Norway’s fifth action plan for the Open Government Partnership (OGP) has undergone a review by the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM), OGP’s audit body. The review report highlights that while Norway has met the necessary requirements in developing the plan, there is potential for more ambitious initiatives to enhance transparency efforts.
As part of its OGP participation, Norway commits to creating action plans aimed at promoting transparency in governance. The fifth action plan, published in 2024, has recently been reviewed by the IRM.
The review is based on discussions with contributors to the action plan and stakeholders involved in its implementation. A draft of the report was previously shared with contributors for fact-checking and with members of OGP’s stakeholder forum.
The IRM concludes that Norway meets OGP’s minimum requirements for co-creation, which involves collaboration between the government and civil society in developing the plan’s commitments. The IRM notes that Commitment 1, which focuses on improving and making data and statistics on public procurement more accessible, is particularly promising. However, the other commitments are described as having either “limited” or “unclear” potential for results. Despite this, all seven commitments are considered relevant to transparency.
The IRM suggests that there is room to involve more civil society groups and other interested parties in the OGP process. Additionally, the commitments could be made more ambitious by including measures that lead to more significant political changes. Norway can use the mid-term review of the action plan to learn from the first two years and adjust the commitments accordingly.
The review of the action plan will contribute to the knowledge base for Norway’s ongoing work with OGP.
You can read the full review here: Norway Action Plan Review 2023-2027