Malawi Celebrates Open Government Week, Enters Global Challenge
The sixth global OGP annual celebration in Malawi was held under the theme "Promoting Transparency, Accountability, and Citizen Engagement."
LILONGWE, Malawi — Malawi has entered the Global Open Government Partnership (OGP) Challenge, a five-year strategy demanding member states to achieve their thematic areas within a stipulated time, the government said Friday, writes Martin Kamlaike.
"The launch that we had here with Honourable Chang'anamuno, Minister of Mining, where we also had specific achievement in the sense that this is the first time ever that Malawi has celebrated the OGP week in the style that we have, and also entered into the OGP Challenge which is a global challenge and we are hoping at least to make strides and push Malawi's visibility through that challenge that we have entered at the global level," said Dr. Janet Banda, Deputy Secretary for the Office of President and Cabinet and Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit.
The global challenge calls for ambitious plans in 10 OGP areas to strengthen democratic governance and improve communities.
Banda acknowledged that key stakeholders, including civil society organizations, the private sector, donors, media, and government officials, gathered during the week to assess Malawi's progress on its 2023-25 National Action Plan.
"There have been significant strides made," Banda said, citing the adoption of a National Digital Policy, construction of a National Data Center for data protection and cybersecurity, e-government procurement to curb corruption, beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and the appointment of a registrar of political parties.
Moving forward, Banda said the new National Action Plan will be a four-year plan, building on the current one and making improvements in prioritized areas.
The sixth global OGP annual celebration in Malawi was held under the theme "Promoting Transparency, Accountability, and Citizen Engagement."