Global Legislative Openness Week 2017 (GLOW^4)

In honor of the International Day of Democracy (September 15), we are thrilled to announce that the fourth annual Global Legislative Openness Week (GLOW) will take place this year from November 20-30, 2017! We are also pleased to announce micro-awards to help groups organize events for this year’s GLOW!

Organized by members of the Open Government Partnership’s Legislative Openness Working Group, GLOW is a global campaign to support legislative openness advocacy around the world, highlight good work being done to encourage parliaments to develop their own OGP National and Parliamentary Action Plans, and share best practices among parliaments and civil society organizations. Broad global participation has made GLOW a success since 2014.

We will be kicking off this international campaign at OGP’s America’s Regional Meeting in Buenos Aires, which will take place from November 20-30, 2017. We are also excited to announce that this year we have even more opportunities for your organization to participate in GLOW. Keeping in tradition of using GLOW as an opportunity to co-brand your local events or projects, and gain broader visibility for your work, we will be making small awards to civil society organizations who are working to innovatively keep legislatures open and transparent to help offset costs of GLOW events. The deadline to submit your proposal is October 13, 2017. Find more information here.

In the past, GLOW has featured activities organized by the Working Group as well as the global parliamentary openness community, including in-person meetings, advocacy initiatives, and opportunities to engage with colleagues and contribute to projects through a series of virtual activities. In 2016, the campaign engaged parliaments and civil society organizations in more than 45 countries. For more information on past events, read here.

The organizers encourage civil society organizations and legislatures to organize their own parliamentary openness activities that can help encourage their parliament’s participation in the Open Government Partnership.

If you are already planning a legislative openness event or project that will be active in November, or if the idea of a global campaign inspires you to organize something new, please email info@OpenParlWeek.org and let us know what you’re planning. Suggestions and ideas for the campaign are most welcome. With even more ways to get involved than ever, we want to hear from you!

Please visit OpenParlWeek.org for GLOW information, ideas, resources and regular updates; submit your proposal for GLOW; and follow the action at #OpenParl17.