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What is OGP

Georgia has acted as a leader of OGP and as a Chair country of the Partnership hosted the 5th OGP Global Summit in Tbilisi in 2018. In 2019, Georgia was re-elected by the member countries to a three-year term in the OGP Steering Committee. Georgia numbers among the few OGP member countries where all branches of government are fully involved in the open governance process.

Involvement of municipalities in the OGP Georgia’s process

The involvement of municipalities is one of the innovations of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2016-2017, as it was the first document to have commitments of 5 municipalities considered as a separate, independent component. With the efforts of OGP Georgia Secretariat and support of USAID and UNDP, involvement at the local level increased and commitments of 11 municipalities were included in the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019.
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Dedoplistskaro Dusheti Tbilisi Rustavi Bolnisi Zugdidi Khoni Tskaltubo Kutaisi Ozurgeti Batumi Akhaltsikhe

Zugdidi Municipality

Zugdidi Municipality City Assembly was one of the first municipal bodies to join the OGP - Georgia process in 2016. Enhancement of civic engagement was identified as a priority of the municipality according to the Action Plan for 2016-2017. To this end, City Assembly elaborated an electronic petition portal and Zugdidi-INFO, a mechanism for ongoing communication with citizens.

Within the scope of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019, the advancement of engagement mechanisms remained to be a priority of the Municipality, and to this effect, an effort has started to develop an online portal: Your Idea for the Zugdidi Mayor and multifunctional mobile application - I.Gov.Zugdidi.

Khoni Municipality

Khoni Municipality joined the OGP – Georgia process in 2018. The Municipality City Hall developed a Mid-Term Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan within the commitment undertaken as part of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019. Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) Project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the Municipality City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Tskaltubo Municipality

Tskaltubo Municipality joined the OGP – Georgia process in 2018. The Municipality City Hall developed a Mid-Term Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan within the scope of the Action Plan for 2018-2019. Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) Project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the Municipality City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Kutaisi Municipality

Kutaisi Municipality City Hall was one of the first municipal bodies to join the OGP – Georgia process in 2016. The Municipality City Hall developed an electronic mechanism for budget planning within the scope of Action Plan for 2016-2017.

Within the scope of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019, Kutaisi Municipality City Hall started working on collecting and publishing open data. Also, the City Hall set as its priority to facilitate full-fledged participation of persons with disabilities in the political and social life. USAID-funded Good Governance Initiative (GGI) in Georgia is the partner of the City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Ozurgeti Municipality

Ozurgeti Municipality City Assembly was one of the first municipal bodies to join the OGP - Georgia process in 2016. Within the scope of the 2016-2017 Action Plan of OGP Georgia, Ozurgeti Municipality City Assembly ensured transparency of the City Assembly sessions and started to develop an electronic mechanism for planning Ozurgeti Municipality budget.

Within the scope of Action Plan for 2018-2019, and with an effort of Ozurgeti Municipality City Hall and City Assembly, along with active involvement of local NGOs, a Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan were developed. The priority of the Ozurgeti Municipality is to implement innovative methods for civic engagement.

Batumi Municipality

Batumi Municipality City Hall was one of the first municipal bodies to join the OGP – Georgia process in 2016. Within the scope of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2016-2017 Municipality City Hall developed an electronic mechanism for Municipality budget planning.

Within the scope of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019 Batumi Municipality City Hall implemented an institutionalized participatory budgeting mechanism and started to implement and to develop electronic services in the Batumi Municipality. USAID-funded Good Governance Initiative (GGI) in Georgia is the partner of the City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Akhaltsikhe Municipality

Akhaltsikhe Municipality was one of the first municipal bodies to join the OGP - Georgia process in 2016. Within the scope of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2016-2017 Akhaltsikhe Municipality City Hall developed an electronic mechanism for Municipality budget planning.

Within the scope of OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019 Akhaltsikhe Municipality City Hall developed a Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan and started refinement of the process of collection and publication of open data and enabling the full-fledged engagement and participation of people with disabilities in the political and social life. USAID-funded Good Governance Initiative (GGI) in Georgia is the partner of the City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Dusheti Municipality

Dusheti Municipality joined the OGP – Georgia process in 2018. The Municipality City Hall developed a Mid-Term Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan within the commitment undertaken as part of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019. Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) Project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the Municipality City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Tbilisi Municipality

Tbilisi Municipality City Hall became involved in OGP pilot program for local self-governments (OGP Local Program) in 2016. The capital of Georgia made it into the 15 cities selected among the 45 candidates in the world.

Tbilisi City Hall developed the First Action Plan in 2017, within the scope of which a portal of petitions – Your Idea for the City Mayor was created. The portal enables the citizens to present their ideas or to support their co-citizens’ initiatives and to take part in city development.

The capital city’s second Open Governance Action Plan for 2018-2020 includes five commitments:

  • Development of a multi-profile mechanism of Open Governance and Civic Engagement - Information and Civic Activity Portal (“SMART MAP”) 
  • Introduction of participatory budget
  • Improvement of access to services through civic engagement
  • Development of Good Faith and Transparent Governance Strategy
  • Development of quality of transparency through electronic mechanisms.

Rustavi Municipality

Rustavi Municipality joined the OGP – Georgia process in 2018. The Municipality City Hall developed a Mid-Term Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan within the scope of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019. Also, the municipality began works on implementing and developing electronic services. Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) Project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the Municipality City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Bolnisi Municipality

Bolnisi Municipality joined the OGP – Georgia process in 2018. The Municipality City Hall developed a Mid-Term Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan within the commitment undertaken as part of the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019. Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) Project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the Municipality City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

Dedoplistskaro Municipality

Dedoplistskaro Municipality joined the OGP – Georgia process in 2018. The Municipality City Hall developed a Mid-Term Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy and its Action Plan within the scope of the Action Plan for 2018-2019. German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and local self-government program support the Municipality City Hall in fulfillment of its commitments.

About OGP

Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched on 20 September 2011 by a joint initiative of the Presidents of the US and Brazil and with the effort of the governments of 8 countries within the UN General Assembly.

Today OGP brings together 75 member countries working to establish open, effective, and transparent governance while sharing experiences with each other. The number of OGP members is constantly growing.  

Every two years, each member submits an action plan co-created with civil society that outlines concrete commitments of government.

OGP is chaired by the Steering Committee which is comprised of 11 member countries and 11 civil society organizations. They have equal authority in the decision-making process. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests, establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and rules, and oversee the functioning of the Partnership.

Monitoring and assessment of the commitments undertaken by the member governments are provided by an independent body of OGP – Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM), which is coordinated by the OGP Steering Committee and overseen by the International Experts Panel (IEP).

In close cooperation with the Steering Committee the support of the OGP member countries is provided by the Permanent Secretariat of OGP (OGP Support Unit), which is overseen by the OGP Board of Directors. Between the OGP member governments and civil society, the Support Unit is a neutral third party which aims to maintain balance between the two constituencies.

Among the priority policy areas of OGP are:

  • Anti-Corruption
  • Promotion of e-governance
  • Creation of free civic space
  • Healthcare, etc.

In 2016 OGP launched the OGP Local program, which brings together municipalities, local and regional governments of the OGP member states. Among the members of the program there is Tbilisi City Hall which joined the program in 2016 along with 15 pilot cities. According to the decision of the OGP Steering Committee, the number of local self-governments participating in the program will increase up to 50 in 2020.

More than 4000 open government reforms have been implemented globally within OGP as a result of joint efforts of governments and civil society.

Georgia became a member of OGP in 2012 and has implemented 4 Action Plans by 2020. Georgia was a member of the OGP Steering Committee since 2014.