The government of South Africa will host the 2016 Open Government Partnership (OGP) Africa Regional Meeting from 5-6 May 2016, preceded by a Civil Society Day and OGP Points of Contact Conference, which will take place on 4 May 2016 at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town.

Led by South Africa’s Special Envoy to the OGP and Deputy Minister for Public Service and Administration, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo, the event will be attended by a network of over 600 reformers from across the continent and globe committed to an “Open Government for Sustainable Development in Africa”.

The event will provide for civil society representatives and governments to engage as equal partners as ratified in the Open Government Partnership on the role of open government in the implementation of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development with a focus on Africa’s development priorities.

The areas of focus will include: How the Open Government Partnership, United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the 2016 Global Anti-Corruption Summit can help to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16.  Other sessions will focus on Engaging Legislatures and Developing Strong Legislative Commitments; Promoting Fiscal Transparency in Africa; The Role of Youth in the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals; A New Generation of Open Contracting in Africa; and A Fair Play Standard: Ending Corruption and Illicit Financial flows in Africa.

Speakers and panellists at the event will include Mo Ibrahim (Founder of Mo Ibrahim Foundation and OGP Ambassador), Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi (Gender Envoy at African Development Bank) and Dr Eddy Maloka (CEO of the Secretariat of the African Peer Review Mechanism). Multilateral bodies that will participate in the discussions include the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Some of the esteemed delegates will include African Ministers responsible for the African Peer Review and the Open Government Partnership as well as Ministers that serve in the global Steering Committee of the OGP, representing the governments of France, UK, Georgia and Croatia as well as senior government representatives from Chile, Indonesia, Mexico and Romania.

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international voluntary effort to improve government performance, encourage civic participation and enhance government responsiveness to people. It aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. It achieves this by bringing together governments and civil society organisations as true partners in the process.

Detailed information on the discussions, panelists and participants is available at: http://ogpafricaconference.org/

Members of the media are invited to the Open Government Partnership Africa Regional Meeting as follows:

Civil Society Day
Date:  4 May 2016
Venue: Century City Conference Centre, Century City, Cape Town

Africa Regional Meeting
Date:  5 - 6 May 2016
Venue: Century City Conference Centre, Century City, Cape Town

NB: Media are advised to forward their accreditation details on the attached form to: olebogengk@dpsa.gov.za  by Friday, 29 April 2016.
The accreditation for all delegates will be done at:
Venue: African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel – M Floor
Dates for Accreditation are as follows: 2 - 6 May 2016
Time: 08H30 – 18H00
Address: Century Blvd & Rialto Road, Century City, Cape Town, 7441

All Delegates should produce positive Identification Documents e.g passports, ID’s, Drivers Licence plus a media card/letter from media house for Accreditation.
Only accredited media will be allowed access to the Open Government Partnership Africa Regional Meeting.

Enquiries:
Lebohang Mafokosi – 0823124641
lebohangm@dpsa.gov.za