The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is one of the world's leading international initiatives aiming to increase the accountability of government agencies in the Member States, to raise standards of openness and transparency, and to strengthen citizen involvement in decision-making processes. Georgia joined OGP shortly after its founding in September 2011 and became one of the most active members of the initiative, having been elected to the OGP Steering Committee since 2014. Georgia officially took over the chairmanship of the OGP from France in 2017, at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly at the meeting of the OGP Steering Committee. During its chairmanship, Georgia's primary responsibility covered strengthening the partnership between OGP member states, enhancing the OGP's positions, and maximizing the promotion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The most important event that Georgia hosted was the OGP Global Summit in Tbilisi in July 2018.
In frames of the OGP, member States voluntarily undertake commitments under the Action Plans, elaborated in cooperation with NGOs. The uniqueness of the OGP is reflected exactly in the close cooperation between the government and the civil sector. Due to the mentioned fact, the OGP Steering Committee, on a rotating basis, is composed of the representatives of both the governmental as well as the CSO sector, coordinating the activities of the OGP and protecting the values and interests of the OGP.
The OGP Steering Committee consists of the 22 members, 11 of which include the representatives of public authorities of the member states and 11 of which represent civil society organizations. The members of the Steering Committee are elected for 3-year term.
IDFI has been actively involved in OGP activities since 2011. The organization advocates various initiatives directed at raising government openness and increasing citizen engagement. Giorgi Kldiashvili, executive director of IDFI, one of the faces and global supporters of the OGP, was elected as the member of the Steering Committee in June 2017, representing civil society. Giorgi Kldiashvili was nominated as a candidate for the Steering Committee membership by Nils Scott, UN Ambassador to Georgia. Giorgi’s nomination was also recommended by the representatives of local and international organizations.
The membership term of IDFI Executive Director Giorgi Kldiashvili in OGP Steering Committee expired in October 2020. As a member of the Steering Committee, Giorgi Kldiashvili actively participated in the development of the OGP policies and standards in cooperation with his colleagues, advocated for various initiatives globally and regionally, as well as participated in summits and conferences organized by OGP. Giorgi’s regional targets covered Asia and the Pacific. At the national level, his main activities were aimed at introducing and strengthening international standards of open government partnership through executive and legislative branches of authority. In frames of the OGP activities, Giorgi Kldiashvili’s contributions covered topics such as United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), transparency in public procurement, Anti-Corruption, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Accessing Archives in a Post-Soviet World, Transparency of Beneficial Ownership, Open Data and many more.
During the membership of the Steering Committee, in frames of active involvement of Giorgi Kldiashvili, an important event of the Open Government Partnership, the fifth OGP Global Summit was held in Tbilisi. The event, held July 17-19, 2018, was attended by more than 3,000 representatives from 60 countries. The Executive Director of IDFI participated in the opening ceremony of the Summit with high-level guests.
Under the coordination of Giorgi Kldiashvili, IDFI continues active participation and contribution to the popularization of OGP locally and globally, the development and implementation of open government action plans at the national, regional and global levels. With the direct support and encouragement of the organization, a number of citizen-oriented commitments have been implemented under the National Action Plans aiming to enhance open governance, to increase the efficiency of public services and reduce corruption. At the same time, it is important to note that during 2017-2020, not only the involvement of executive branch but involvement of various other branches of government in the open government agenda was also increased.
Giorgi Kldiashvili expresses his gratitude to the OGP Steering Committee and each member of the committee, as well as the OGP Secretariat for active cooperation, for trust and huge support. While working for the Steering Committee presented a challenge it was an exceptional experience and success for both Giorgi and IDFI.
IDFI remains a strong supporter of the Open Government Partnership Principles, both nationally and globally, and will continue to promote openness-oriented reform implementation through public institutions.
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