Indian-American to lead open government partnership

Sanjay Pradhan, an Indian-American World Bank official, has been tapped to lead an international initiative to promote government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens.
Pradhan, who currently is Vice President for Change, Leadership and Innovation at the World Bank, would assume the new charge by mid-2016.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched by eight Heads of State at the UN General Assembly in 2011, and in just four years, 69 countries have joined the partnership, along with hundreds of civil society groups and several multilateral organisations.
"Sanjay will help ensure that OGP continues to succeed in its mission to promote government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens," a statement said.

Pradhan, who holds a PhD and a Bachelor's degree from Harvard University, will lead the OGP Support Unit, and will report to an international Steering Committee of 11 governments and 11 civil society leaders.
"My long-standing passion for how open government can transform the lives of millions around the globe has led me directly to OGP," Pradhan said.

"OGP represents a historic opportunity to advance the open government agenda through a unique platform built on peer learning and the collaboration between government and civil society around the world," he said in a statement.
"In his former senior position at the World Bank, Pradhan has proven to be a thought leader and practitioner in open government since before the phrase was even coined," said Alejandro Gonzalez, OGP Steering Committee Civil Society co-chair.

"He is a trusted and experienced interlocutor with both governments and civil society around the world. Said to be widely respected figure in the development community, Pradhan brings a wealth of open government experience to the role," he said.
Since 1986, he has held three Vice president positions at the World Bank Group (WBG) where he led the development of WBG's Governance and Anticorruption Strategy; helped launch Global Partnership for Social Accountability; and incubated ICT-mediated citizen feedback.
He also launched Open Contracting with Partners; and rolled out a flagship Collaborative Leadership for Development program to help leaders in government and civil society undertake collaborative actions.