the Action Plan has not yet been formally adopted, the NGOs believe there is a chance to make changes, “acknowledge the problem and urge the responsible authorities to revise the draft action plan and present an ambitious and transformative document at the Summit.“

The organizations believe it is important to distance the Justice Ministry from the coordination role of the OGP, adding the Ministry failed to develop the OGP in the country.

“We urge you to immediately intervene in the process, so that Georgia can greet the participants of the Summit with not only a well-organized Global Summit but also a National Action Plan that will on one hand have a tremendous impact on the domestic governance agenda and on the other hand be an example to other members of the initiative, who look up to Georgia for guidance and leadership,” the statement reads.

By Thea Morrison