What’s New
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23 August 2012
R2K: two years later, crunch-time on the Secrecy Bill
This statement was issued Aug. 24 by the South African Right to Know campaign. It summarizes RTK’s remaining issues with the secrecy bill. On Wednesday 28 August, the Protection of State Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill) enters the final stages of Parliamentary deliberation. A recent Parliamentary programme has the Secrecy Bill scheduled to be voted […]
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23 August 2012
Information Law Arrives in Malta, But Reform Needed
By Kevin Aquilina Aquilina is the Dean of the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta. This article was first published Aug. 22 in the Times of Malta. By means of Legal Notice 156 of 2012 published in The Malta Government Gazette of May 18, 2012, the remaining provisions of the Freedom of Information […]
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23 August 2012
Minister in Botswana Promises FOI Proposal
A top minister in Botswana has pledged that the government will offer its own freedom of information bill next year after having killed FOI proposals for several years. The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi, told The Gazette in an interview that it will not be tabled in the November session of […]
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23 August 2012
OGP Reviewing 60 Names to Serve on IRM Expert Panel
The Open Government Partnership has compiled a list of over 60 names of persons to serve on the body that will oversee the Independent Review Mechanism, according to the minutes of OGP’s Governance and Leadership Subcommittee (GL) teleconference held on Aug. 17. The list has been forwarded to the OGP Steering Committee for comments by […]
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23 August 2012
RTI Centre Established To Help Nepal Requesters
An RTI Centre has been created in Nepal. The new facility is located at the office of the National Information Commission, is managed by the Citizens’ Campaign for Right to Information in collaboration with the Commission, and supported with funds from the United Kingdom development agency, according to news reports including one in The Kathmandu Post. […]
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23 August 2012
Uganda Issues Manual on Access to Information Law
Uganda’s Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has published a Manual of Functions and Index of Records for 2012/2013. “The Manual contains very useful information on information available and how it can be accessed,” according to Gilbert Sendugwa, the Coordinator/Head of Secretariat of the Africa Freedom of Information Centre. Publication of a manual was […]
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22 August 2012
Liberian FOI Law Needs Support System
By JM Cassell JM Cassell is a former features editor of the New Liberian newspaper. He is currently the President of Quality Resource Solutions, LLC, a Walnut Creek, California based pharmaceutical quality assurance recruiting firm. He can be reached at monjue@gmail.com The Liberian government took an aggressively bold and somewhat courageous step recently by being the first West African […]
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22 August 2012
NGOs Seek to Set Standards for Open Government
Several nongovernmental organizations have requested comments on the meaning of “open government,” with the goal of creating international standards. The announcement states: Open Government is a hot topic right now, but what does it really mean in practice? What should governments be doing in the areas of Transparency, Participation and Accountability to qualify as “open […]
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22 August 2012
Philippines Coalition Presses for House Action on FOI
The Right to Know Right Now Coalition in the Philippines has asked House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to intervene and get the freedom of information bill out of committee. The letter from the network of 150 media and civil society organizations pushing the passage of the FOIasks Belmonte to take steps to “ensure full deliberation and […]
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21 August 2012
OGP Seeks Comments on Two-Year Strategic Plan
The Open Government Partnership Aug. 21 requested public comments on a two-year strategic plan built around two key elements “strengthening the core” and “maintaining vibrancy.” The 14-page document begins with descriptions of OGP “values” and “the OGP offer.” It then proceeds to outline short-term and long-term goals and to discuss “measures of success.” Numerous goals and […]
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20 August 2012
Venezuela Limits Access Rights, Report Says
By Natalia Mazotte This article first appeared in the Knight Foundation’s Journalism in the Americas Blog where versions in Spanish and Portuguese may be found. According to a report published by the Coalition ProAccess movement, the right to access public information in Venezuela is being restricted by the government, reported the organization Espacio Público, on […]
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20 August 2012
Government Website Audits Conducted in 8 Countries
Auditing the adequacy of government websites is an active and regular effort in at least eight countries, according to a Freedominfo.org review. Website audits have been conducted by nongovernmental organizations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus Georgia, Russia, the Ukraine and the United States. Some of the evalutions are periodic. The auditors devise numerical or “report card” grades to […]
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17 August 2012
Egyptian Minister Says Legislation on FOI Ready
The Egyptian Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry has developed a draft freedom of information bill, according to a media report. “Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Hany Mahmoud said his ministry has prepared a freedom of information bill and plans to open it to public debate after the holy Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, which […]
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17 August 2012
South Korea Submits OGP Plans; Others Missing
South Korea has submitted its Open Government partnership action plan, making commitments largely in the areas of providing more online information and increasing citizen involvement in decision-making. A nine-point Macedonian plan also has been posted. The publication of these plans means that 46 action plans have been submitted by the 57 OGP member countries. Four of […]
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17 August 2012
Russian Foundation Launches Russian OGP Website
By Nate Jones Jones is the Freedom of Information Coordinator at the National Security Archive who is also currently working with the Freedom of Information Foundation in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Freedom of Information Foundation, a Russian civil society group, has launched the website ogp-russia.ru to provide Russians with Russian language information about the Open […]
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17 August 2012
FOI Notes: Research, Open Data Debated, More Reports
Research: A study by Fabrizio Scrollini on different approaches and best practices vis-a-vis the relationship between the parliament as the legislative authority and independent FOI authorities Serbia and other places. Open Data: How valuable is open data and are there downsides? A long blog post by Tom Slee. “The point of this post is to […]
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16 August 2012
Mexico Expands OGP Commitments in New Plan
The Mexican government has expanded its Open Government Partnership national action plan beyond the first one created last September, incorporating more suggestions from civil society. The Expanded Action Plan (in English) presented during a press conference in Mexico City June 6 includes 36 commitments to advance transparency and accountability that must be met by September 2012. “The […]
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16 August 2012
Russian Group Suggests Ideas for OGP Action Plan
The Freedom of Information Foundation in Russia has advanced an extensive list of ideas for the government to include in the national action plan to be prepared in light of its membership in the Open Government Partnership. Russia joined the OGP in April. FIF suggested a variety of “organizational measures” such as establishing a body to […]
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15 August 2012
Push, Pass the FOI Act Now!
By the Right to Know, Right Now Coalition The following editorial ran in many paper in the Philippines July 15. In 1986 at EDSA, the first people power revolt ended 21 years of a government so dark and so opaque, and ushered in one of light and transparency. The strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos was […]
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15 August 2012
Botswana Editors Protest Government Resistance to FOI
By Spencer Mogapi Mogapi is chairman of the Botswana Editors Forum. Over the last few weeks the nation has been treated to varying and conflicting versions of what Freedom of Information Act is, who stands to benefit from it and why the country does not need such a law. During that time extraordinarily bizarre reasons have […]