Opportunity to comment on Sri Lanka’s OGP Commitments

Wednesday, 13 July 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

As citizens of Sri Lanka you are the final beneficiaries of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan (NAP) outcomes. Hence we welcome your comments and suggestions to strengthen Sri Lanka’s Draft OGP Commitments listed below, before it is presented to the cabinet for approval.

OGP is an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more transparent, accountable and responsive to citizens. Sri Lanka on invitation signed the declaration in October 2015 and is the only south Asian country that was invited to do so.

Information was collected during the public consultations held during the months of April, May and June 2016 in all 9 provinces under the auspices of the respective government agents as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the OGP Civil Society Coordinating Team (hosted by Transparency International Sri Lanka). The initial information was narrowed down by the Civil Society Steering Committee. Upon joint discussions among the line ministries and the civil society members working in respect of the subjects, the following commitments were prioritised to be included in the draft of Sri Lanka’s 1st OGP NAP.

Education

Strengthening civic education and vocational training with a rights-based approach to empower students, teachers and schools.

Information Technology

Enhance the services of the Government Information Center (GIC- 1919) for Inclusive, Transparent, Accountable and Efficient Governance, using ICT as an enabler.

Promote the Open Data concept and deliver the benefits to citizens through ICT.

Women

Create a transparent and accountable mechanism to implement concluding observations of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Ensuring effective implementation of women’s participation in politics.

Health

Ensure effective implementation of the policy to provide safe and affordable medicines to all.

Creating a comprehensive national health performance database with specific focus on efficiency, effectiveness and equity.

Ensure transparent, accountable and participatory mechanisms are in place to prevent chronic kidney disease of unknown origin in Sri Lanka.

Procurement & Local Government

Establishing transparent, accountable and participatory procurement systems for local authorities.

Environment.

Ensuring Transparency in Environmental Decisions by Restoring the Public’s Right to Comment on Initial Environment Examinations.

Ensure transparent, accountable and participatory mechanisms are in place to Implementthe National Adaptation Plan for Sri Lanka in compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Right to Information (RTI)

Ensure the effective implementation of the RTI Act.

Corruption

Strengthen the anti-corruption framework to incorporate United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) obligations, enhance inter agency collaboration and improve prevention mechanisms.

Those interested can send feedback on the above commitments before the18th July (Friday) to: Ministry of Foreign Affairs OGP Civil Society Coordinating Team; E: [email protected]: [email protected]; Tel: 0112325371Tel: 011 4369781 (Ext 203) and

Fax: 011 2446091 (Attn OGP) Fax: 011 2501707 (Attn OGP).