Guest blog by Levente Nyitrai, Senior Policy Officer.
Some of you might have heard already that London hosted the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit 31 October and 1 November. OGP, of which the UK is a founding member, is an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open and accountable.
Close to 1500 delegates from governments, businesses and civil society attended the Summit opened by British Prime Minister David Cameron. A delegation from Hungary, a member of OGP, was amongst them. Led by State Secretary Bence Rétvári, they joined dozens of countries to announce how they (through more thorough company background examinations in EU funding applications and integrity trainings for civil servants and citizens) intend to improve the level of transparency in Hungary.
The announcement was indeed welcomed and well received.
Including as the current G8 President, the UK encourages greater openness, integrity and accountability both at home and around the world. The British Embassy in Budapest is also a dedicated supporter of transparency.
We’ve sponsored a number of (sometimes rather unique and innovative) projects in Hungary, which have helped highlight the harming affects of corruption and have drawn peoples’ attention to the undeniable link between transparency and prosperity.
And talking about greater openness and accountability, I guess I’d better admit to my fiancé before she gets home that, unlike promised, I failed to do the washing up this morning…