2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

For the first time in Guatemala, a municipal government has committed to generating an open and participatory model of governance. This is how Open Antigua was born, an innovative initiative that seeks to break with the traditional governmental dynamics, characterized by opacity and lack of citizen participation, that have historically predominated in the country.

Through Abre Antigua, significant progress has been made in terms of transparency. These include the implementation of budget transparency boards, the publication of a calendar of municipal council sessions that allows each meeting and its minutes to be viewed, as well as the creation of a section for access to public information and information from the COMUDE (Municipal Development Council).

In parallel, innovative solutions have been promoted to encourage citizen participation. A prominent example is the process of co-creation of the first Local Open Government Action Plan in the country, which involves citizens in decision-making. In addition, Municipal Camps have been implemented, an initiative that brings the management branches of the municipality, together with the mayor, to historically marginalized communities to address and resolve their problems in a more immediate way. These processes of citizen participation represent the beginning of a constant dialogue between the municipal government and the population, laying the foundations for a more inclusive management. Hundreds of people in the municipality, with special emphasis on young people, women and historically excluded communities, took an active part in all the participatory processes promoted by this initiative.

Open Antigua aims to be an initiative that encourages other municipalities in Guatemala to promote a transparent and participatory model of governance.

We are making history!

• https://abre.muniantigua.gob.gt (External link)