Blog Posts: public participation

Participatory budgeting programs can empower the poor to allocate funding to projects that will help them in their daily lives. But when these programs lack legal safeguards, changing political tides can draw funds and commitment away, undermining their effectiveness.

Threats against environmental defenders are rising in Latin America and the Caribbean. An agreement being negotiated this week could protect the region's activists.

President Trump’s decision to reinstate a policy prohibiting U.S. funding to international organizations administering or even mentioning abortion will have implications far beyond reproductive health. It will undercut women’s positive contributions to civic engagement and environmental decision-making.

Recent actions from the Trump administration could not only undermine the government's ability to protect the environment and public health, they erode the foundations of good governance.

The goal of the recent Open Government Partnership Global Summit was to highlight the crucial role of open government as a countervailing force to the rise of various forms of nationalism and populism. Although open government alone can’t solve this and other global challenges such as extreme poverty, climate change and mass migration, these problems can’t be solved without greater transparency and civic participation.

A recent summit in Paris brought together heads of state, government officials and civil society leaders to discuss the future of open government. Three key messages emerged.

The climate and open government communities have historically worked in silos. That arrangement can't continue if countries are to successfully implement their national climate plans under the Paris Agreement.

Negotiators made major and encouraging promises when they adopted the new Paris Agreement at COP21 last week. Yet the future success of this Agreement relies on tough questions about accountability, participation, transparency and effectiveness—all of which have governance challenges at their core.

A key objective of the Open Government Partnership's Global Summit this week is supporting implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Despite the encouraging expansion of environmental democracy around the world, there are still areas where environmental laws are not being properly or fully implemented. The Environmental Democracy Index reveals four areas where practice is not living up to legal standards.