More than 80 percent of Cambodians want the right to access government information and believe that government, including elected bodies, should publish national budget and spending information, according to a new survey by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media.
Cambodia does not have a FOI law.
The research was commissioned by the Cambodia Centre for Independent Media (CCIM) and Freedom House. The report was written by Pa NguonTeang, Jayson W. Richardson, John B. Nash, AgatheDuvigneau and Clothilde Le Coz.
“The data were collected using qualitative and quantitative methods including interviews with 30 key informants, six focus group discussions, and a quantitative survey (with a sample size of 1522). The study was conducted between October 2011 and January 2012.”
The report also says that 19.1% of respondents reported having sought information about national statistics, commune budgets and expenditures, and the cost of civil registration. “Of those who have sought such information, 32.5% faced difficulty in seeking such information. At the same time, 82% of respondents said information is important to them.”
In addition, “Almost all respondents tended to be confused between the concept of public information and general news as the majority (98%) reported they had access to public information and they do this mostly by radio (79%), followed by television (78%), and word of mouth (50%).”
Among other things, the authors conclude, “Public information, and the right to access such information, should be well defined and guaranteed by law. The legal frameworks for those guarantees should be developed with the broad involvement of civil society and the general public at the community, sub-national and national levels.”
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