Search Results
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9 August 2005
Pakistan Newspaper Reports on Nonpublic World Bank Document
A newspaper in Pakistan has written about a nonpublic World Bank report evaluating ten years of World Bank activities in Pakistan and shedding light on the process of preparing such major evaluations. The evaluation report is generally unfavorable to the World Bank, according to the Business Recorder, which wrote about the conclusions in a July […]
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11 May 2002
Pakistan
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28 September 2017
Alphabetical and Chronological lists of countries with FOI regimes
Alphabetical and Chronological lists of countries with FOI regimes Alphabetical No Chronological Afghanistan 2014 1 Sweden 1766 Albania 1999 2 Finland 1951 Angola 2002 3 United States 1966 Antigua 2004 4 France 1978 Argentina 2004 5 Australia 1982 Armenia 2003 6 New Zealand 1982 Australia 1982 7 Canada 1983 Austria 1987 8 Colombia 1985 Azerbaijan […]
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1 June 2017
FOI Notes: Metrics/Australia, Malaysia, Algorithms, Iran, US, Armenia, India, Latin America, Open Data, Tunisia, Taiwan
Australia: Australian information commissioners and ombudsmen agree on six proposed “Metrics on Public Use of Freedom of Information Access Rights,” available for comment at http://ipc.nsw.gov.au/open-government. The dataset for the 2015/16 metrics is scheduled to be released in December 2017. The scope of the metrics cover: Type of applicant Application rates per capita Release rates Refusal rates Timeliness Review […]
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16 March 2017
FOI Notes: EU, Indonesia, Mexico, Afghanistan, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, OGP, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Denmark, India, UAE, Transparency Research, Open Data
European Union: The European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly opens an inquiry into whether the Council of the EU allows sufficient public scrutiny of the evolving discussions on draft EU laws. She puts 14 questions to the Council on how legislative documents arising from meetings of Member State Ambassadors and deputy Ambassadors, plus the over 150 committees and […]
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28 December 2016
Eight Countries Adopt FOI Regimes in 2016
Eight countries adopted freedom of information laws or similar administrative regulations in 2016, according to FreedomInfo.org’s running tally that now shows 115 national FOI regimes. The number of additions in 2016 is one shy of the previous annual record of nine additions, set in 2011. See list of FOI countries by date and alphabetically. Joining […]
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6 December 2016
Seven Nations to Join OGP; Hungary Quits Under Duress
As the Open Government Partnership convened for a summit meeting in Paris Dec. 7-9 seven countries announced plans to join – Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Germany, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Pakistan and Portugal – while one member resigned, Hungary. Hungary was probably on its way to being declared an “inactive” member anyway for missing OGP deadlines. Based on […]
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3 November 2016
Evolving Dimensions of the Bangladesh RTI Act
By Muhammad Zamir The author, a former Ambassador and Chief Information Commissioner, is an analyst specializing in foreign affairs, right to information, and good governance. This article first appeared Oct. 30 in The Dhaka Tribune. Some have raised questions as to whether the RTI process is working. The answer is yes and no. The evolving […]
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20 October 2016
FOI Notes: UN Report, Transparency Research, Many Country Reports
Freedom of Expression: “There is no question that governments worldwide are wielding the tools of censorship,” warns the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, in a new report. One section is titled “Undermining the right to information.” It says: National security is also used to justify excluding information […]
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28 September 2016
Mexican Law Rates at Top According to New RTI Ratings
The amendments to Mexico’s freedom of information law have made it the best access law in the world, according to the RTI Rating, a comparative assessment of national legal frameworks for the right to information done by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) and Access Info Europe. The changes gave Mexico 136 points out […]
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27 September 2016
FOI Impact: Success Stories
Successful requests for government information pack real-world punch. They help fight pollution, improve medical care, and protect human rights. FreedomInfo.org has collected potent examples, all from the past year, of how people around the world use their freedom of information laws (whatever its name). This sampling was culled from hundred of media accounts and from […]
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25 August 2016
FOI Notes: National News Briefs, Transparency Research, More
Malaysia: The response from citizens to the 2010 Penang Freedom of Information Enactment “has been positively lukewarm,” according to a top official and statistics quoted in an article by Boo Su-Lyn in the Malay Mail. Civil servants are afraid to release information, the article says. Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof. P. Ramasamy said there […]
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11 August 2016
FOI Notes: Sierra Leone, Commentary, Olympics, Philippines, Canada, US, Cayman Islands, Japan, Panama, Research, India, Australia
Sierra Leone: The Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI) called on parliamentarians to account for the millions of dollars they are receiving annually for the development of their respective constituencies. The Sierra Leone Telegraph reports that many of the parliamentarians are not taking too kindly to being called to account. Commentary: Nathaniel Heller of […]
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7 July 2016
FOI Notes: Morocco, Iraq, United States, India, Canada, Scotland, Mexico, More
Morocco: The Morrocan Center for the RTI (Cemdi) (Facebook) holds a July 4 a press conference about the draft FOI bill (in French). Abderrahim Foukahi, president of the CEMDI addresses wavering on the issue (three drafts since 2013) and delays (for example, six months between the receipt of the bill in Parliament and the beginning […]
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16 June 2016
FOI Notes: US FOI Success, World Bank, Braille, OGP, Open Data, Malta, US, UK, Australia, India, Canada, More
United States: Examples of 50 recent FOIA success stories in the US have been posted by the National Security Archive, the sponsor of FreedomInfo.org. OGP: “Learning to Open Government: New Evidence to Inform the OGP’s Efforts to Make Change Happen,” a report by Florencia Guerzovich and Michael Moses of Global Integrity, based on the experiences […]
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5 May 2016
FOI Notes: Research, Press Freedom Day, Regional and Country News, More
International: A commissioned by the Transparency and Accountability Initiative and curated by Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – “short, forward-looking think pieces by leading scholars and activists on the future of the transparency and accountability movement.” International: At a World Press Freedom Day conference more than 1,000 media practitioners and stakeholders, […]
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23 March 2016
Speakers at SE Asian Meeting Urge Publicizing RTI
Representatives from five South Asia countries held a regional conference on right to information on March 16-17, stressing the need to encourage greater use of RTI laws, according to an article in The Daily Times and another in The Tribune. Delegates from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal met at a conference sponsored by […]
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10 March 2016
FOI Notes: FOI Advocacy, India, UK, US, Argentina, Open Meetings, Commentary, More
United States: The Sunshine in Government Initiative announces WITHOUT FOIA, a project to show FOIA’s impact through examples. India: Nagaland Information Commission has one the lowest rates of rejection of RTI applications recorded in the country at 0.7% cumulative. Only 3% of the RTI applicants in Nagaland are female. Bukchem Phom, Chief Information Commissioner, cited these […]
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3 March 2016
FOI Notes: OGP Working Group Election, 30 More Items (Got Carried Away)
OGP Access Working Group: The OGP Access to Information Working Group announces a process for creating a new steering committee “to support implementation of the work plan, help set direction for the working group, and assure a more robust and vibrant engagement of different members and stakeholders.” The process envisions self-nomination and an election by […]
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25 February 2016
FOI Notes: Research, Examples, OGP Elections, National News, More
FOI Conference/Call for Papers: Proposals are being invited for papers to be given at a conference, “Freedom of Information Laws on the Global Stage: Past, Present and Future,” to be held Nov. 4, 2016, at Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, Cal. See announcement. Deadline for abstract is April 4. “Papers should have an international or […]