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The OAS and Mexico Agree to Create a Regional Network of Young Leaders to Promote Government Transparency and Efficacy

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the government of Mexico have agreed to create a regional network of young leaders from public administration, the private sector and civil society to promote best practices in transparency, participation, and efficiency in public administration. To meet this goal, the two institutions have launched The OAS Fellowship on Open Government in the Americas.

The OAS Secretary for Political Affairs, Kevin Casas-Zamora, and the Director of the Department for Effective Public Management, María Fernanda Trigo, together with the Director General of Mexico’s National Digital Strategy Coordination, Guillermo Ruíz de Teresa, have officially launched this strategic partnership, that will include technical assistance as well as logistic and financial support from Mexico.

The Fellowship on Open Government in the Americas will also receive the support of other countries, as well as international and civil society organizations.

This program is organized around three principal activities: two one-week seminars and a period of six months of teamwork and project development. The first seminar will be held at the OAS Headquarters in Washington DC in March 2015, and its main goals are to create a sprit de corps among participants, discuss the most pressing challenges on Open Government in the region, and develop projects to bring concrete solutions to their countries.

The second seminar will take place in Mexico City in October 2015, in the context of the 2015 Open Government Summit. During this event, the objective is to consolidate the network, create opportunities for debate, and present the fellows’ projects to the different sectors and gather support for their implementation. Thus, the goal is to foster Open Government practices that contribute to improve the quality of life of the citizens in the region.

Since last September, the Government of Mexico holds the Presidency of the Open Government Partnership, an initiative that seeks to to provide an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens, promoting the principles of transparency, accountability, collaboration, and participation.

Similarly, the OAS Department for Effective Public Management carries on the mission of strengthening public institutions’ capacities to embrace the principles of Open Government in the region, promoting transparency, effectiveness, and citizen participation in the design, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-486/14