Search Results
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14 August 2014
Making Progress on Freedom of Information in Africa
By Chidi Odinkalu and Maxwell Kadiri The authors are with the Open Society Justice Initiative. This article was published Aug. 13. Odinkalu is senior legal officer for the Africa regional work of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Kadiri is associate legal officer on the Africa regional work of the Open Society Justice Initiative. In the decade […]
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6 August 2014
OGP Announces New Steering Committee Members
Five new civil society organization representatives and three new governments have been selected to serve on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. A selection process determined the new CSO members to the 22 member Steering Committee. The committee, slightly enlarged now, is evenly divided between CSO and government members. The chosen CSO representatives are: – […]
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22 July 2014
14 CSO Candidates Selected As Finalists to Join OGP SC
Fourteen persons have been selected for the short list of candidates from civil society who still are running to become members of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. The OGP is keeping the list a secret, but FreedomInfo.org obtained a confirmed list of the 14 finalists for the five open seats The 14 are: – […]
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2 June 2014
World Bank Posts First Group of Access Request Digests
The World Bank has posted for the first time short summaries of some of the information requests it has received. The 32 listed requests were received in April and were recently put on the Bank’s website. Under the Bank’s new policy a summary of a request is only disclosed if the requester agrees. No names are provided […]
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30 May 2014
OGP Chooses New Experts for Next Independent Reviews
The Open Government Partnership has published the list of next group of reviwwers who will examine national action plans. The process, known as the Independent Reporting Mechanism, involves hiring independent experts to author progress reports on implementation of each country’s OGP action plan. A number of known access to information experts are among those chosen. […]
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3 April 2014
African Conference Addresses FOI Implementation Issues
The following article is from the Media Rights Agenda website. A two-day Africa Regional Conference on Freedom of Information Implementation bringing together over 100 state and non-state actors from Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, was held in Abuja, Nigeria. The conference discussed and identified some emerging positive […]
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25 March 2014
UNEP Delays Producing Access to Information Policy
The United Nations Environment Programme has still not produced an access to information policy requested by the Governing Council a year ago. Instead, an “interim” access policy will begin in April, Executive Director Achim Steiner told the UNEP Committee of Permanent Representatives March 24. He said it will be evaluated after a year. A final […]
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14 March 2014
African Network Issues Recommendations
The Working Group of the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI) has called on more African countries to pass the Model Law on Access to Information developed by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa and adopted by the African Commission. The civil society coalition’s March 6 statement […]
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14 March 2014
FOI Notes: OGP, UK, Canada
Open Government Partnership: The OGP Independent Review Mechanism is looking for individuals to carry out research at the national level for 34 countries. The reviewers will assess government progress on implementation of OGP action plans. Please read more here or directly submit an English (preferred) or Spanish CV to the IRM at IRM@opengovpartnership.org. Use the […]
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17 February 2014
OGP Subcommittee Works on Organizational Issues, Funding
The Open Government Partnership is continuing to refine its structure and procedures, build its financial base and set long-term goals, according to minutes of a subcommittee meeting held Jan. 28-29 in Mexico City, Mexico. Among other decisions, the subcommittee recommended that for the first time, the OGP should impose a slight penalty for member countries […]
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7 January 2014
UNEP Plans for New Policy on Disclosure Behind Schedule
By Toby McIntosh The United Nations Environmental Programme has yet to produce a disclosure policy mandated by its governing body in early 2013, but it’s coming soon, a UNEP spokesman said. The promised disclosure policy is “stuck” in the office of UNEP legal division, according to one observer who has spoken with UNEP officials about […]
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25 October 2013
London OGP Summit Will Be Coming Out Party for CSOs
By Toby McIntosh 19 months ago in Brazil, at the first Open Government Partnership summit, 150 delegates from civil society organizations (CSOs) finally got together as a group, very late in day on the last day of the conference, tired and somewhat frustrated. “Welcome to a work in progress,” began Warren Krafchik, the new OGP co-chair […]
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17 October 2013
Half of OGP Cohort 2 Submit National Self-Assessments
Twenty Open Government Partnership countries recently submitted their self-assessments of progress on their national action plans, according to a FreedomInfo.org tally. Nineteen countries who faced the same Sept. 30 deadline have told OGP officials that the self-assessments are on the way. Posted on the OGP website (on the individual country pages) are self-assessments from: Chile, Colombia, Croatia, […]
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17 October 2013
FOI Notes: Transparency Research, Rio, Nigeria, Open Data
Transparency Research: The papers for the 3rd Annual Conference on Transparency Research, to be held in Paris Oct. 24-26 are now available. Hannes Meissner, ‘Functioning , Effects and Perspectives of Transparency Initiatives – The Example of Azerbaijan‘ Luis Emilio Cuenca Botey & Laure Célérier, ‘Participatory Budgeting: a Bourdieusian Interpretation‘ Tsvetelina Yordanova, ‘Transparency in Foreign Policy […]
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16 October 2013
Talking About a (Data) Revolution
By Dave Banisar Banisar is Senior Legal Counsel of Article 19. The following article was posted Oct. 16, 2013, on the Article 19 website. At the end of this month, over 50 nations will converge on London for the annual summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP has seen rapid growth since its […]
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30 September 2013
FOI Notes: Reports, RTK Day Tweeting, Funding, Jobs, Articles
RTI Rating: Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy issue a report on trends in their global RTI Rating, which assesses the legal framework for the right to information in every country in the world which has adopted an RTI law. “A major finding of the report is that as international standards […]
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30 September 2013
Study Examines Access in Fourteen African Countries
African countries are “only halfway towards where they should be in terms of access to information, according to a new report. The report evaluated 14 countries using a survey of experts. The average score was 5 out of 10, “not quite a pass mark,” the report said. Only four of the countries have specific access […]
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26 September 2013
Pace of Activity on FOI Legislation Still Vigorous
The pace of passing access to information laws may be slowing, but not the number of bills under consideration, according to a FreedomInfo.org tally. Is a slowdown under way in the blistering adoption rate seen in the past two decades? Twelve laws been adopted already in the latest three-year (2010-2012) period (calendar years), but only […]
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5 September 2013
OGP Announces Reviewers for 39 National Action Plans
The Open Government Partnership has announced the names of a new group of researchers who will examine the fulfillment of the action plans of 39 countries. While releasing the names on the OGP blog, an OGP official declined to disclose any information besides the names of the selected reviewers to FreedomInfo.org, citing OGP capacity issues […]
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8 July 2013
FOIAnet Publishes Report Assessing RTI Globally
A comprehensive assessment of the right to information movement around the world was published July 8 by the Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIAnet). Chapters on seven regions combine historical overviews with evaluations the current situation. The 90-page report, written by veteran advocates, details the varied and similar experiences of civil society advocates, and sometimes includes recommendations for […]