Search Results
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28 May 2015
FOI Notes: Open Data and RTI, New Books, Australia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, US, Canada, EU, Pakistan
Open Data/RTI: “Right to Data = RTI + open formats+ reuse,” according to a blog post by Silvana Fumega, one of several speakers on a panel on open data and RTI at the International Open Data Conference being held in Toronto, Canada, May 28 and 29. Some of the sessions (but not this one it […]
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14 May 2015
FOI Notes: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, US, Open Data, Ireland, EU, OGP
Nigeria: Right to Know Nigeria has created a FoI Case Tracker. The group also issued an animated pamphlet titled “FoI Act; Your Right to Know.” United States: The House Oversight Committee is soliciting stories about experiences with FOIA, providing an online feedback form. The committee also asked nearly two dozen public interest groups to share their […]
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19 March 2015
FOI Notes: United Nations, United States, Brazil, Pakistan, World Bank, Open Data
FOIA Implementation: A working paper, “Right to Information: Identifying Drivers of Effectiveness in Implementation,” by Stephanie E. Trapnell and Victoria Lemieux, describes the World Bank’s multi-faceted approach to measuring implementation. United Nations: The UN Statistical Commission’s initial assessment of the still provisionally proposed indicators for an access-to-information target in the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals. The first […]
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17 February 2015
Pakistan Committee Unhappy With Progress on RTI Bill
A Pakistan Senate Committee Feb. 16 has expressed its displeasure with the lack of progress on Right to Information bill. “Delay in presenting such an important bill before the Cabinet for approval, is a grave constitutional violation which proves that it is not on priority list of the government despite the fact that the bill […]
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7 January 2015
RTI Case Studies From Pakistan
A report by the Asia Foundation on right to know laws in three Southeast Asian countries. (See FreedomInfo.org report.) The report includes an annex with case studies about the use of the laws. Reprinted below is the section on Pakistan Prime Minister’s Overseas Trips Under the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002, RTI activist Saleem Iqbal […]
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1 January 2015
FOI Notes: Google Report, India, Pakistan, US
Google: Google released its semiannual transparency report, including nearly 30 examples of content that dozens of governments have asked the search engine giant to remove. Overall, Google received 3,105 requests from world governments between July 2013 and December 2013 to wipe 14,367 pieces of content. In the previous 6-month allotment, from December 2012 to July […]
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26 November 2014
FOI Notes: Defending Transparency, FOI and Academia, Pakistani Legal Site, More
Commentary/US: “Why Critics of Transparency Are Wrong,” an article by Gary D. Bass, Danielle Brian and Norman Eisen. The authors write: “In this paper, we respond to the principal myths about transparency that are cropping up in books, academic journals and newspapers across the country, and demonstrate the enduring value of open government. In fact, […]
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30 October 2014
FOI Notes: UK, India, UK, OGP, Open Budgets, Pakistan, More
United Kingdom: Joe Reddington in a blog post writes about a paper by Alexander J Fowler, and others: “The UK Freedom of Information Act (2000) in healthcare research: a systematic review.“ In an interview, Fowler says among other things: I think the FOI Act is a hugely powerful tool for medical research – especially policy type […]
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23 October 2014
FOI Notes: Personnel Moves, Pakistan Video, US Schools, UK Court Ruling
Personnel: The Ford Foundation announced the appointment of Rakesh Rajani as director of Democratic Participation and Governance. Rajani currently serves as the head of Twaweza in Tanzania and was the lead civil society chair for the Open Government Partnership. He will begin his new position in New York on Jan. 5. Personnel: Transparency International has […]
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1 October 2014
Two Pakistani Provinces Resisting New RTI Laws
The bureaucracies in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are offering “stiff resistance” to the new right to information laws, according to the Centre for Peace and Development Initiative (CPDI). Information was withheld in over 87 per cent of the requests, the group said. CPDI sent in 924 information requests to the governments […]
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14 August 2014
Compromise Bill Developed in Pakistan, Wins Praise
A compromise right to information bill for Pakistan has emerged from discussions among the political parties and is being praised by RTI campaigners. The draft “Right to Information Act, 2014,” was described Aug. 8 by Waseem Abbasi in an article in The News. Abbasi quoted sources as saying the bill has the support of the […]
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18 July 2014
Pakistan Committee Makes Changes in Draft RTI Bill
A committee of the Pakistan Senate on July 15 approved amendments to a right to information bill, according to an article in The Daily Times and one by the Pakistan Press Foundation. The Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, chaired by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, dropped a provision that would have left authority […]
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8 July 2014
FOI Notes: Australia, Pakistan, UK, US, Open Data
Australia: The government has made FOI statistics available in a machine-readable format, according to a report in Computer World. Pakistan: “The State of Right to Information in Pakistan” by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) recommends steps to implement the new RTI laws in the states of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In a nationwide […]
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2 July 2014
FOI Notes: Pakistan, United States, India, Australia
Pakistan: A research report, “The State of Proactive Disclosure of Information in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Public Bodies” says that public bodies in both provinces “are not complying with the respective right to information laws of their provinces.” United States: The FOIA Advisory Committee holds its first meeting, as summarized in a blog post by […]
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27 June 2014
FOI Notes: South Africa, Isle of Man, OGP, Bhutan, Pakistan, US, UK
Private Sector: A FOI manual by a private company in South Africa. The compliance-oriented manual by March & McLennon Companies is dated November 2013. Isle of Man: The government publishes a summary of responses concerning a proposed FOI law. Employment: The Open Government Partnership is looking to hire a Regional Civil Society Coordinator with a […]
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19 May 2014
Pakistan Committee Backs RTI Information Commission
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting has recommended creation of an independent federal information commission and legal protection for whistleblowers. A committee recently finalized its recommendations on the draft Right to Information bill which has been proposed by the ministry, according to Dawn and the Daily Times. The committee also proposed amendments […]
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7 March 2014
Two Pakistani States Implementing New Laws
Two Pakistani states have taken somewhat delayed steps to implement recently passed right to information laws. The Punjab government has established the Punjab Information Commission and appointed the commissioners. One of them is Mukhtar Ahmed Ali. He is the founding director of a group that advocated for the new law, the Centre for Peace and […]
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24 January 2014
2013 – A Watershed Year for RTI Movement in Pakistan
By Zahid Abdullah Zahid Abdullah works for Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) and is also Coordinator of Coalition on Right to Information, (CRTI). 2013 will always be regarded as a watershed year for right to information movement in Pakistan. Although Pakistan was the first country in the South Asia to have introduced a […]
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13 December 2013
Two Pakistani Provinces Pass RTI Legislation: Punjab, K-P
Two Pakistani provinces have approved right to information laws – Punjab and Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The most recent action came Dec. 13 when Punjab legislators passed the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information (RTI) Bill 2013. Opposition members who said the bill is “unclear” and “negates the freedom of speech” as enshrined in the constitution, according to an […]
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30 August 2013
Pakistani Committee OKs Freedom of Information Bill
A Senate committee in Pakistan has approved a freedom of information bill. The Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting approved the bill on Aug. 28 after eight months of deliberations. Committee chairman Kamil Ali Agha is expected to propose it in the Senate as a multi-party bill. The committee rejected a request from the defense […]