The Transparency and Accountability Initiative call for Research Concept Notes from OGP Member Countries Research Teams

Deadline: 27 October 2014

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Transparency and Accountability Initiative invites research concept notes from research teams in 60 member countries of OGP. The primary purpose of the research is to inform pro-reform actors seeking more responsive and accountable governance (including civil society, governments, donors, OGP support staff, etc.) about when they can pursue these aims through the mechanism of the OGP, and how they can most effectively do so.

The research proposal must address the question that when and how are pro-reform actors able to leverage OGP – its processes, spaces and resources – to pursue improved government responsiveness and accountability.

The Transparency and Accountability Initiative will make one award under this call. Maximum grant amount for this research is US$250,000.

Note the Key Dates

1. 27 October 2014 – Concept Note submission deadline
2. 7 November 2014 – Notification to the short-listed applicants
3. 1 December 2014 – Full proposal submission
4. 15 December 2014 – Notification to the selected research teams
5. January 2015 – Research commences

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicant research teams must have expertise and experience of multi-country research in the transparency and accountability field. North-South and South-South partnerships with proven track records of rigorous, policy relevant research are highly encouraged.
• Eligible countries are – Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay.
• The proposal must answer the main research question – when and how are pro-reform actors able to leverage OGP – its processes, spaces and resources – to pursue improved government responsiveness and accountability.
• The research team must be prepared to explore the relationship between the design and functioning of OGP processes, both international and national, and the contexts (formal and informal political actors, institutions, and processes) in countries, and the obstacles and opportunities these present to pursuing more responsive and accountable governance.

The concept note should be an outline of the methodological approach including the countries proposed for the research and the comparative framework for analysis that explains the criteria for this selection. The concept note should not be more than four pages and should be accommodated with CVs of the research team members (maximum 3 pages each).

For more information, please visit Call for Research Proposals.