Manish Bapna Discusses Priorities for Open Government Partnership at UN General Assembly

In a statement delivered at the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 2016, Manish Bapna, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of WRI and Co-Chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), outlined three strategic priorities for the Partnership for the upcoming year: integrating climate and governance agendas, upholding governance standards among members, and expanding the open government movement to include subnational entities and diverse civil society groups.

• The first priority for the Open Government Partnership is to integrate the worlds of climate and governance to create a sustainable future. Bapna argues that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement both rely on "transparency, accountability and good governance," and that these two fields are "interdependent." Examples of this integration include using air pollution data to empower citizens to demand changes in energy production and factory siting, as seen in China, or releasing data on climate projections and natural resources to improve resilience planning, a commitment already made by France, Kenya, and the United States.
• The second priority is for OGP to "lead by example" in response to a global trend of closing civic space. Bapna notes that CIVICUS recorded rights violations in 109 countries last year, with nearly one-third of those being OGP members. To address this, the Partnership intends to strengthen eligibility criteria for new members, uphold response policies for countries failing to meet minimum governance standards, and speak out when members violate basic rights.
• The third priority is to expand the open government movement beyond national ministries and transparency-focused civil society groups. This involves engaging the "whole of government," specifically targeting subnational entities such as cities and regions through a new pilot initiative. Additionally, the OGP aims to broaden civil society engagement to include groups focused on sustainable development and climate change, while increasing interaction with the private sector and parliaments.

APA

Bapna, M. (2016). Manish Bapna Discusses Priorities for Open Government Partnership at UN General Assembly. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/manish-bapna-discusses-priorities-open-government-partnership-un-general-assembly

Chicago

Bapna, Manish. Manish Bapna Discusses Priorities for Open Government Partnership at UN General Assembly. World Resources Institute, 2016. https://www.wri.org/insights/manish-bapna-discusses-priorities-open-government-partnership-un-general-assembly.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Bapna |first1=Manish |title=Manish Bapna Discusses Priorities for Open Government Partnership at UN General Assembly |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=21 September 2016 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/manish-bapna-discusses-priorities-open-government-partnership-un-general-assembly |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{bapna2016manish, author = {Bapna, Manish}, title = {{Manish Bapna Discusses Priorities for Open Government Partnership at UN General Assembly}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2016}, month = sep, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/manish-bapna-discusses-priorities-open-government-partnership-un-general-assembly}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }