Posts Tagged ‘human rights’
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21 December 2004
Critics Fault ADB Draft Public Communications Policy
The Asian Development Bank’s second draft of a new communications policy is meeting with some praise, and also with continuing criticism. Common themes included: demands for more disclosure about private sector operations, recommendations for releasing the key documents as they go to the board, and appeals for an independent appeals process. The comments are posted […]
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7 June 2004
NGOs Criticize EIB on Transparency, Other Grounds
A coalition of nongovernmental organizations June 1 issued a broad critique of the European Investment Bank, including the criticism that the EIB is "the least transparent, least accountable and least democratically controlled institution in the family of agencies entrusted with implementing EU policies and among public financial institutions." The "Public Funds for Public Benefit" was […]
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20 May 2004
Ecuador Enacts ‘Transparency and Access to Information Law’
By Carlos Osorio and Katherine Costar With refreshing democratic language, the new Ecuadorian Transparency and Access to Information Law establishes that "[a]ccess to information is a right of the person guaranteed by the State" and requires that government agencies proactively publish functional, operational and financial information. At the same time, a number of inconsistencies within […]
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20 April 2004
Shanghai Advances the Cause of Open Government Information in China
While the Chinese State Council mulls over a draft of China’s first freedom of information legislation, the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, home to some 16 million people, adopted China’s first provincial-level open information legislation on January 20, 2004. The Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Open Government Information (the Shanghai Provisions) represent the most comprehensive framework […]
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13 April 2004
The Transparency Labyrinth in Argentina
[See also: “The Freedom of Information Campaign in Argentina,” by Martha Farmelo, 14 OCTOBER 2003] A leader of Argentina’s openness movement, María Baron of the Centro de Implementacion de Politicas Publicas Para la Equidad y la Crecimiento, describes for freedominfo.org the reasons why President Nestor Kirchner decreed access to information rights in December 2003 (while […]
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11 October 2003
“The Right to Know is Gaining around the World”
by Thomas Blanton The International Herald Tribune, October 11, 2003, p. 6 Last month (September 23, 2003), Armenia became the 51st country in the world to guarantee its citizens the right to know what their government is up to. Armenia’s new freedom of information law is the latest outpost of the worldwide movement towards opening […]
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5 October 2003
REPORT: Fiji Debates Freedom of Information Proposal Citizens’ Group Launches Draft Law
The Citizens’ Constitutional Forum in Fiji has launched a public debate in the South Pacific nation over the unfulfilled requirement in the Fiji Constitution for a freedom of information law. Together with the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme in Suva, the CCF held a public FOI workshop on September 30, 2004 and released […]
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17 January 2003
The Philippines: A Liberal Information Regime Even Without an Information Law
Yvonne T. Chua has been the training director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) since 1995. As journalism trainer, she has trained scores of journalists in the Philippines and abroad, including Indonesia, Cambodia and Nepal. In 1999, she won the first prize in the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Investigative Journalism for her […]
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17 October 2002
Top World Bank Official Supports More Disclosure of Oil Revenue Payments
Top World Bank Official Supports More Disclosure of Oil Revenue Payments. Oil, gas and mineral companies should fully disclose their payments to governments of developing nations, the head of the World Bank’s private sector lending arm said recently, adding another voice to a steadily growing campaign for such disclosures. More … Woicke Statement Welcomed. International […]
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11 October 2002
Open Democracy Advice Centre Exposes Government for Failing to Implement 2-Year-Old Transparency Law
At its Second Annual Open Democracy Review in Cape Town, ODAC reported that the majority of public servants have not heard of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2000, which came into operation in March of 2001. “We found that 54% of the public bodies we contacted were unaware of the Act, 16% were […]
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1 October 2002
Disclosure or Deception? Multilateral Development Banks and Access to Information
By Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South, October 2002 Multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Band (ADB) and the World Bank pride themselves on their information disclosure policies. Especially since the Asian economic crisis, they have held their policies up as evidence of their commitment to transparency, accountability and participation. Information disclosure policies […]
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30 September 2002
Secrecy and Openness in the European Union The Ongoing Struggle for Freedom of Information By Tony Bunyan, Statewatch
Acknowledgements I would like to thank everyone in the Statewatch office (Trevor, Ben, Yasha, Katrin and Eleanor) without whom I would not have had the time to take out the cases to the European Ombudsman let alone complete this project; Steve Peers (for hours of exchanging views and experiences), Deirdre Curtin (for the stimulating sharing […]
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1 September 2002
Analysis of Transparency Issues at the World Bank
Despite changes made in the World Bank’s disclosure policies, more transparency is still possible. Below is a summary of current transparency issues. To read more about the Bank’s changes made in August 2002, see the policy itself made in 2002. Or read the summary from the Bank Information Center. Areas where improvements could be made […]
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17 July 2002
REPORT: A Landmark Law Opens Up Post-Apartheid South Africa
By Mukelani Dimba, Training Consultant, Open Democracy Advice Centre UPDATE – Media Release, 11 OCTOBER 2002 The Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) today released the results of a study that exposes the government for failing to implement a crucial Transparency Law passed over two years ago. A Landmark Law Opens Up Post-Apartheid South Africa Throughout […]
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9 July 2002
REPORT: In Mexico, a New Law Guarantees the Right to Know
By Kate Doyle <kadoyle@gwu.edu>, Senior Analyst and director of the Mexico Project, National Security Archive Mexico is a country where a powerful executive branch has historically overshadowed a weak Congress, a dysfunctional judicial system and a malleable press. Its citizens are unaccustomed to demanding – and receiving – their rights. For the longest time, the […]
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1 June 2002
Angola Oil Revenues: A Hidden Report
It doesn’t look as though the World Bank will be releasing a $2-million "diagnostic" study by the KPMG accounting firm about where Angolan oil revenues have gone. The Bank shouldered 30 percent of the cost of the report, but it says the study is an Angolan government document, which means that disclosure of the findings […]