A Wake-Up Call for Open Government

Remarks by Manish Bapna, WRI Executive Vice President and Managing Director, delivered on September 18, 2021, at the UN General Assembly in New York City upon concluding his term as co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

• The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is designed to promote democratic innovation, citizen participation, and transparency in public action through collaborations between civic tech entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, and governments.
• Open government is currently facing a crisis characterized by a historic low in trust in government, the rise of nationalist movements and authoritarian regimes, and threats to journalists and civil society activists.
• Civic space violations are widespread, with CIVICUS reporting serious violations of rights to association, assembly, and free speech in over 100 countries, including 25 that are members of the OGP.
• Specific instances of attacks on OGP founders and civil society include the imprisonment of Right to Information activist Nikhil Dey in India, accusations of illegal activity against the Kenyan NGO AfriCOG, and the targeting of Juan Pardinas in Mexico with spyware.
• The document highlights several examples of open government leadership: Minister Andres Ibarra in Argentina implementing a plan co-created with over 100 civil society organizations; Pablo Soto in Madrid using the Decide Madrid platform for budgeting and policy; Oluseun Onigbinde of Budgit in Nigeria assisting citizens in tracking government spending; and Maryati Abdullah advancing extractives transparency 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} }