On April 17th and 18th delegations from 53 countries will meet in Brasilia for the annual meeting of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international initiative that aims to disseminate and encourage government practices such as spending transparency, public access to information and public participation. The event will consolidate the OGP as an innovative movement for the application of tools and technologies that can help governments to resolve long-standing problems and provide tangible results for citizens. Around 5,000 delegates will gather for the two days of meetings, including representatives from civil society organizations, businesses and governments.

Under the leadership of the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, the event will count on the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the UK Minister of the Cabinet Office Francis Maude, the Prime Minister of Georgia Nikoloz Gilauri, journalist and Yemeni anti-censorship activist Walid Al-Saqaf, and the Indian lawyer and activist working to improve the educational system of his country Gautam John. Participants will discuss national initiatives being taken to promote transparency, strengthen citizenship, combat corruption and to implement new technologies to strengthen governance and support the implementation of multilateral commitments. In addition, it will provide examples of how open government contributes to general economic growth and public participation.

Minister Jorge Hage, Head of the Brazilian Comptroller General (CGU), explains the importance of the event: "This meeting will consolidate the OGP initiative because this is an initiative with voluntary participation, is not an international treaty, nor a mandatory convention, like the UN Anti-corruption Convention, the OAS Convention, or the OECD convention, in which we are also participants. Countries that want to do more, beyond their obligations, participate in the Open Government Partnership. We  expect participation from 53 countries, with 50 (the first 8 and the following 42) having already presented their action plans for next year, that is to say their new commitments in terms of openness of information".

11 April 2012