Malta’s participation in OGP is now ensured by the Ministry for Justice, representing the Maltese Government who has now taken the lead and assumed the responsibility for coordinating the government’s OGP process and activities and to serve as the official contact point for the Partnership. A working-level Point of Contact (POC) is to be appointed to coordinate a participating government’s domestic and international OGP activities, including engaging and convening stakeholders on a regular basis and coordinating OGP initiatives to promote transparency, participation, and accountability.

The two-year National Action Plans (NAPs) shall contain ambitious commitments defined in collaboration between government and civil society which are relevant to the values of transparency, accountability and public participation; and contain specific, time-bound and measurable commitments.

These documents are the prerequisite for participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and define the strategic actions on open government and the related expected results over time.

The first phase consists in the definition of the commitments, co-created thanks to the collaboration of public administrations and civil society organizations and then subjected to public consultations.

Once the draft of the NAP has been approved, the implementation and monitoring phases follow. The verification of the progressive implementation of the commitments is entrusted to civil society organizations, citizens and all interested parties.

Furthermore, an Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) produces reports on the design and implementation of NAPs, evaluates governments on the progress made in applying open government principles in practice and makes suggestions for improvement.

OGP participating countries must also produce two Self-Assessment Reports. The first on the drafting of the Plan at the end of the first year of implementation; the second on the final results of the reforms included in the NAP at the end of the two years.

Malta is in the process of launching its co-creation process to develop its Fourth NAP. Identification of potential themes to serve as basis to the discussions is underway and the public will also be invited to provide feedback and other possible themes for discussion through government’s online public consultation portal. A call is being issued to invite interested CSOs to participate in the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum/working groups.