On screen: President Hollande speaks during the opening ceremony

French President Francois Hollande has called for greater openness in government to serve as a countervailing force to rising authoritarianism and receding civic space in many parts of the world. 

He made the call on Wednesday when he officially opened the  4th Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit on Wednesday, December 7, 2016  in Paris with over a dozen heads of state, thousands of civil society leaders and other high-level government reformers

President Hollande, who is the current OGP government co-chair and summit host, opened the summit by reminding guests of the current global geopolitical backdrop. He called on civil society everywhere to demand more transparency, more consultation by rejecting corruption and fraud in government.

He added that citizens the world over are demonstrating their desire to engage, to be listened to, to participate in public life and to help build their society.  

He said  considerable efforts aimed at working  together to renew democracy in order to become more open, participatory and impactful, thus making democracy a symbol of hope and change in the lives of citizens of the world.

Over 3000 participants are attending the three-day event to advance crucial open government issues such as the fight against corruption, opening up public contracts, harnessing the data revolution for the collective good and encouraging public participation in climate change policies.

Over 3000 people from 70 countries are attending the summit

The Partnership Summit gathers over 70 member countries and hundreds of civil society organizations that promote transparency, citizen participation and democratic innovation. 

The OGP summit which runs from December 7-9 will involve representatives from 70 countries. Heads of State and governments, ministers, public servants, members of parliament, local authorities, civil society representatives, start-ups and digital innovators, civic techs, developers, researchers, journalists are aiming to share their experiences and push forward the open government agenda in light of global challenges. 

The attendees will talk about issues such as transparency and anti-corruption, climate action and sustainable development, digital commons and civic tech, access to information, open parliament, open government at the sub-national level and implementation of open government…

More than 300 panels, workshops, pitches, will drive the announcement of new commitments, the launch of collective actions and international collaborations, the exchange of digital resources and best practices and the presentation of concrete open government cases with a positive trans-formative impact on citizens’ lives. 

The Liberian delegation to the OPG Summit is headed by Deputy Information for Administration and the Liberian Government OPG focal Person, Andrew Tehmeh and include Liberian’s Ambassador to France Dr. C. William Allen, Minister Counselor Isaac C. Yeah, Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE) Executive Director Julius Sele and Darlington Senve Tehmeh of the Ministry of Information.