We received an unexpected and urgent email from UNDP Panamá requesting advice and help on Open Government. Apparently, the Ministry of Government of the newly elected government was asking UNDP to help in setting up ICT platforms that foster transparency and accountability, as well as lead to a possible crowdsourcing of a planned constitutional reform in the near future.
Soon after, I spoke to the office and informed them about UNDP’s role in OGP, as well as the areas where we could provide support. The country office was unaware that Panamá had joined OGP in the past and that a detailed action plan was already in place ( see http://www.opengovpartnership.org/country/panama for details).
I shared all OGP materials with the office who were supposed to make a pitch to the Minister of Government on 1 August. We will hopefully hear back from them soon, before it is too late…
Cheers, Raúl