Spain has been elected as co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and will start its mandate on 1 October 2024. In this way, Spain's great commitment and effort to promote more transparent, participatory and accountable public administrations is recognised.
The election of Spain to co-lead this multilateral organisation in which 76 countries, 104 regional and local governments and hundreds of civil society organisations participate took place at the 8th Global Conference of the Open Government Partnership, which is being held this week in Tallinn (Estonia). Spain is represented at the summit by the Secretary of State for Public Administration, Lidia Sánchez Milán, who highlighted Spain's involvement in this global project, given that it is represented in the Alliance by the three levels of public administration.
In fact, in addition to the Government of Spain, the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, Aragon, Asturias, Valencia and Madrid City Council are also members of the OGP. In this sense, Sánchez Milán highlighted Spain's experience in integrating open government at all levels of the administration as a way to achieve the co-presidency.
Likewise, the Secretary of State highlighted the "ambition" with which the current IV Open Government Plan (2020-2024) is conceived, which contains more than 110 initiatives at state, regional and local level, which demonstrates the "unequivocal will" of all its members to continue advancing in transparency and accountability.
Finally, Sánchez Milán also highlighted the important role that Spain can play among the different OGP member countries as a European country, but also with strong historical and cultural ties with Latin America and intense relations with Africa.
Spain, a member since its foundation
Spain has been a member of the Partnership since its foundation in 2011. A multilateral organisation that aims to make public administrations transparent, collaborative, accountable and inclusive. The Open Government Plans are developed by the countries. That is, strategic documents in which states make concrete commitments in this area.
In 2022 Spain went a step further by applying to join the OGP Steering Committee. This is the highest executive body of the Partnership, consisting of 11 representatives of states and 11 representatives of civil society. Members are elected by ballot for a term of three years, renewable for a further three years. Spain was elected last year and will join on 1 October 2024.
At the Tallinn summit, Spain has taken a further step forward by being elected to co-chair the Steering Committee for the period 2024-2025. The chairmanship involves leading the OGP Open Government Committee, driving OGP initiatives and providing leadership in open government-related areas. In this regard, Spain is committed to promoting with greater determination those measures that seek greater citizen involvement in public decision-making through deliberative processes.
Organisation of the Global Conference 2025
In addition, it also entails organising a Global Conference in 2025, which will bring together all Member States and representatives of civil society that make up the global open government community. This would be the Alliance's ninth Global Conference, following Brasilia, London, Mexico City, Paris, Tblisi, Ottawa, Seoul and Tallinn.
Non official translation
Family photo of the 8th Global Conference of the Open Government