Draft for consultation October 15, 2012

Introduction
The role of the Steering Committee - consisting of 9 representatives from government and 9 from civil society - as defined in the Articles of Governance is to develop, promote and safeguard the values, principles and interests of the OGP. It also establishes the core ideas, policies, and rules of the partnership, and oversees the functioning of the partnership. The term of the Steering Committee members, whether civil society or government, is 3 years.- with the possibility of a one term renewal. As a result, six out of the current 18 members are rotating off the SC next year and need to be replaced by 6 new members, 3 of which are from civil society. The rotation provides an opportunity to ensure that civil society members have the right profile and skills in the Steering Committee to address the specific challenges facing OGP in the coming period. The rotation process should be a fully transparent process that attracts strong candidates from a diversity of regions and background, leading to a balanced team of civil society members on the Steering Committee that are well-positioned to continue to provide strategic and effective leadership to OGP.

Current situation
This note sets out a revised rotation procedure for the 9 civil society members of the SC. The current rotation mechanism is described in the Articles of Governance. Some key elements include: Timeline of rotation occurs at the annual conference; Three CSO members rotate off and on the SC per year; Each country has one vote. The person voting is the one selected and funded to attend the annual conference; International CSOs have the same voting weight as the country voters; The Support Unit manages the process. There are several problems with this rotation mechanism as originally conceived. First of all, the postponement of the next annual conference to late 2013 would mean that the rotation process would also be delayed to fall. At the same time, the period around the annual conference is already a very busy period. Second, the idea of one person voting per country brings the problem of how to identify and select one person as a representative of the diversity of civil society in his/her country. Additionally, the idea of OGP funding the participation of the person that votes for his/her country could be seen as interfering with free and independent voting. Lastly, asking the Support Unit to manage the process of identifying the voter and managing the further process imposes a substantial additional burden to the functions of the SU, and may hinder CS freedom to choose among itself. In the paragraphs below, we propose a revised rotation process. The process of rotation is approached as a recruitment process designed to bring in the best candidates. Announcement Note describing rotation process, criteria 1 15 January

Draft for consultation October 15, 2012 for selection and anticipated needs for the coming OGP year published on the OGP website, the civil society site (once up) and the civil society mailing list Nominations and endorsements can be submitted and will be published online. In parallel open invitation for selection committee volunteers. Selection committee will assess and rank candidates using criteria and needs stipulated in announcement note, final candidates will be presented to and endorsed by civil society SC members. Selection committee publishes account of their process, deliberation and choice to the broader OGP community.

Nomination

15 January 23 February 23 February 15 March

Selection

Accountability

15 March

1. Announcement phase:
As a first step civil society members of the SC make public a note that describes: Who is rotating off the SC The process and timeline to nominate and select new members The general criteria against which candidates will be assessed The key issues that OGP as a whole will face over the next year Any additional specific skills and experiences needed for the coming period General Terms of Reference for the SC positions, including time commitment. This note is published via the website (both OGP and OGP civil society website) and via the OGP civil society mailing list.

2. Nomination phase
As soon as the announcement note is published the nomination phase is open. Candidates can nominate themselves or be nominated by other individuals, organizations, or coalitions; People are voted onto the Steering Committee on the basis of personal merit, not on behalf of an organization. This means independent individuals can also be nominated or nominate themselves. Organizations or coalitions need to nominate a specific staff member; Written endorsements are an important sign of support and will be explicitly requested. Written endorsements of candidates will be considered strongly in the selection process; Each nominee shall write a nomination statement (to be posted online) that cover specific aspects of the ToR, as well as any additional general and specific criteria, such as: Track record of the candidate in open government related issues; How the candidate plans to contribute to OGPs leadership; International experience; Strengths and experience candidate would bring to the SC; Time availability for working on OGP; 2

Draft for consultation October 15, 2012 At least 3 endorsements; Written motivation and explicit endorsement of the OGP declaration; Description of the candidates (regional) constituency and network. Nominations need to be filled in online or send to the civil society coordinator. All complete nominations will be uploaded in full to the civil society OGP website, where it also will be possible to submit additional written endorsements; There will also be a mechanism to flag if anyone objects strongly to any of the candidates nominated (until one week after end of nomination period); There are 4 weeks for nominations and a subsequent two weeks for additional written endorsements.

3. Selection phase
The main proposed change to the current rotation system is to suggest the selection is done by a committee, accompanied by a strong, transparent, and bottom up nomination process. A committee is best placed to match the needs of the SC with the profile of the candidates, to ensure an effective, proactive, strategic team of civil society members that can guide OGP in the right direction. Second, it is difficult to design a voting process that is more inclusive than the current process of one voter per country, and at the same time is not resourceheavy. The selection committee will be comprised of two current (or past) SC members, 2 volunteers from the broader OGP CSO community and the Civil Society Coordinator. This committee will assess and rank the candidates along criteria and needs as described in the announcement note/ nomination form (e.g. skills and expertise, legitimacy in a region or network, endorsements, international experience); with diversity (e.g. gender, region, OGP issues) as a subsequent filter. Candidates for the selection committee are invited to send a short motivation letter to the civil society coordinator, who will assess them along a few publicly articulated criteria (such as experience with recruitment processes, experience with SC type of governance mechanisms, time commitment). The committee will make recommendations for the new CSO Steering Committee members, to be endorsed by the full set of civil society Steering Committee members. Regional diversity is one of the key factors taken into account in the overall composition of the SC. The written endorsements can help understand regional grounding of candidates. Furthermore, the selection mechanism would strive for a regional balance in membership within 3 years/rotations, so that SC would ultimately (at the end of this period?) have at least 1 and a maximum of 2 persons from North America and from international organisations and at least 1 and a maximum of 3 from South America, Africa, Europe and Asia/Oceania. The UNstats listing of countries per region will be used for guidance on what country belongs to what region. All civil society members on the Steering Committee are accountable to the full OGP civil society community, and not only to the region they originate from or the issue in which they specialize. 3

Draft for consultation October 15, 2012 The selection committee will propose their choice to the civil society members of the SC that will need to ultimately endorse the decision.

4. Accountability to the community

After initial approval by the CSO SC members of the final list of proposed new members, the selection committee in writing presents an account of their process, deliberation and choice to the broader community making clear why they feel the selected candidates will do the best job.

Additional key points

Length of membership (no change): Articles state that: SC membership terms are for 3 years, with the possibility of a one-term renewal before they must cycle off. Candidates who would like to seek a renewal in term have to be reelected by their peers in the plenary in order to stay on the Steering Committee. There are no permanent seats on the SC; every seat goes up for election. Founding SC members were asked to volunteer for 2, 3 or 4 year terms to stagger rotation in the first years of the initiative. Timeline (changed): New members rotate onto the Steering Committee in March of each year. The process to nominate and select takes up to 4 months, starting in November. Process Manager (changed): The civil society coordinator (and not the OGP Support Unit) manages the process up to final endorsement by the SC and is responsible for communication to the wider community.