A Wake-Up Call for Open Government

In remarks delivered at the UN General Assembly, Manish Bapna emphasizes that open government is essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change. He warns that trust in government is at a historic low and that civic space is under attack, citing specific instances of activists being targeted in India, Kenya, and Mexico. Bapna calls for the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to make civic space a central component of National Action Plans and highlights examples of successful citizen engagement and transparency efforts in Argentina, Spain, Nigeria, and Indonesia.

• Open government is described as playing a critical role in fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Financing for Development Agenda, and the Paris agreement on climate change.
• There is a global decline in open government, characterized by the rise of authoritarian regimes and nationalist movements, leading to a historic low in trust in government.
• Civil society activists and journalists are facing significant risks, including imprisonment and surveillance, even within countries that are members of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Examples include the imprisonment of Nikhil Dey in India, accusations against AfriCOG in Kenya, and the use of spyware against Juan Pardinas in Mexico.
• CIVICUS has documented serious violations of the rights to free speech, assembly, and association in over 100 countries, 25 of which are OGP members.
• Specific examples of open government leadership include Argentina's action plan covering climate change and gender equality, the 'Decide Madrid' platform in Spain for budgeting and policy, budget tracking by Budgit in Nigeria, and extractives transparency efforts in Indonesia.

APA

Bapna, M. (2017). A Wake-Up Call for Open Government. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/wake-call-open-government

Chicago

Bapna, Manish. A Wake-Up Call for Open Government. World Resources Institute, 2017. https://www.wri.org/insights/wake-call-open-government.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Bapna |first1=Manish |title=A Wake-Up Call for Open Government |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=22 September 2017 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/wake-call-open-government |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{bapna2017wakeup, author = {Bapna, Manish}, title = {{A Wake-Up Call for Open Government}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/wake-call-open-government}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }