On December 20, Conference on the Interim Results of the implementation of the 2018-2020 National Action Plan within the Open Government Partnership in Kyrgyzstan was held.

The Parliament deputies, representatives of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, Supreme Court, National Forum of the Open Government, international organizations and civil society attended the conference.

The participants heard official and alternative reports on the implementation of the National Action Plan, and also discussed the ongoing processes of building an Open Parliament.

They also considered steps to improve the transparency of public procurement, methods for promoting open data policies and issues of ensuring budget transparency of local budgets.

The conference was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Altynay Omurbekova and Deputy Speaker Aida Kasymalieva.

“The implementation of the National Action Plan, with the support of our international partners, will improve the quality of decisions taken by state bodies and increase confidence in the Government,” said Omurbekova.

According to Deputy Prime Minister, the government bodies have taken measures to ensure maximum transparency of the government bodies, so that their activities are open, accessible, understandable and convenient for the population.

“The State Committee for Information Technologies and Communications has developed an open data portal that provides access to a dataset to 15 government agencies in an open data format. The Ministry of Justice has developed a portal for discussing draft normative legal acts, which will allow for more active promotion of normative processes among the public,” she said.

A guide has been developed for alternative monitoring of anti-corruption plans of state bodies, which will allow for independent monitoring. The Ministry of Finance has developed a methodology for assessing the municipal budget transparency index. The State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use conducted a study aimed at identifying the needs of local communities, access to information on the activity of mining companies, which will reduce the risk of conflict.

In February 2020, the implementation of the second Action Plan will begin.

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The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from national and subnational governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

The Kyrgyz Republic joined the Open Government Partnership in 2017, and in 2018 accepted 19 commitments.