EMIA’s DFG Program hosted Joseph Foti, Chief Research Officer at the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP is the world’s premier international forum to secure national-level governance reforms. This panel discussed how investors can use OGP to secure reforms around transparency, civic participation, and public accountability to improve sovereign environmental, social, and governance outcomes.

The OGP is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to citizens. OGP brings together government and civil society champions of reform who believe governments are more effective and credible when they open their doors to public input and oversight. Since OGP’s launch, its membership has grown from 8 to 79 countries, 20 local governments, and thousands of civil society organizations that participate in the OGP process. OGP countries represent one-third of the world’s population and have made nearly 4,000 policy commitments to promote transparency, to empower citizens, to fight corruption, and to harness new technologies to strengthen governance. The Support Unit serves as the secretariat for OGP and is a nimble, international team that supports participating countries and civil society partners, including through promoting peer learning across the OGP network. Recognizing the significant growth of OGP and the relatively small size of the Support Unit, the team works with the OGP Steering Committee to outline clear strategic priorities and cultivate partnerships to achieve these goals.

Joseph Foti is the Chief Research Officer of the Open Government Partnership. He leads the Analytics and Insights team which is responsible for major research initiatives, managing OGP’s significant data resources, and ensuring the highest quality of analysis and relevance in OGP publications. For more than a decade he has led research and accountability efforts across a range of sustainable development issues. With over 30 publications to his name, he has expertise in environmental policy, impact assessment, justice reform, civic space, and access to information. His most recent major role was being the Chief Editor of OGP’s first global report, Democracy Beyond the Ballot Box. Before his current role he was the founding director of OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism. Prior to his work at OGP, he was Senior Associate for the Access Initiative, a network led by the World Resources Institute (WRI). Prior to this, he worked as a public school teacher.

The event was moderated by Fergus McCormick, Director of Sovereign Research at the Emerging Markets Investors Alliance.

Special thanks to Jonathan George.