Going Local: A Defending Democracy Workshop on How US Civil Society Organizations Can Respond to Democratic Challenges, Through International Platforms (MSIs) and Beyond

What can democracy advocates in the US and around the world do when their national governments flout international commitments and take steps toward democratic erosion and authoritarian practice?

Open the Government and the Defending Democracy Program (a collaboration of Global Integrity, Open Gov Hub, Sunlight Foundation, and Transparency International) are pleased to invite you to participate in a timely workshop to address this question. This workshop will focus on how US civil society groups can respond to current democratic challenges through and beyond international platforms (Multi-stakeholder initiatives, or MSIs) like the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

The US is a global leader in initiating and participating in a number of international MSIs devoted to a variety of topics, on everything from aid transparency to women’s empowerment. Yet the current administration has resisted fulfilling previously existing commitments and backed out of international agreements - something new administrations in other countries have done as well in some cases.

The first half of this workshop will present several cases from at home and abroad of how civil society groups have creatively leveraged international platforms and pivoted their focus to regional and local levels, in the face of resistance to principles previously pledged to in international fora by their national governments. These cases will cover a variety of issues - from anti-corruption efforts to tackle beneficial ownership through the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) after the US withdrawal from this process, to regional efforts to combat climate change after the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, to how civil society in other countries have used and have bypassed OGP to pressure new governments whose actions oppose the principles of open government (like in the Philippines).

The second half will feature a facilitated collective brainstorm to apply these international experiences to inform what (if any) next steps US organizations would like to take vis-a-vis the US commitments in the Open Government Partnership.

Lunch will be provided. This workshop will take place during OpenGov Week.

Stay tuned for another related OpenGov Week event happening at Open Gov Hub:

Where We Go From Here: OGP in the U.S.

The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) publishes annual evaluations for each OGP-participating country. At this event, the IRM will present the main findings from the recently published evaluation of United States, which focuses on the third US OGP action plan. The IRM will highlight the successes, the areas for improvement, and the recommendations for the next action plan. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A and discussion with civil society and government attendees.

RSVP here.