Fakhoury outlines Jordan reforms at global summit

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Wednesday participated in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit 2016.

The Paris summit focused on several issues such as transparency, integrity, anti-corruption and re-identification of the relations between governments and peoples on basis of responsibility and accountability.

French President François Hollande inaugurated the event, in which 3,000 representatives of governments, civil society and business are participating.

Fakhoury said in a ministry statement that Jordan is the first Arab country to join the initiative, which is an addition to the Kingdom’s successes in the international arena, having won the world’s recognition of its reform process and its resilience, stability and security during the "toughest times of the region".

The summit included a ministerial session, in which Fakhoury outlined Jordan’s reforms in all fields, especially those related to governance such as endorsing the National Integrity Charter and its action plan and applying the concept of decentralisation. He also referred to His Majesty King Abdullah’s six Discussion Papers, in which the Monarch shared with the public his vision for reform and change over the past four years.

The minister also outlined the voluntary commitments that Jordan's action plan included as part of the initiative.

The action plan was prepared in partnership with Jordanian civil society institutions and was endorsed by the council of ministers last November.

It included enhancing the legal framework of access to information, press freedom and a plan to hold local government elections next year under the Decentralisation Law.

Fakhoury also shared the Jordanian experience in engaging citizens in the legislation process through an online platform launched by the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, the government legislative arm.  

The OGP is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. OGP now counts 70 member countries, as well as hundreds of civil society organisations.