Open Government Partnership conference begins in Tbilisi
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Government representatives from dozens of countries are coming to Tbilisi to participate in an international conference about open governance.
The first ever European Region Government Point of Contact (POC) conference will begin in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on June 3.
This conference will bring together more than 50 public servants from 21 Open Government Partnership (OGP) participating countries, where delegates can share their successes and challenges regarding achieving open governance in their home countries. Through sharing of knowledge and experience, international envoys will be able to learn from each other and build stronger networks of government reformers.
Georgia, as host country, will demonstrate the progress it has made in developing an open and transparent government.
Government POC are the civil servants responsible for all OGP activities within a country; from drafting new Action Plans with civil society to liaising with Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) researchers.
Since they are in such an important position, the Support Unit has hosted ‘POC Camps’ as side events during the Americas and Africa regional meetings in order to provide updates, showcase the resources available to them and encourage peer exchange. However the Tbilisi conference is our first ever standalone two-day Government POC meeting and we plan to make the most of all the time we will have,” said an OGP organiser.
The two-day conference will be inaugurated by Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who will deliver a speech at the opening Plenary Session tomorrow.
The agenda of the day also includes speeches by OGP Steering Committee ministerial representatives Thea Tsulukiani, who is Georgia’s Justice Minister and representative of France’s Prime Minister M. Thierry Mandon, who hold the title of Secretary of State for Government Reform and Simplification. Additionally Georgia’s Parliament Speaker, who is not a member of the Steering Committee, will also address the audience on the opening day.
Event participants already shared their impressions of Tbilisi on Twitter:
Getting ready for the first ever European Region Government Point of Contact Conference #OGPGeorgiapic.twitter.com/WEZP9QZ882
— Alonso Cerdan (@alonso_cerdan) June 2, 2015
Over the two days, the conference will feature a mix of short specific work sessions with longer and broader workshops.
Georgia is the first country in Eastern Europe to host such a high-level forum. Before Georgia was announced as the host of this year’s OGP regional conference, the country was elected as an OGP Steering Committee member.
The OGP is a multilateral initiative of the United States and Brazil, in which 63 governments work together with citizens to promote transparency, fight corruption and use technology as an enabler of governmental openness.
Government representatives from more than 40 countries are coming to Tbilisi to participate in an international conference about open governance.
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"We are constantly improving the governance culture in Georgia as open governance is an essential part of our Government” – with these words Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili opened the first ever European Region Government Point of Contact (POC) conference Georgia’s capital Tbilisi today.
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