Who owns the transparency agenda?

12-04-2015
A multi-stakeholder exchange on who’s driving it and why.

This news item is reposted from the European Foundation Centre's webpage

The European Foundation Centre, ECNL and the Human Security Collective have organised an interactive policy briefing that asks: who owns the transparency agenda, who’s driving it and why taking place on the 22nd April 2015 from 10.00-12.00 at Philanthropy House in Brussels.

In the early 21st century, transparency has become a go-to response when it comes to curing society of its multiple ills. Whether the goal is ensuring greater accountability and better democratic practice, dealing with corruption, or preventing the financing of terrorism and money laundering, transparency is stated as a solution.

Simultaneously, citizens are demanding and expecting higher levels of transparency. With the help of digital and social media, the scale and scope of the demand for information has increased and the public’s appetite for information is truly whetted. As a result, the extent to which an organisation values transparency and makes it central to their conduct is more pertinent than ever.

But whose agenda is driving this trend? This Inter-Act aims to open up a debate around this question and work through multiple perspectives on the issue.

The gains and pitfalls of transparency need to be fully considered so that foundations and their partners can create a more thoughtful and proactive agenda, which isn't focused solely on compliance but looks also at the value and virtues of heightened transparency for grantees, citizens and society overall. To tackle this issue, the meeting will kick off with expert analysis of the situation, including European and government representatives who will recall the global and EU policy context with an update on the impact of the work of the Financial Action Task Force. Funders and NPO sector speakers will then share their experience through exploring concrete case examples and discuss potential ways forward.

Panellists include:

  • Lia van Broekoeven, Human Security Collective;
  • Marianne Carrubba, European Commission DG Justice and
  • Judith Sargentini, Member of the European Parliament and a representative of Transparency International.

This event is organised under the project: “Standing up Against Counter-Terrorism Measures that Constrain Civic Space”.  The project is supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Human Rights Initiative" .