EAD has organized National Workshop on Open Government Partnership (OGP) on July 27, 2017 in Marriott Hotel Islamabad. Senator Mr. Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization will inaugurate the National Workshop.   A delegation from OGP Secretariat led by Mr. Joseph Powell, Deputy CEO, OGP has already arrived in Islamabad for participation in the workshop. Islamabad based diplomats, other international development partners, Federal Ministries/ Divisions, Provincial Governments representatives, members of Civil Society, Trade bodies, Academia and various other stakeholders will be participating in the workshop. After the workshop, a final draft National Action Plan (NAP) would be submitted to OGP Secretariat as per their requirement.

OGP is a global initiative for securing concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. OGP introduces a domestic policy mechanism through which government and civil society establish an ongoing dialogue on the design, implementation and monitoring of the commitments.

Pakistan had already met the eligibility threshold for membership, achieving 15 out of the 16 criteria. The Finance Minister, Mr. Ishaq Dar handed over Pakistan’s Letter of Intent to join OGP to the French President during the fourth biennial OGP Global Summit held in Paris in December 2016. An important requirement of OGP is to develop a national action plan by the government in consultation with civil society and private sector define commitments to foster transparency, accountability and public participation in all government processes.

EAD with the support of Federal Ministries, Provincial governments, Civil Society, Academia and other stakeholders have organized a number of consultative meetings in Islamabad as well as in provincial capitals for preparation of NAP based on eight thematic areas i.e. Fiscal Transparency, Access to Information, Public Officials Asset Disclosure, Citizen Engagement/Civil Liberties, Use of Digital, Access to Justice, Strengthening Accountability and Improving Business Environment. EAD identified 8 lead Ministries/ Divisions representing their respective thematic areas.