Opening the People’s House: Governments and citizens collaborate to build more transparent, inclusive parliaments
September 8, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Kathy Gest, National Democratic Institute, (202) 728-5535
In conjunction with the International Day of Democracy on Sept. 15, lawmakers and citizen watchdogs in more than a dozen countries will work together to open up and modernize a quintessential democratic institution: the legislature. The goal, organizers say, is to ensure that core democratic functions like lawmaking and government oversight are as transparent and inclusive as possible.
Global Legislative Openness Week (GLOW), from Sept. 15-25, will involve a series of related activities in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Guatemala, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland and elsewhere. The campaign will use a common hashtag (#OpenParl2014) and is spearheaded by the Legislative Openness Working Group of the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral initiative with 64 participating countries.
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Global Legislative Openness Week Who: The Legislative Openness Working Group of the Open Government Partnership, and members of the global community of parliamentary monitoring organizations. What: A series of events and activities to promote transparent, inclusive parliaments. Where: #OpenParl2014 and OpenParl2014.org with in-person events in Montenegro, Chile, Poland, Australia, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. More information: OpenParl2014.org |
“Having an open legislature means that we can adapt to social and technological changes, respond to citizen demands and stay close to the people who elect us,” Chilean Senator Hernán Larraín said. “Providing more information and expanding citizen participation, in a deliberate and meaningful way, will make legislatures more effective and help us to ensure that democracy works to deliver solutions to the problems citizens face in their daily lives.”
Chile was the first partnership country to create a national action plan focused on legislative openness--a model that the working group is encouraging other parliaments to follow. The Congress of Chile will conclude GLOW by hosting the working group’s annual meeting Sept. 25-26, with a focus on institutionalizing openness.
“Young activists, government reformers and civic technologists have begun tackling social problems with enormous energy and talent, but we know that institutional change also requires stamina and organization,” said Scott Hubli, director of governance at the National Democratic Institute (NDI). “All sides need to work together to build consensus, identify opportunities and chart a practical course forward, and that’s what GLOW is all about.”
The Congress of Chile and NDI serve as co-chairs of the working group, which was formed in 2013 to expand the scope of commitments made by Open Government Partnership countries.
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GLOW Events Include
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Opening Parliamentary Data
Chile was the first partnership country to create a national action plan focused on legislative openness--a model that the working group is encouraging other parliaments to follow. The Congress of Chile will conclude GLOW by hosting the working group’s annual meeting Sept. 25-26, with a focus on institutionalizing openness.
“Young activists, government reformers and civic technologists have begun tackling social problems with enormous energy and talent, but we know that institutional change also requires stamina and organization,” said Scott Hubli, director of governance at the National Democratic Institute (NDI). “All sides need to work together to build consensus, identify opportunities and chart a practical course forward, and that’s what GLOW is all about.”
The Congress of Chile and NDI serve as co-chairs of the working group, which was formed in 2013 to expand the scope of commitments made by Open Government Partnership countries.
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The Legislative Openness Working Group of the Open Government Partnership aims to deepen the exchange of knowledge across governments, parliaments, civil society and international institutions in the development and enactment of of commitments on legislative openness. For more information, visit opengovpartnership.org.
