<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Dear members,</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">On
September 20, 2011, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched. It aims
to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new
technologies to strengthen governance. </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">The
Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa
(CIPESA) has prepared a briefing note - attached - that explains the OGP, 
looks at OGP indicators and prospects in selected African countries (Ghana, Kenya,
Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa) and explores the role ICT could play
in catalysing the achievement of Open Government in Africa.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">This
paper is also available at our website, <a href="http://www.cipesa.org/" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;color:#2A2BEE">www.cipesa.org</span></a>
, where more resources on open government [in Africa] will be posted in the
coming days.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Comments
(<a href="mailto:programmes@cipesa.org" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:
11.0pt;color:blue">programmes@cipesa.org</span></a>) are most welcome.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Best,</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#888888;
mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span><br clear="all"></p>-- <br>Lillian Nalwoga<br>CIPESA<br><a href="http://www.cipesa.org" target="_blank">www.cipesa.org</a> <br>+256 712 204335<br><div style="padding:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-top:0px;overflow:hidden;word-wrap:break-word;color:black;font-size:10px;text-align:left;line-height:130%">
</div><div style="padding:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-top:0px;overflow:hidden;word-wrap:break-word;color:black;font-size:10px;text-align:left;line-height:130%"></div><br>