BACKGROUND:
The Philippines as a founding member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) continues to implement initiatives on access to information, civic participation, public
accountability, and leveraging on technology to strengthen governance. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of the 5th National Action Plan (NAP) was extended by one year and some commitments were adjusted to adapt and respond to the current health and economic crisis.

As the country like the rest of the world continues to confront the grim reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, having an open, accountable and transparent government is now
more important than ever. That is why, the PH-OGP joins the rest of the OGP global community in celebration of the Open Gov Week on May 17-21, 2021. The Open Gov
Week (OGW) is an opportunity to come together with government reformers, leaders and thinkers from around the world to share ideas, discuss solutions and commit to new
levels of citizen participation in government to respond to and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme will focus on how we build again governments, institutions and societies that are transparent, accountable, participatory and inclusive.

By design, Open Gov Week is for anyone who believes citizens should play a vital role in shaping the policies that affect their lives. To achieve this, the PH-OGP for its
part will feature activities designed to (1) engage citizens in the implementation of the current Action Plan and sustaining open government initiatives; (2) provide a platform to discuss emerging budget concerns to strengthen fiscal transparency; (3) open a dialogue with development partners on the role of citizen participation; and (4) highlight gender mainstreaming and inclusion.

OBJECTIVES:
The Open Gov Week PH aims to:
• Showcase and learn from key OGP initiatives that promote a more transparent, inclusive, accountable and participatory government;
• Promote fiscal transparency by informing stakeholders on the implications of full devolution of some government program and activities;
• Provide venue or platform for discussion on gender mainstreaming and inclusion in various OGP and related activities; and
• Engage development partners in the discussion with civil society on citizen participation.

ACTIVITIES:
Open Gov Week PH will start with online learning sessions from the PH-OGP Steering Committee, and the 5th NAP commitment holders and other OGP champions who
will signify their interest in showcasing their respective gains and updates on the implementation of their commitments and other open government initiatives and how it
relates to the overall theme of sustaining participatory and open governance in the time of pandemic. The sessions will be conducted by batch with several commitment holders and OGP champions grouped together depending on the milestones or commitments and initiatives they want to highlight. At most three (3) sessions can be conducted per day. The days can be organized by theme for easier clustering of topics.

CITIZENS PARTICIPATION

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

SPECIAL CONCERNS

FISCAL TRANSPARENCY

Another half-day session is allotted for the sharing of CARE Philippines on how to achieve gender mainstreaming and inclusion in OGP activities on Day 3.

Day 4 will feature the kick-off activity for the Fiscal Transparency (FT) Webinar Series.The FT Webinar Series is an information, education and communication campaign for the public especially civil society organizations (CSOs) to be informed about the implications of the full devolution of some government programs and activities. A separate concept
note for the Fiscal Transparency Webinar is available. It will also feature the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) User Engagement Activities kick-off.

The culminating activity for Open Gov Week PH is the Open Government Dialogue with Development Partners that aims to provide a venue for OGP stakeholders and development partners to engage in meaningful discussion in order to forge partnerships and encourage collaboration. A separate concept note is available for this activity.  

PROGRAM FLOW:
All the activities will run for two (2) hours and will be conducted online via Zoom application. The call for participation attached to this concept note will provide the outline of what the lead actors/agencies can do and the roles of the participating agency and the PH-OGP Secretariat.