Search Results
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27 September 2015
New Report Evaluates Access in 15 African Countries
The Africa Freedom of Information Centre has issued a 124-page report analyzing right to information in 15 countries, reporting problems implementing laws that exist and difficulties getting new laws passed. “Lack of transparency and corruption presents real threats to Africa’s vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its citizens and representing a […]
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7 July 2015
Ghana: The Right to Information and Trade Secrets
By Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam The author is Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy. This article appeared July 2 in The Chronicle. Introduction The debate over whether trade secrets undermine transparency and promote corruption continues to dominate discussions on Africa’s growing governance landscape. Often difficult to define because of its many faces […]
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12 March 2015
Department of State Email Preservation Rate Hovers under 0.000061%
By Lauren Harper and Nate Jones This column appeared March 11 in Unredacted, a blog from the National Security Archive, the publisher of FreedomInfo.org. Harper and Jones are Archive staff members. Today’s Department of State Office of Inspector General report has some scary numbers on the number of emails the Department actually preserves. Hillary Clinton […]
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2 December 2014
OGP Cautions 12 Countries Tardy on Their Commitments
The Open Government Partnership has cautioned 12 governments that they are falling behind on their OGP responsibilities (see blog post with links to the letters). For two countries – Turkey and Malta – the letters constitute a second warning, so an OGP subcommittee will decide what disciplinary action to take. Neither country has developed its […]
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26 November 2014
Tanzania in Yet Another Lost Century
By Deus Kibamba The author is Executive Director, Tanzania Citizens’ Information Bureau. This is a chapter from a recently issued State of Right to Information in Africa Report 2014 and is reprinted with permission. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Despite a strong history of pan– Africanism and being one of the first countries to embrace open competitive elections, the […]
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9 October 2014
FOI Notes: OGP Research Call, Resource Transparency, Open Data, UK, US, Brazil
Open Government Partnership: The Transparency and Accountability Initiative is seeking research proposals on: when and how are pro-reform actors able to leverage OGP – its processes, spaces and resources – to pursue improved government responsiveness and accountability? Due date is Oct. 27. Resource Transparency: The Resource Governance Index finds that only 11 of the countries—less than […]
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2 October 2014
Africa’s Progress on RTI Assessed in Two Reports
Two key groups advocating for right to information laws in Africa have issued detailed reports, both calling for intensified efforts to continue progress and taking a close look at national situations. The Africa Freedom of Information Centre Sept. 29 launched its first State of the Right to Information in Africa Report. The report is on […]
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28 August 2014
FOI Notes: Commentary, Reports, Media Use of FOI, OGP, China, US, Satire
Making All Voices Count: A of future plans by Making All Voices Count includes, “We will not run another global open call for proposals, but we will retain the Global Innovation Competition. In place of the open call we will be adopting a locally led, bottom up approach, led by a Country Programmes unit.” Open […]
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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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9 May 2014
Access to information: Key to development
By Annie Game Game is Executive Director of IFEX. This article was posted May 1, World Press Freedom Day, on the IFEX blog and is available in: Français Español ???? When residents of Bangladesh’s Khulna municipality along the Rupsha River began noticing a spike in health problems in their community, they turned to community leader […]
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18 April 2014
FOI Notes: Making All Voices Counts Grants, OGP Awards, T/A
Making All Voices Count: The 28 winners are announced in a contest for cutting-edge projects to boost government and citizen engagement. Winners include a group planning to develop an app for searching pubic data worldwide, a project to engage with graffiti artists to spread data-based information in Nairobi’s slums, a project to construct a pharmaceutical […]
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4 April 2014
The Next FOIA Fight: The B(5) “Withhold It Because You Want To” Exemption
By Nate Jones Originally posted at the National Security Archive’s Unredacted blog on March 27, 2014. Candid remarks on b(5). Documents from The Department of State was Hiding This . Something troubling happened this Sunshine Week. At the 16th Annual National Freedom of Information Day at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center, former White House Office of Information and Regulatory […]
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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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21 March 2014
Analysis of Oversight Mechanisms in Africa
By Gilbert Sendugwa Sendugwa is Coordinator & Head of Secretariat at the Africa Freedom of Information Centre. This analysis also is available in a Power Point version. It was presented at a regional conference on FOI implementation held March 18-19 in Abuja, Nigeria. The keynote speech was by Major General Chris Olukolde, “Protecting National Security […]
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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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6 February 2014
FOI Notes: Grants, US Advisory Panel, Local Open Data Census, Delaware
Grants: Open Society Initiative for West Africa is seeking proposals to “promote access to Information and Media Freedom” in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone. The announcement also includes a variety of other topics. Proposals should be sent directly to: proposals@osiwa.org and will be accepted until May 30, 2014. United States: The […]
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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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10 July 2013
Sierra Leone Government Delays FOI Legislation
The Sierra Leone government is delaying action on freedom of information legislation because of “poor records management.” The open-ended postponement comes after months of more positive signals from other officials and prompted a strong retort from a leading FOI campaigner. “It is unfortunate that the Government of Sierra Leone continues to play games with this […]