Posts Tagged ‘opinion’
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15 January 2015
FOI Notes: Training, Spain, Aid, Extractives, Nigeria, UK, India, US, Open Data
FOI Training: The right to information is one of six topics in a training program developed by Development Initiatives “to develop and strengthen the skills, capacities and strategic visions of civil society organisations working in the areas of aid and budget analysis, monitoring and advocacy.” Nigeria: Seember Nyager, CEO at the Public and Private Development […]
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23 October 2014
Carnegie Commentators Score Use of Four Principles
“Four key principles—accountability, transparency, participation, and inclusion—have in recent years become nearly universal features of the policy statements and programs of international development organizations. Yet this apparently widespread new consensus is deceptive: behind the ringing declarations lie fundamental fissures over the value and application of these concepts. Understanding and addressing these divisions is crucial to […]
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20 October 2014
Making Transparency Policies Work
By Alasdair Roberts The author is Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School, Boston USA This is his address to the International Seminar on Accountability and Corruption Control, Mexico City, Oct. 21, 2014. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. […]
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25 September 2014
European Union Institutions Need Transparency
By Sophie in ‘t Veld The author is a member of the EU Parliament from the Dutch social liberal party Democrats 66 and of the ALDE group in the European Parliament. This article first appeared in EurActiv.com. Sir Humphrey Appleby to Prime Minister Jim Hacker: “Open government, Prime Minister. Freedom of information. We should always tell the press freely and […]
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25 September 2014
Battling for Right to Know in South Africa
By Catherine Kennedy and Piers Pigou Kennedy is the Director of the South African History Archive. Pigou is a member of the SAHA board of trustees. This commentary was published first on Sept. 23 in The Mail and Guardian. As information activists around the world mark International Right to Know Day on Sunday, there seems […]
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21 June 2013
FOI Notes: Open Contracting, Commentary, Grants, Research, etc
Open Contracting: The Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) announces a set of open contracting principles. Dennis Santiago, Executive Director of the Government Procurement Policy Board of the Philippines and OCP steering group member, is quoted: Transparency and Openness of government transactions are best manifested through the procurement information and contract data sets they make available to the public. However, […]
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22 April 2011
SA Committee Recesses After Debate on Scope of POIB
The South African parliamentary committee debated whether the proposed protection of information bill should cover the police and the military before recessing until after the May 18 municipal elections, according to reports on the meeting. “Opposition parties disagreed on whether the bill should apply to police and defence, whose powers to classify information derive from […]
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5 February 2010
Avanza Transparencia en México… pero al revés
Por Emilene Martínez Morales (emilene@mexicoinformate.org) http://www.twitter.com/mxinformate En lo que va del año el Gobierno Federal, a través de la Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) y la Secretaría de Gobernación (Segob), ha manifestado un claro interés en debilitar al Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública (IFAI) al proponer que se le den facultades […]
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5 February 2010
Transparency Advances in Mexico. . . in Reverse
By Emilene Martínez Morales (emilene@mexicoinformate.org) Translated by Jesse Franzblau (Disponible en español) http://www.twitter.com/mxinformate Since the start of the year, President Felipe Calderón through actions undertaken by the Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República – PGR) and the Secretariat of Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación – Segob), has shown a clear interest in weakening Mexico’s federal transparency […]
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12 October 2009
World Bank Paradigm Shift for Disclosure Policy Subject to Variety of Limitations, Caveats, Exceptions
The World Bank staff October 2 proposed a new disclosure policy that would take some big steps, but also some sidesteps. The draft on which public comment has been invited probably will be discussed by the Executive Board November 17. It contains a wide range of improvements, including: a real likelihood that more documents would […]
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9 September 2009
World Bank May Disclose Documents Going to the Board
The World Bank may be moving toward major breakthroughs in transparency for its Executive Board, according to informed sources. One change being contemplated would provide for the public release of key staff recommendations at the same time they are sent to the decision-making board. The demand for such simultaneous disclosure has been a longstanding one […]
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19 June 2009
12 European Countries Sign First International Convention on Access to Official Documents
Advocates Urge 37 Remaining Council of Europe Members to Sign Tromsø, Norway — On June 18, 2009, 12 of 47 member-states of the Council of Europe signed the Convention on Access to Official Documents, making history as the first international binding legal instrument that recognizes a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities. […]
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31 March 2009
IMF Begins Delayed Review of Transparency Policy
The International Monetary Fund on March 25 requested public comment on its transparency policy. The IMF asked for comments by April 30 and offered questionnaires for three different types of potential respondents: "civil society organizations," "financial market participants," and "think tanks, academics and other stakeholders." Questionnaires Questionnaire for Civil Society Organizations Questionnaire for Financial Markets […]
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18 January 2008
GTI Makes Comments on EBRD Public Information Policy
The Global Transparency Initiative has proposed changes in the Public Information Policy (PIP) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Bank is just beginning a review of its policy, having issued a call for comment in late November. The GTI comments are similar to those made during a 2006 EBRD policy review and […]
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9 May 2007
China Adopts First Nationwide Open Government Information Regulations
By Jamie P. Horsley The Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information (OGI Regulations) published on April 24, 2007, and effective one year later on May 1, 2008, mark a turning point away from the deeply ingrained culture of government secrecy toward making Chinese government operations and information more transparent. (Note […]
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31 August 2006
INDIA: Right to Information in Jeopardy
Just six months after the Right to Information Act came into force, the bureaucrats in the Indian government are on the verge of rolling back the Act’s progressive access provisions. In July 2006, without any public consultation, the Cabinet approved amendments to the RTI that exclude from disclosure file notings contained in many of the […]
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18 August 2006
In India, Right to Information in Jeopardy
Just six months after the Right to Information Act came into force, the bureaucrats in the Indian government are on the verge of rolling back the Act’s progressive access provisions. In July 2006, without any public consultation, the Cabinet approved amendments to the RTI that exclude from disclosure file notings contained in many of the […]
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15 April 2005
Teaching Institute or Dance Bar? Putting Local Freedom of Information Legislation to Use in Argentina
By Martha Farmelo Martha Farmelo is Co-Coordinator of the Access to Information Program at the Buenos Aires-based Association for Civil Rights (www.adc.org.ar). I’ve never slept particularly well the first night in a new home, what with the excitement of the move and all the strange, new sounds. Little did I expect the sounds of the […]
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6 May 2004
ADB Holds First Consultation on Public Communications Policy
JAKARTA – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) met with Indonesian organizations in Jakarta April 27 to discuss its draft Public Communication Policy. Nongovernmental organizations involved in the first of 12 planned ADB consultations came to the conclusion that they were pleased with the ADB’s proposals to release some information that used to be secret, but […]
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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 […]