As many of our countries are facing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19 the strain on our governments is extreme, and the impact on people all over the world continues to grow. At OGP our first steps have been to take proactive measures to protect our own team, and to adjust the timelines and expectations around OGP participation – such as postponing Open Gov Week events to later in the year and replacing the activities planned for May 3-10 with a series of online community events (more details coming soon). We will continue to assess whether we need to take further action as this crisis evolves.

See Examples of OG Approaches | Submit an Example | Read OGP’s Message to the Community on Coronavirus

We also know that many of us in the open government community are looking for ways to help and to apply the principles of transparency, accountability, and participation to the COVID-19 response. It is in moments of disaster response and relief that the values of open government can come under intense pressure, but can also meaningfully contribute to better outcomes.

We believe the best role for OGP right now is to help create an open space for the community to share where they see open government approaches to tackling COVID-19 being implemented, either by governments themselves or civil society, citizens or the private sector.

To get things started, we encourage you to share examples that may cover some of the following categories:

• Citizen-led community responses, including neighborhood volunteer groups and neighborhood associations, clergy, teachers or others helping to inform the public on the risks and needed steps.
• Participatory disaster response strategies, including working with civil society and citizens.
• Building trust between government and citizens, including through strong communications and focusing on reaching vulnerable communities with the information they need.

Read the rest of this article on the Open Government Partnership website.