Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-10-11

Open Government Partnership - National Action Plan

- The 'Open Government Partnership' (OGP), formally established at international level in the year 2011 as a multilateral initiative that encourages governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, harness new technologies to strengthen governments, learn from each other's experiences and work in harmony with civil society, has at present, a membership of about 70 countries. As per the invitation issued to Sri Lanka to join the said Partnership, in appreciation of the good governance initiative being carried out by the present government, Sri Lanka too, participated at its summit held in October, 2015 in Mexico. All participating member countries of OGP are required to develop a two year National Action Plan pertaining to the areas such as good governance, accountability, transparency, public participation and anti-corruption in accordance with the founding principles of the said Partnership. Accordingly, as proposed by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet decided to accept the Open Government National Action Plan prepared by Sri Lanka with the assistance of the relevant parties, and to establish a National Steering Committee headed by H.E. the President and the Hon. Prime Minister and comprising of the relevant Ministers and the Parties concerned, to monitor its operation and progress.