The 9th OGP Global Summit held

The 9^th Global Summit of the Open Government Partnership initiative in Spain has gathered more than 2.000 participants.

The Open Government Partnership initiative 9^th Global Summit held in Vitoria-Gasteiz from 6 to 10 October was gathered more than 2.000 participants: heads of state, ministers, mayors, representatives of the civil society, academic community, as well as the reformers from more than 70 countries.

Democracy through openness and participation

“Open Government: accountable, participative and transparent - is our best tool for defending democracy. That recognition is especially important today, when our democracies are under attack, not only from the outside but also from the inside,” the Prime minister of Spain told it while welcoming all delegations, as well as confirming the commitment of Spain in strengthening of democracy through openness, accountability and citizens involvement.
The Summit was also attended by a number of Heads of State, who in their speeches highlighted the common objective - defending of democratic values, amplifying the citizens’ space, as well as implementing of ambitious reforms. The Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stǿre was talking about the “renewed accountability” of the Norway as the OGP Governing Board member while David Lammy, United Kingdom deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice reminded the attendees about the long-term commitment of His country to the openness, accountability and inclusion. He also emphasized those are the key principles for facing today’s challenges and for the restoration of democracies.

The Director-General of the OGP initiative Aidan Eykuze pointed out that the “openness is resilience in action” - the plan to restore democracy that brings dignity and security to people and the planet. He told to the attendees: “Let’s be open together so future generations could inherit governments they can trust, communities they can trust and a planet with dignity”.  
 
Proactive data publication
 
The meeting with 9 countries gathered in the “Coalition of leaders” aimed at the creating of international standards for meaningful proactive data publication with the goal of improving of citizens’ trust and government accountability was held in the frame of the Summit. The Coalition has been initiated on the initiative of the Netherlands, in close cooperation with OECD and OGP Initiative Secretary in which participate Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Rumania, Spain, Scotland and Croatia. They all will cooperate on the creation of guidelines and good practices, as well as the joint framework for measuring of progress and promoting reforms. The focus will be on availability, relevance and usefulness of information. The civil society representatives and other open data actors will be also included in the process.

Declaration from Vitoria-Gasteiz - joint vision for more open and just
After opening ceremony, the OGP Governing Board formally adopted the Vitoria-Gasteiz Declaration, as a joint invitation for acting by which the governments and civil society are encouraged for cooperation in democracy protection, as well as building of more resilient and inclusive societies in the time of growing mistrust and global challenges.
 
Almost 160 stakeholders, including states among which is also Croatia, local authorities, civil society and international organisations, have already supported the Declaration which is available on the link ( https://www.opengovpartnership.org/vitoria-gasteiz-declaration/).

Changing of the OGP leadership
 
The final plenary sessions was marked also with the transfer of the leadership of the OGP Governing Board. The current Co-Chairs, Cielo Magno and the Spain Government, handed over the leadership to the Government of Brazil and Steph Muchai, civil society representatives who will co-chair the Initiative during 2025 and 2026. Co-chairing symbolize the joint leadership of the government and civil society within the OGP Initiative.

Open Gov Challenge Award Ceremony - City of Zagreb world winner in the Fiscal Openness category
 
At the Summit in Vitoria-Gasteiz the Open Gov Challenge Awards, that recognize the most ambitious reforms of the world open government, were awarded for the first time. The City of Zagreb has won the first place in the Europe region and declared the winner in the “Fiscal Openness” thematic category. The City of Zagreb was awarded for the project eParticpative budgeting “Give a suggestion for a better quarter!”, implemented in 2024. The project was recognized as the good practice example of transparent and inclusive management of public funds and, which allows citizens to directly decide on the development of their districts, and continued to be implemented in 2025.
The Summit concluded with the strong invitation of the Spain King Felipe VI, who emphasized that the open government if the foundation of the democracy and trust to institutions. Addressing reformers from governments and civil society, the King recalled Spain’s role as a founding OGP country and reaffirmed its commitment to promoting transparency, accountability and citizen participation worldwide.

The Republic of Croatia at the 9^th OGP Summit
 
Among the numerous participants form national, local and regional authorities, CSOs and academic community from all over the world the Republic of Croatia was also represented.
The representative of the GOfNGOs - OGP Contact Point, Saša Šegrt and representatives of the OGP Council from the civil society, Oriana Ivković Novokmet, executive director of the Gong, participated at the Summit, as well as at the meeting of the Western Balkans countries held on 10 October 2025. Saša Šegrt presented the legal framework and practice at the meeting related to the proactive data publication, while Oriana Ivković Novokmet participated at the panel “Protection of democratic elections from hybrid threats. The representatives of the City of Zagreb, the first local participant in the OGP initiative from Croatia, also took part in the work of the Summit: Andro Pavuna, head of the City Office for Local Self-Government, Transport, Civil Protection and Security, assistants to the head Aleksandra Grubić Jureško and Hrvoje Kalčiček, and Marijana Tovernić, head of the Service in the Sector for the Preparation and Monitoring of EU Digitalisation projects and the Development and Improvement of Processes, who accepted the Open Gov Challenge Award.


 


 

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