A Next-Generation Peer Review: What Does the Open Government Partnership Have to Offer?

The document evaluates the Open Government Partnership (OGP) against other peer-review mechanisms like the APRM, UPR, and OECDA, highlighting the OGP's flexibility, civil society involvement, and potential for harmonisation with existing governance reviews to benefit African states.

• The OGP's focused scope and lack of a formulaic list of indicators allow for faster implementation and reporting turnaround compared to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), where reviews can take five or more years after accession.
• High levels of civil society participation in all OGP stages increase the independence of the mechanism and the likelihood of effective implementation, contrasting with the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) where civil society has no direct role.
• The OGP's independence is supported by its lack of a fixed institutional home and the use of an Independent Reporting Mechanism that produces biannual progress reports via independent consultants.
• As of July 2015, OGP participation in Africa was limited to eight countries: Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia.
• The OGP can be harmonised with other review mechanisms because governments and civil society can draft OGP commitments that explicitly reference existing obligations from other processes.

APA

Razzano, G., & Gruzd, S. (2015). A Next-Generation Peer Review: What Does the Open Government Partnership Have to Offer? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Policy-Briefing-143.pdf

Chicago

Razzano, Gabriella, and Steven Gruzd. A Next-Generation Peer Review: What Does the Open Government Partnership Have to Offer? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2015. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Policy-Briefing-143.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Razzano |first1=Gabriella |last2=Gruzd |first2=Steven |title=A Next-Generation Peer Review: What Does the Open Government Partnership Have to Offer? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=October 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Policy-Briefing-143.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{razzano2015nextgeneration, author = {Razzano, Gabriella and Gruzd, Steven}, title = {{A Next-Generation Peer Review: What Does the Open Government Partnership Have to Offer?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Policy-Briefing-143.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }