The country remained inactive for more than a year, loses membership status.
Washington DC. – El Salvador has been removed from the Open Government Partnership (OGP) – a global alliance of 75 countries and 106 local governments working with thousands of civil society organizations to build more open, inclusive and accountable governments.
The country was placed in inactive status by OGP Steering Committee last year after failing to deliver an open government action plan in 2021 and again in 2022, failing to show progress on its previous action plan commitments, and failing to meet the eligibility requirements for OGP members for three consecutive years from 2020.
The Government of El Salvador was given one year until March 25, 2023 to deliver a new action plan to meet the minimum requirements. Co-Creation and Participation Standards from OGP. However, no new action plan was delivered, leading to the country’s departure from the Alliance.
OGP Executive Director Sanjay Pradhan expressed his disappointment at the announcement and encouraged reformers in government and in particular in civil society to continue engaging with OGP through events and peer-to-peer exchange opportunities. “Open government reformers in the country, working to open up public institutions at all levels and in all branches of government, will always be part of the open government community and we look forward to working with them in the future,” he said. Pradhan.
Anabel Cruz, Civil Society Co-Chair of the OGP Steering Committee, originally from Uruguay, said that “the termination of El Salvador’s membership is a symptom of the deterioration of democratic conditions in the country, since the counterweight erosion to limitations on basic civil liberties. We call on the Salvadoran government to guarantee and expand freedoms to allow journalists, activists, and the political opposition to work to open up the government,” Cruz said.
El Salvador has developed five action plans since joining OGP in 2011. The government and civil society organizations used OGP to participate in and co-create almost 100 reforms in a variety of areas, such as access to information, government complaint systems, public service, and budget transparency and public procurement.
A letter indicating the decision to withdraw the country from OGP has been sent to the Government of El Salvador.