Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The USAID State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity workshop on Open Government Partnership has ended with participants drafting and adopting a standard result framework and reporting template for the tracking, documentation and reporting of Open Government Partnership (OGP) State Action Plan (SAP) in Ebonyi State.
This is as they called for enhanced collaboration from government and Civil Society Organisations to achieve the objectives of the programme.
The workshop which held at Nike Lake Resorts Enugu was to develop tools that will facilitate the effective implementation of the Open Government Partnership State Action Plan.
It was also aimed at upgrading participants’ knowledge on proper documentation of results and achievements recorded during the implementation process with the use of the OGP standard reporting template.
In an address, Principal Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government, Mathias Adum, noted that Ebonyi State signed-into the programme in 2017 but was not successful within the first 2 years, but it was revived in 2022 with support from USAID State2State.
Adum, who is the Co-chairman of OGP in the state representing the government side, said the state government has been doing everything possible to support the effective and successful implementation of OGP in the State.
Represented by Mr. Mathias Erueke, Mr Adum said that in as much as there is need for improvement in budget implementation, Ebonyi State has made headway in conflict resolutions and an adequate crises management among others.
The OGP co-chairman from civil society organisations, Mr. Ajah Chima represented by Mr. Anele Okoroagha, lauded the revitalisation of the Open Government Partnership by State2State and expressed hope that it will work according to the planned schedules.
The Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Specialist and the Focal person of OGP for State2State, Ejiro Okotie, called for mainstreaming of GESI in the development of the result framework with specific indicators in the targets to track GESI in the OGP implementation.
Mr Uchenna Arisukwu from the National Secretariat of OGP described it as a policy approach to government reforms that will help to build a culture of transparency, civil participation and accountability which will increase confidence in governance and strengthen the social contract.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist from the OGP National Secretariat, Mr Mooreino Diftuffe, presented the modalities for developing the result framework and setting key performance indicators baseline and targets.
He said they are essential in the delivery of government projects and programmes.
The Technical Working Groups (TWGs) in the four thematic groups worked together using the State Action Plan (SAP) to develop their Result Framework.
After the group work, various groups from different thematic areas presented their results framework with feedback received and effected.
Dr Uto Moses Onwe of Fiscal Transparency Group moved motion for the validation and adoption of the draft result framework and reporting template, seconded by Mrs. Lorrieth Nwafor of Access to Information Technical Working Group after which it was unanimously affirmed by the participants.
The State Team Lead of USAID State2State, Dr Sam Onyia, thanked the participants for painstakingly going through the development of the Result Framework and Report template which will be useful for OGP implementation in Ebonyi State.
He expressed the hope that OGP will continue to succeed and the achievements become more visible beyond the state to the OGP National and Global stage.
