IFJ: Govt. silent as civil society demands action on reform

The new Sri Lankan government led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been criticised for failing to address concerns from civil society about his government's willingness to foster more inclusive and accountable governance through citizen participation, said a statement issued yesterday by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

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It said: The IFJ joins its affiliates, Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) and the Free Media Movement (FMM) in urging the new government to heed civil society calls to bring the country forward on critical reforms.

To date, Sri Lanka's new government has remained unresponsive to repeated outreach from civil society groups calling for a renewed commitment by the new administration to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to promote greater transparency, to empower citizens, fight corruption and strengthen governance.

The OGP is a multilateral global initiative founded in 2011 in the UN General Assembly with initial members comprising Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has since expanded to include 75 member countries and thousands of civil society organisations and is aimed at seeking commitments from governments. Under the mandate of the OGP, members are required to create a two-year National Action Plan through a multi-stakeholder process to implement governance reforms in collaboration with civil society.