During the36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, on Tuesday 1 November 2011, in Paris, the Global Open Access Portal (GOAP) was launched.

GOAP describes itself as follows:

"The Global Open Access Portal (GOAP), funded by the Governments of Colombia, Denmark, Norway, and the United States Department of State, presents a current snapshot of the status of Open Access (OA) to scientific information around the world. For countries that have been more successful implementing Open Access, the portal highlights critical success factors and aspects of the enabling environment. For countries and regions that are still in the early stages of Open Access development, the portal identifies key players, potential barriers and opportunities.

The Global Open Access Portal is designed to provide the necessary information for policy-makers to learn about the global OA environment and to view their country’s status, and understand where and why Open Access has been most successful.

At a glance, the portal provides an overview of the framework surrounding Open Access in UNESCO Member States by focusing on:

• the critical success factors for effectively implementing Open Access;
• each country’s strengths and opportunities for further developments;
• where mandates for institutional deposits and funding organization have been put into place;
• potential partners at the national and regional level; and
• funding, advocacy, and support organizations throughout the world.