At the moment, public awareness of the damage and issues that result from secret contracting is lacking even though the negative impacts of the practice are plainly visible all over the world. From an unfinished autoroute, to redundant procurement, to outlandish prices to access scholarly publishing, bloated defense contracts and so forth — when the government signs cheques on behalf of the people, people have the right to know the exact terms and conditions of these projects.
As open contracting is rarely a top priority for civil society (in comparison to open spending/budgeting) it is important to raise awareness of the issue and demonstrate to governments that citizens want increased transparency in the contracting process. If you agree, please show your support by signing on to the campaign: www.stopsecretcontracts.org The ultimate goal of the Stop Secret Contracts campaign is to maximize the number of countries with open contracting commitments in their Open Government Partnership Action Plans. This summer, we will mobilize the campaign to take local actions and advocate directly for those commitments. Stay tuned! To achieve our aims, we want to contextualise the issue of secret contracts through a grassroots campaign that helps citizens engage with the issue in an accessible and understandable way. To do this, we are sharing and amplifying real stories of public contracts gone wrong, public contracts that serve special interests rather than the public interest by design. As we create a bridge between ordinary citizens, civil organisations and people involved in the open contracting arena, we’re asking you to add your voice to the chorus of people who believe in transparency and think all government contracts should be open and publicly accessible. The most important thing you can do today to show your support is to sign the petition here: - www.stopsecretcontracts.org After you’ve signed, please help spread the word: - Like our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/stopsecretcontracts and invite your facebook friends /contacts to the page. - Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/secretcontracts Please retweet @secretcontracts and message us if you know of a contracting issue where you live. - Forward this email to five friends right now. Finally, if you know people or organisations in your network who may be specifically interested in this campaign, please put them in touch at [email protected] Thank you for your support. Together we can make open contracting the new norm. Onward! Neal Bastek Digital Engagement Director | skype: nealbastek | @nbastek <https://twitter.com/nbastek> The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org> *Empowering through Open Knowledge* http://okfn.org/ | @okfn <https://twitter.com/OKFN> | OKF on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork> | Blog <http://blog.okfn.org/> | Newsletter <http://okfn.org/about/newsletter/>
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