ParlAmericas delegation participated in meetings and a panel hosted by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica to support the development of open parliament initiatives
On January 24-25, a ParlAmericas delegation participated in meetings and a panel session hosted by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica in San José, to share good practices from parliaments in the hemisphere that are implementing an open parliament agenda and promote reflection on next steps to consolidate this agenda in Costa Rica.
On January 24, the delegation met with the leaders and deputy leaders of political parties, directors of the administrative departments of the Legislative Assembly, and representatives of civil society organizations. These meetings created an opportunity for an exchange of experiences from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Costa Rica on the development and implementation of Open Parliament Action Plans as well as legislation and practices that contribute to legislative openness. These meetings culminated with a panel discussion on the progress of open parliament in Latin America attended by various stakeholders.
These exchanges laid the foundation for a national workshop held on January 25, where Costa Rican parliamentarians, parliamentary clerks and civil society representatives established proposed next steps to continue strengthening and advancing the open parliament agenda in their country.
The president of the National Assembly of Ecuador, Elizabeth Cabezas emphasized that “Following the principles of an open parliament guarantees that the information on the work that we do is not misrepresented. More transparency will improve the relationship we have with citizens.” Similarly, the vice president of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, María Inés Solís, signaled that “the President of the Board of Directors of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica is committed to promoting open parliament initiatives so that the parliament and its members can strengthen this agenda.”
The ParlAmericas delegation was led by Elizabeth Cabezas President of the National Assembly of Ecuador and Vice-President of ParlAmericas and included Rodrigo Lara, Senator of Colombia; Eduardo Cáceres, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina; Patricio Vallespín, former parliamentarian of Chile; María Liz Sosa, Director General of the Legislative Strengthening Office of the Senate of Paraguay; Rocío Noriega, Advisor to the Bicameral Group on Transparency of the Congress of Chile; María Baron, Global Executive Director of the Foundation Directorio Legislativo; Anabella Zavagno, Deputy Director of ParlAmericas; and Emilie Lemieux, Program Manager – Open Parliament of ParlAmericas.
For more information about ParlAmericas’ open parliament work, click here. Follow ParlAmericas’ Open Parliament Network on Twitter by using the hashtag #ParlAmericasOPN
