The 6th Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit (www.ogpsummit.org) was held in Ottawa, Canada on 29-21 May 2019. For the first time, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda was highlighted in several sessions directly, in addition to both plenary and side events bearing upon multi-faceted issues and implementation challenges around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, the summit participants were enabled to hold discussions with OGP to build a more connected space for SDG practitioners within this community that can help each other to drive more specific action. Whereas, the OGP steering Committee issued the Call to Action to Protect Participation, Advance Inclusion, and Create Impact for Digital Democracy (https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/OGP_SC_Call-to-Action_29May2019_Endorsed.pdf).
On the main day morning of the summit, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) and UNESCO hosted a workshop on Three Methodologies to Assess the Implementation of SDG Indicator 16.10.2.  This inter-active session involved short presentations from UNESCO, CLD, an Information Commissioner from Kenya and an expert from Ukraine on their experiences in applying different methodologies for assessing implementation of right to information (RTI) laws. This was followed by group discussions among the participants on how they could apply one or another of these in their own countries, who should be involved and how they could promote the results following the application of the methodology. (The three methodologies are as follows:
1. FOIAnet Methodology: http://foiadvocates.net/?page_id=11036
2. UNESCO Methodology: https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-pilots-global-data-collection-access-information
3. CLD-GIZ Methodology: https://www.law-democracy.org/live/launch-of-the-right-to-information-implementation-methodology).

In the same day afternoon, a ‘fishbowl’ style session was co-hosted by Armenia and Romania on Channeling the Vocal and Provocative Youth: Designing Youth Forums to Meet OGP and SDGs Agendas. The underlying premise was that the future of civic engagement is only as good as the relationship between governments and youth. The actual involvement of young people will determine the long term sustainability and impact of the OGP and the SDGs. The participants explored the main objectives and the benefits of youth engagement in civic participation, to success stories of youth CSOs taking action with impactful results, to examples of institutionalised structured dialogue between government and young people, as participants will showcase their inspiring experiences. We want to learn more about the approaches, best practices and challenges, in order to strengthen participants` knowledge on youth civic engagement. Furthermore, the key factors sought to design OGP Youth Forums as an institutional component in the framework of OGP country and local level, as a strategic outcome for a stronger OGP was explored and discussed in details. Thus, this session was able to expand participants` practical capacity to capitalize on youth perspective, by facilitating best practices exchange and by developing a checklist and/or a roadmap on how to build and grow a sustainable relationship between youth organizations and government.

Then a spotlight session on Implementing SDG 16+ through Multi-Stakeholder Collaborations: Innovations from OGP Members was hosted by the summit co-host: OGP support unit. This interactive session brought together leaders from implementing countries including Indonesia, Nigeria, Uruguay and Costa Rica with experts from multilateral organizations such as UNDP, Save the Children Fund, OECD and EITI, about how they are implementing SDG16 through the OGP process served as a launching point for the discussion.  Some panel speakers through the ‘lightning talks’ shared perspectives on progress made thus far, as well as the participants discussed the challenges that have arisen along the way. Other panel members responded to some targeted questions about linkages between open government principles, the OGP and advancing the SDG16+ Agenda. The SDGs have been a major milestone for the global governance community. Open government can be an enabling tool for progress on these global goals, integrating the practices underlying a responsive and inclusive government to achieve these goals. Several OGP members have used the principles of open government, and their OGP action plans, as a platform for innovation and exchange with civil society to make progress on the SDG16 plus agenda to create peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. As we approach the first ever head of state check-in on the SDGs, to take place in New York in September, this session was useful examination and review on how open government approaches are being used to advance SDG16 in different country contexts. During this session, Tur-Od Lkhagvajav from APSD, who serves on the OGP Steering Committee for Asia-Pacific region, brought to the attention of the participants the recently held Rome Conference on SDG 16+ and its preceding CSO Day outcome – the “Rome Civil Society Declaration on SDG16+: Amplified Commitments and Partnerships for Accelerated Action”.
On the summit second day afternoon, a collaborative session on Fostering the Accomplishment of the 2030 Agenda from the Bottom Up: Open Government as a Strategy to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals at Local Level was co-hosted by United Cities and Local Government (UCLOG) and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), focusing on how open government is being used to foster the accomplishment of the SDGs at the local level, with the participants discussing on how the OGP can do more for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. On the ground experiences on the localization of the SDGs with an Open Government perspective from different regions of the world were shared. Different from civil society partners, government and parliamentary colleagues from Scotland, the Philippines, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Argentina and Colombia have shared their own processes and generated a space for exchange among the summit participants on lessons learned, areas for improvement, challenges and recommendations.

The OGP global summit co-host with the Government of Canada featured a spotlight session on Implementing SDG 16+ through Multi-Stakeholder Collaborations: Innovations from OGP Members. This interactive session brought together leaders from implementing countries including Indonesia, Nigeria, Uruguay and Costa Rica with experts from multilateral organizations such as UNDP, Save the Children Fund, OECD and EITI, about how they are implementing SDG16 through the OGP process served as a launching point for the discussion.  Some panel speakers through the ‘lightning talks’ shared perspectives on progress made thus far, as well as the participants discussed the challenges that have arisen along the way. Other panel members responded to some targeted questions about linkages between open government principles, the OGP and advancing the SDG16+ Agenda. The SDGs have been a major milestone for the global governance community. Open government can be an enabling tool for progress on these global goals, integrating the practices underlying a responsive and inclusive government to achieve these goals. Several OGP members have used the principles of open government, and their OGP action plans, as a platform for innovation and exchange with civil society to make progress on the SDG16 plus agenda to create peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. As we approach the first ever head of state check-in on the SDGs, to take place in New York in September, this session was useful examination and review on how open government approaches are being used to advance SDG16 in different country contexts. During this session, Tur-Od Lkhagvajav, representing ADA, AND and APSD, who serves on the OGP Steering Committee for Asia-Pacific region, brought to the attention of the participants the recently held Rome Conference on SDG 16+ and its preceding CSO Day outcome – the “Rome Civil Society Declaration on SDG16+: Amplified Commitments and Partnerships for Accelerated Action” (https://tapnetwork2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Rome-Civil-Society-Declaration-on-SDG16-FINAL.pdf).