#OpenGovWeek Webinar: Using OGP Action Plans to Raise the Ambition of Natural Resources Governance Reforms
10 May 2018 • 10:00AM EDT
Speakers will discuss how actors on the ground can develop and implement more ambitious reforms using open government approaches.
This webinar is open to all. Register here. It is part of the broader Open Government Week (#OpenGovWeek, #OpenGov, #renewtrust) slate of activities, including a series of webinars. Learn more about #OpenGovWeek here. Thursday, May 10
10 am-11 pm
In resource-rich countries, corruption in the commodities, oil, gas, and mining sectors deprives communities of critical investments in health, education and infrastructure needed for their well-being. Given the urgency of the problem, governments and civil society are using the collaborative platform provided by OGP to work together to improve natural resources governance. As a result, natural resources commitments are a top commitment category in OGP, representing about 7 percent of total OGP commitments.
Unsurprisingly, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a major theme in commitments tackling natural resources. These commitments tend to potentially be transformative as assessed by OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism given their potential to fight corruption, ensure citizens benefit from the country’s natural wealth, support environmental sustainability, and ultimately help break the resource curse. However, as NRGI and the World Resources Institute have noted, more can be done to expand the scope of these reforms in order to ensure EITI disclosures are mainstreamed in government systems and governments are committing to broader disclosure regimes, including on natural resource contracts, beneficial ownership and environmental information through the OGP process. With 76 action plans due in 2018, there is a tremendous opportunity to embed these actions in OGP commitments.
Speakers will discuss how actors on the ground can develop and implement more ambitious reforms using open government approaches. By sharing compelling stories of how key reforms are playing out on the ground, the goal of the webinar is to inspire ambitious commitments that improve the governance of the oil, gas, mining, water, forest, and land sectors in the next generation of OGP action plans.
Speakers
- Oleksiy Orlovsky, International Renaissance Foundation, member, Ukrainian EITI multi-stakeholder group
- Eddie Rich, deputy head and regional director for Africa and the Middle East, EITI (@eddierich1)
- Erica Westenberg, governance programs director, NRGI