UN Experts’ Joint Declaration: Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and other UN experts issued a declaration addressing the lack in the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of expression and information, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association and public participation in some countries. The Joint Declaration is available in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The declaration addresses many topics and stresses the availability of information about development. It also includes this:
- Adopt comprehensive national laws, regulations and policies on the rights to freedom of expression and information in accordance with international and regional norms and standards. States should also ensure that public authorities at all levels, and private bodies carrying public functions, proactively inform the population about development-related issues, particularly those related to education, environment, health, water and sanitation, and poverty reduction;
Nongovernmental Organizations: Transparify releases a report on 169 think tanks across 47 countries worldwide., saying “the results show that think tanks with an excellent level of disclosure can be found in all continents.” Transparify also said “there is great momentum towards transparency in the think tank community as a whole, especially in the United States.”
United States: A new video, “It’s a Secret,” is issued by OpenTheGovernment.org to commemorate its 10th anniversary.
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