2018 - a year for Georgia to redouble transparency efforts

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Support Unit Joe Powell, highlights Georgia’s progress in a letter issued before the OGP Global Summit to be held in Tbilisi in July this year. 

According to Powell, the fact that Georgia was selected to be the new co-chair of the Open Government Partnership is a huge achievement and recognition of how far the country has come since the Rose Revolution of 2003.

Georgia has many successes to showcase as it finds itself in this international spotlight,” Powell said, referring to a recent report from OGP’s independent monitor which shows outstanding progress on the declaration of public officials’ assets via a monitoring system, citizen engagement in audits and the adoption of an environmental assessment code.

On the other hand, the Open Budget Index for 2017 ranked Georgia 5th worldwide for fiscal transparency, ahead of many, much older democracies like the UK and the US.

Georgia’s Public Service Halls, bringing together essential services under one roof so that citizens can access them more easily and reduce the risk of paying bribes, has been exported to several other countries. These are reforms other countries can learn from as they seek to restore trust in governance, ensure fair budget allocations and reduce corruption,” Powell added.

Representatives from OGP's 90 national and local participants - including heads of state, ministers and civil society leaders, will gather in Tbilisi on July 17-19 to promote their achievements and discuss the challenges in upholding the principles of open government.

We now live in more challenging times for democracy and openness, and yet that makes the work of the partnership even more important. Georgia is uniquely well-placed to offer a different kind of leadership, one rooted in a story of democratic transition and building a new citizen-state contract after decades of totalitarian rule. 2018 can be the year when Georgia redoubles its efforts, and shows the world why the values of openness matter so much, to so many,” Powell said in his letter.

The 5th OGP Global Summit will focus on civic engagement, fighting against corruption and public service delivery. The objectives of the Summit are to promote peer learning, inspire OGP reformers to raise the level of ambition, and push the open government agenda forward to address new challenges and improve the lives of citizens around the world.