OGP Jamaica: Open Call for Civil Society Nominations
Members of civil society may submit nominees to serve on the Multi-Stakeholder Forum overseeing the development of Jamaica’s first Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. Nominations close June 14th, 2021.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international voluntary partnership of governments working with civil society to create action plans with concrete commitments to transform how the government serves its citizens in areas such as justice, gender, health, education, digital governance, the right to information, civic space, natural resources, corruption and more.
The Action plan must be developed with the public through consultation to determine what commitments the government will undertake. The OGP process requires the establishment of a Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF), comprising representatives of government and civil society to provide oversight and guidance to the co-creation process for the development, submission, implementation, monitoring and reporting for each National Action Plan. Action plans are expected to be implemented over a two year implementation period.
The MSF is expected to meet at least quarterly to ensure consultation on the OGP action plan development and implementation. (See the OGP Multi-Stakeholder Forum Handbook). It is composed of six (6) representatives from government and six (6) members from civil society and will be co-chaired by a representative from civil society and one from the government. The Terms of Reference and rules of operation for the MSF will be further developed by the members of the MSF after their appointment.
MSF Civil Society Nomination Process
Civil society organisations and individuals are invited to nominate candidates for civil society representatives on the MSF. Candidates who meet the criteria below will be shortlisted and the public will vote on the six candidates of their choice.
Nominations will open on May 31st, 2021 and close on June 14th, 2021.
1. Criteria for Civil society members of the Multi-stakeholder Forum
- Candidates should not be active/current public servants working within a government organisation
- Candidates are appointed as individuals and serve in their personal capacity
- Individuals from different sectors, including human rights, private sector, environment, trade unions, academia, women’s rights, media, and disabilities, among others are encouraged to apply.
- The MSF civil society representation will consider gender equity in the selection of its candidates.
- One seat will be reserved for a youth representative. For the purposes of this CSO nomination process, youth is defined as any person under the age of 24.
Candidates should provide the following information when submitting their nomination:
- Demonstrated support of OGP’s vision and the Open Government Declaration
- Expertise relevant to the Open Government Partnership, including probable or future Jamaican Open Government commitments
- Ability to engage broad and diverse community networks
- Previous experience working with and influencing government
- If you are interested in the reserved “youth seat”, please include relevant experience advocating on behalf of youth or working with young people.
2. Term of membership
Members of the MSF will serve for a term of two (2) years. Civil society members shall be reappointed or replaced on a staggered basis, with one-half of all serving civil society members being eligible for reappointment or replacement each year. Civil Society members shall only be eligible for reappointment for one additional consecutive term. One-half of the first members of the MSF shall serve their term from appointment to the mid-point of the first action planning cycle, i.e. August 2022, and one-half of the first members of the MSF shall serve their term from appointment to the end of the first action planning cycle, i.e. August 2023. All first members of the MSF shall be eligible for reappointment for one additional two-year term. Any vacancies that arise during the term of any member shall be filled on the recommendation of the Co-Chairs of the MSF.
3. Nomination Submissions
Nominations should be submitted by completing the online form. If additional accessibility accommodations are needed to submit the nomination, please contact civilsocietyogpjamaica@gmail.com for assistance. Please be aware some information provided by shortlisted candidates will be publicly shared to allow civil society voters to make an informed decision.
Nominations are open to any member of civil society, so feel free to spread the word!
Useful Links
May 17–21st 2021 was Open Government Week under the theme Renewal, Response and Recovery. The week featured seminars, hackathons, public debates, webinars, open dataset releases and other events planned by citizens, civil society and governments. See the OGP website for more information.
Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/zkTWKp75NagywpHXA
OGP Website: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/
OGP Informational Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKp7mHeF-Bk
GOJ OGP Launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sl8Q47dQlw
GOJ OGP Document Repository: https://mof.gov.jm/documents/documents-publications/document-centre/category/294-open-government-partnership-ogp.html
GOJ OGP Email Address: ogp@mof.gov.jm
