Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge

This document contains the remarks delivered by Manish Bapna, WRI Executive Vice President and Managing Director and co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee, at the OGP Global Summit in Paris on December 7, 2016. Bapna argues that while open government cannot solve all global problems alone, these problems cannot be solved without it, specifically citing the rise of populism, the refugee crisis, extreme poverty, and climate change as failures of governance.

• Manish Bapna identifies five essential steps to accelerate the shift toward open government: protecting civic space (free speech, assembly, and association), fostering citizen-centered governance through co-creation and policy-making voices, pursuing transformational rather than incremental changes, ensuring open government improves tangible aspects of people's lives (such as clean air, water, and health care), and reinvigorating political leadership to deepen impact within countries.
• The document highlights a crisis in civic space, noting that CIVICUS reported serious violations of rights to free speech, assembly, and association in over 100 countries, including 25 active OGP countries where these rights are either obstructed or repressed.
• Bapna notes that the majority of OGP commitments have not been transformative; only 5 percent of the commitments made to date have been fully implemented and transformative in impact, despite more than 100 such commitments existing globally.
• The OGP has grown to include over 70 governments and 15 subnational members within five years, with 15 subnational action plans scheduled for announcement at Paris City Hall on December 9, 2016.

APA

Bapna, M. (2016). Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge

Chicago

Bapna, Manish. Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge. World Resources Institute, 2016. https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Bapna |first1=Manish |title=Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=7 December 2016 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{bapna2016fighting, author = {Bapna, Manish}, title = {{Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }