ANEEJ TO TRAIN CSOs & JOURNALISTS ON OGP&UNCAC

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) is currently implementing the “Civil Society Advocacy to Support Anti-Corruption in Nigeria (CASAN) project with support from UNDP under the EU founded 10^th European Development Fund (EDF). The goal of the project is to enhance the capacity of CSOs and journalists to support anti-corruption effort of the government of Nigeria. The project objectives include;

• Build the capacity of CSOs and Media on the concept of Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the UNCAC to support their policy advocacy around the issues by end of project.

• Engage the relevant arm/agencies of government on the implementation of Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the UNCAC
• Raise public awareness through the launch of the “support open government partnership” campaign

As part of the project implementation, ANEEJ is holding this workshop to build the capacity of selected CSOs on the concept of Open Government Partnership (OGP) including the open contracting platform and the implementation United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Nigeria including the second UNCAC review process, to support their policy advocacy and engagement with relevant arm/agencies of government around the issues.

This workshop has been designed to:

• Train participants on the concept OGP and the implementation of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Nigeria including the second UNCAC review process.
• Prepare CSOs to participate in the 2^nd UNCAC review circle
• Bring focal persons involved in the implementation of OGP and UNCAC review process to meet with CSOs

It is expected that at the end of the workshop:

• Participants’ should have enhanced knowledge on the OGP and UNCAC implementation and review in Nigeria and should be able to apply the knowledge to support their policy advocacy around the issues.
• Journalist should be able to use their platform to report the issues they learnt during the workshop.
• Participants would identify entry point for CSOs in the implementation of OGP and UNCAC review

Participation

About 30 persons are expected at the meeting mainly civil society organisations. Focal persons for the UNCAC review and OGP from EFCC, TUGAR and Ministry of Justice have been invited to the opening ceremony. Resource person have been sourced from among CSOs and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

About OGP and UNCAC

Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that focuses on improving government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation. The OGP was formally launched in 2011 when the 8 founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) endorsed the Open Government Declaration, and announced their country action plans. Since then, OGP has welcomed the commitment of 62 additional governments, bringing to 70 the number of countries that are currently members of the initiative.  Nigeria formally joined the OGP in July 2016, two months after President Muhammadu Buhari attended the London Anti-Corruption Summit. So far, the Nigerian OGP National Action Plan (January 2017 – June 2019) has been developed with civil society and private sector input, which was launched in Kaduna in 2016 and also presented in France, December 7, 2016. One of the key deliverables of the OGP is the open contracting platform which the Bureau of Public Procurement is currently working on.

Nigeria signed on to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2003 and ratified the convention in 2004, Nigeria has been actively involved in the negotiations leading to the review mechanism including attending all the CoSP since the convention came into force. The review process comprises two five-year cycles: The first cycle (2010–2015) covers chapter III on criminalization and law enforcement and chapter IV on international cooperation. The second cycle (2015–2020) covers chapter II on preventive measures and chapter V on asset recovery. It is therefore important that CSOs actively advocate for transparency and participation during the UNCAC review process in their country. UNCAC-based advocacy aims to achieve specific improvements in a country’s anti-corruption system by referencing UNCAC standards and calling for the government to fulfil its UNCAC commitments.