Promoting transparent and collaborative public action in African francophone countries

Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia have recently expressed their willingness to join the community of practice of public action reformers, by becoming a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Each country has therefore adopted a National Action Plan, in which it makes concrete commitments to citizen participation, the modernization of the State for users and the accountability of its action, in particular through new technologies and open data.

It is in this context that French support was requested, via AFD, to assist the implementation of these reforms and promote the sharing of experience and innovative tools.

PAGOF aims to build the capacities of countries engaged in this open government reform process (mainly Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia) and promote networking with countries wishing to get involved in it, by becoming a member of OGP.

It supports the implementation of National Action Plans via technical assistance mechanisms targeting both administrations and civil society. This support targets all the reforms undertaken by these countries, which are all drivers for modernizing public policies:

• preparation of a law on access to information, overhaul of recruitment mechanisms in the public service,
• creation of a government digital portal to facilitate administrative procedures,
• open data in transport governance,
• fight against corruption, etc.

To achieve this, the project deploys local, regional and international technical expertise, and promotes experience sharing between peers (workshops, training, seminars, exchange visits...). It also contributes to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund set up by the World Bank to catalyze financing for open government initiatives around the world.

Supporting the implementation of open government reforms brings about a broader participation in public life, greater accountability of governments and a modernization of administrations for citizens. They are thereby put back at the heart of a more legitimate and effective public action, in particular by benefiting from the know-how and experimentations of other governments and citizen communities (experience sharing, use of new technologies).