BACKGROUND:

For the past five years, the Philippines has been actively participating in the annual celebration of the Open Government Week (OGW) together with 78-member countries worldwide. This activity is a global call to action to transform the way governments respond to their citizens’ needs where global champions and reformers gather to share ideas, discuss solutions, and inspire reforms with a goal to co-create ambitious policies, projects, and programs which can highly impact people’s lives.  On May 16-20, 2022, the Open Gov Week will celebrate the people who have paved the way to successfully opening governments around the world. The Philippines will be hosting a series of activities that will feature stories and learnings from people in the government and non-government sectors who have been continuously promoting open and participatory governance in an ever-changing political, social and economic landscape. To emphasize the inspiration from these open government stewards, the PH-OGW 2022 will showcase the impact of engaging people to participate in the governance processes, the results of co-created programs and projects enabled by an empowered civic space, and the recognition of key stakeholders who exemplify the values of open government in their reforms and advocacies.

OBJECTIVES:

Through the overall theme of championing open governance in changing times, the PH-OGW 2022 shall feature real stories of reformers who have helped in opening up spaces for a more transparent and inclusive governance.   During the PH-Open Gov Week celebration, the PH-OGP will also be providing updates on the development process of the 6th PH-OGP National Action Plan, particularly the changes in the action plan delivery window. Various means of engagement/involvement will also be opened to the participants who will be interested to join the consultations and discussions.

Specifically, this week-long celebration aims to:

• Showcase success stories of reformers and pioneers of citizen participation in government processes;
• Strengthen existing and encourage new partnerships through expanded avenues for participation;
• Recognize the contribution of government and non-government reformers in advocating for open government;
• and Provide updates on the PH-OGP National Action Plan 2022-2026 Participation and Co-Creation Framework and Development Process.

FORMAT:

The open government week will utilize the online platforms such as Zoom and Facebook in light of the limitations to the conduct of physical gatherings and to engage more participants from the online community.