Johannesburg, South Africa –  Senegal’s commitment to becoming a transparent government, has seen significant progress in recent years. The country’s efforts have seen it rise on the Transparency Index score from 36 to 45 in the last six years. Last year, Senegal further indicated its intent for transparent governance as they joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the same year which the African Union declared its theme as “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.”

Taking another step to fostering open governance, the Government of Senegal in partnership with ONE Campaign and the Open Government Partnership hosted a two-day multi-stakeholder workshop which took place on 17- 18 January 2019, in Dakar, Senegal.

The Open Government Partnership is an international platform that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to take concrete actions that make governments more open, responsive and accountable. Since its inception in 2011, the Partnership has grown from the eight founding countries and nine civil society organisations to 79 partner countries, 20 local governments, and thousands of organisations from civil society.

The two-day workshop aims to provide guidance on inclusive, open governance processes, procedures and best practices on the necessary OGP structures that will ensure transparency sustainability in the West African country.

Applauding the West African country, ONE in Africa Executive Director Rudo Kwaramba-Kayombo said, “We congratulate the Senegalese Government for its leadership in promoting good governance and transparency as well as its recent fulfilment of all preconditions for joining OGP.”

Kwaramba-Kayombo added: “We must always acknowledge that the office of the citizen is the most important office in the land, therefore, transforming and opening the process that includes all citizens in the way they are being governed and how their resources are being managed is of utmost importance. It is time to raise the bar of good governance in Senegal but also everywhere in Africa.”

Africa currently has 14 national governments and four local governments who are officially part of OGP.

OGP’s Senior Regional Coordinator, Theophilous Chiviru said, “It is with great enthusiasm that we warmly welcome Senegal to the OGP family. We look forward to working with reformers in government and civil society to advance open government reforms, that make government more transparent, accountable, responsive to citizen needs.”

Chiviru further challenged stakeholders in Senegal, “we challenge stakeholders in Senegal to raise the collective ambition and transformative power of OGP to collectively tackle the biggest societal challenges facing the country today like corruption, inequality and service delivery.”

-ENDS-

NOTE TO EDITORS

 For additional information about ONE Campaigns’ work on Transparency and Accountability contact Tumba at  [email protected]

About ONE

The ONE Campaign is a policy and advocacy organisation of more than 9 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, it raises public awareness and presses political leaders to combat AIDS and other preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programs.