03/07/2020
The initiative, a pioneer in Latin America, has been developed by the European Union through EUROsociAL+ to locate parliamentary information
Paraguay’s upper house has presented a mechanism for legislative control and monitoring compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) called Congreso2030py.
Congreso2030py is an innovative tool that tracks, gathers and offers all the information on the Paraguayan congress’ activities related to the SDGs. It is designed to overcome the challenges posed by the cross-sectoral nature of the 2030 Agenda.
This innovative initiative is spearheaded by the Paraguayan Senate as part of the Open Parliament Action Plan 2018-2020 signed within the framework of the Open Government Association (AGA), a multilateral project launched in 2011 by the government and civil society leaders from 77 countries to promote responsible and inclusive governance.
The platform is situated within the context of a new world model that seeks to build a relationship between citizens and legislators based on a different approach. An Open Parliament means greater transparency, better access to information and appropriate accountability. Moreover, it also incorporates other components, such as effective citizen participation and the use of technology to pave the way for this new relationship, the aim being to obtain receptive, innovative and effective legislation that works in favour of the people.
The tool has been developed by the European Union via its EUROsociAL+ programme, with the coordination of its Democratic Governance Policies Department at FIIAPP, the institution that is also earmarked to manage a new EU project to promote the implementation of the SDGs in Paraguay emphasising gender equality and the environment.
Congreso2030py is inspired by the Spanish tool, Parlamento2030, albeit adapted to meet the needs of Paraguay by Ciecode. It will interact with the Paraguayan Congress’ Legislative Information System (SILpy) and make it easier for citizens and organised civil society to monitor the legislative work being undertaken in relation to the SDGs.
How Congress2030 works
The tool classifies all the information related to the SDGs by means of an advanced mass labelling system. This innovative technology allows users to browse parliamentary activity linked to the SDGs through a free and open, on-line search engine. The information provided is essential to monitor and establish accountability regarding the implementation of the 2030 Agenda nationally.
Congress2030py helps find the least obvious answers to complicated questions at a glance: Which SDGs are affected by certain parliamentary initiatives? What objectives or goals receive more attention from the members of parliament? Who are the most active members of parliament in implementing the 2030 Agenda? Moreover, it offers a highly efficient method for analysing political activity by detecting parliamentary activity related to a specific SDG or an objective being proposed and debated simultaneously by different Congress committees.
