OSCE organizes workshop for civil society representatives on Open Government Partnership initiative in Kazakhstan

An OSCE-organized workshop for 20 representatives of civil society on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative took place on 15 November in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

A Georgian expert from the Tbilisi-based Institute for Development of Freedom of Information delivered a presentation on the benefits of the OGP and identified key challenges for Kazakhstan to join it. The participants discussed the shortcomings in national anti-corruption legislation and proposed ways to strengthen interaction with the government to ensure transparency and civic participation in government decision-making.

The OGP is a multilateral initiative to help governments and civil society develop a dialogue platform to advance transparency, accountability and civic engagement. It aims to secure concrete commitments from national governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

The event is a follow-up to an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion in Astana last month involving non-governmental organizations.

The workshop is part of the Programme Office’s multi-year efforts to promote good governance by focussing on anti-corruption activities in Kazakhstan.