Posts Tagged ‘measurements’
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31 December 2010
Andean Group Evaluating Freedom of Information
The Andean Group of Freedom of Information (GALI) has begun a project to evaluate national legislation on freedom of expression and access to information. GALI plans to identify the strengths and weaknesses freedom of expression of laws in each of the five countries — Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela — in order to identify […]
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3 December 2010
Evidence of Transparency’s Benefits Scant, Promising
Existing evidence on the impact of “transparency and accountability initiatives” (TAIs), including freedom of information, is “weak,” according to a major new review of the research. This finding on the empirical front “does not mean that the impacts of TAIs are not significant, nor that they do not hold strong potential for change. It is […]
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29 September 2010
Groups Unveil Rating Tool for Right to Information Laws
A new tool for evaluating and comparing national right to information frameworks was launched Sept. 28 by Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy. “The Right to Information (RTI) Legislation Rating Methodology is a tool to assess the overall legal framework for the right to information, based on how well that framework […]
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22 September 2010
80 Countries Have FOI Laws, Tally by Vleugels Shows
National freedom of information laws exist in 80 countries, according to a new list issued by Dutch FOI analyst and publisher Roger Vleugels. Two countries — Indonesia and Russia – were added to his “A-list,” but four dropped off — Argentina, Kazakhstan, Spain and Saint Vincent & Grenadines. To make the A-list, a law must […]
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22 September 2010
Article 19 Proposes Global Right to Information Index
Article 19 Sept. 21 proposed a Global RTI Index, calling it “a new tool to compare and contrast right to information laws, highlighting weaknesses and best practices.” The working paper of the Global RTI Index describes a rating system with 14 categories and more than 180 indicators. The London-based group has tested its proposed tool by […]
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20 October 2009
New Report on Aid Transparency: Not Available! Not Accessible!
Madrid, Spain — Transparency NGO Access Info Europe released a report on October 20 entitled “Not Available! Not Accessible!” to coincide with the opening of the International Aid Transparency Initiative’s conference of donors and recipient governments in the Hague. The report shows how donor governments are failing to make available the information needed to prevent corruption in […]
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7 October 2009
Saber Mas: New Report on Access to Information in Latin America
Open government advocates offer first-hand accounts of FOI promotion in Latin America Latin America’s leading open government advocates recently released a report, bringing together data from 17 countries and offering new findings on the status of freedom of information in the region. The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information (Alianza Regional para la […]
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17 July 2009
Safeguarding the Right to Information: Report of the People’s RTI Assessment 2008 in India
A Comprehensive Look at the Implementation and Use of India’s RTI Act New Delhi, India — In the first two years of access-to-information implementation in India, about 1.6 million requests for information were made in urban areas, while an additional 400,000 applications were made in the rural villages. Taking such a large-scale access-to-information regime head on, […]
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10 April 2009
Moldova: Acces-info Center Releases Evaluation of Access to Public Information
Chisinau, Moldova — Experts found that, although the Moldovan government improved somewhat in communicating with the public, the passing of the State Secrets Law and other deficiencies diminish the positive impact of the governments reforms, according to Acces-Info Center’s Fourth Quarter 2008 evaluation of access to official public information. According to its press release, the […]
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5 February 2009
New Regulations Require Israeli Government to Disclose Environmental Information
Jerusalem, Israel – On February 2, 2009, the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, approved new regulations that would compel Israeli public authorities to make environmental information available to the public. Even though environmental information was specifically mentioned in Article 9 of Israels 1998 Freedom of Information Law, further implemented […]
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1 March 2007
World Bank Developing Country-by-Country Database on Access Laws
The World Bank is well on its way to developing a country-by-country database “on various transparency and accountability institutions in developing countries,” freedominfo.org has learned. The project came to light in a document about implementation of the Bank’s anticorruption strategy, which lays a stress on improving governance and transparency. The new database, which may be […]
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17 July 2006
UNDP Seminar Spotlights Complexity of Expanding Right to Know
By Toby McIntosh Fostering the right to know in developing countries requires multi-faceted, flexible strategies, according to the minutes of a May 2006 seminar sponsored by the United Nations Development Program. The 31 seminar participants, with practical experience in many parts of the world, reviewed the impediments to improving government transparency and shared insights on […]
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22 March 2006
freedominfo.org Kicks Off Project on Legislative Transparency
By Maria Baron, Argentina Introduction | Methodology | Glossary Legislatures are an essential pillar in a country’s struggle to promote transparency and good governance and to combat corruption: they are the only institution that represents the entire citizenry, have the ability to control other state agencies, and create norms and initiatives that prevent unethical practices. […]
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16 November 2005
How to Measure Openness?
Towards an International Index Government transparency ranks as a fundamental human right and an essential element in developing effective democratic governance. Nonetheless, international freedom of information advocates face a daunting challenge in quantifying and evaluating government openness and access to information in different nations. A wide range of researchers have pioneered the development of indexes […]
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9 May 2005
Article 19 Reports on Freedom of Information in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
A report from London-based NGO Article 19 on freedom of information legislation and its impact on the news media in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, finds that problems with implementation, state secrets legislation, and a Soviet-style predilection for excessive secrecy have created “the environment for arbitrary refusals, manipulation of information, and, in extreme cases, even release […]
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10 March 2004
World Bank Staff Backs More Disclosure by Extractive Industries
The World Bank Group should begin requiring that extractive industries receiving Bank loans disclose what payments they make to governments, according to an internal Bank document obtained by freedominfo.org. The revenue disclosures, however, should not begin for two years for existing loans, according to Bank staff recommendations, the "draft management response" to external and internal […]
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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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27 July 2002
Japan – Breaking Down the Walls of Secrecy: The Story of the Citizen’s Movement for an Information Disclosure Law
By Information Clearinghouse Japan A new national disclosure law took effect in Japan in April 2001. This essay by Information Clearinghouse Japan shows how citizen’s groups, opposition parties and freedom of information advocates had lobbied for such an act for 20 years. While local governments had passed access laws since the 1980s, efforts to enact similar […]