Posts Tagged ‘rti advocacy’
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9 February 2015
Macedonian Protestors File FOI Requests About Policy
Besides marching in the street, Macedonian protesters against certain new taxes and fees are filing freedom of information requests about them. The charges on part-time workers and freelancers were supposed to go into effect Jan. 1. They have been the subject of several rallies in Skopje by several thousand persons. Payment for certain categories of […]
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5 February 2015
Nigeria FOI Advocates Seek More Training of Judges
Nigerian Freedom of Information advocates on Feb. 2 called for “the sensitization of judges” about the Freedom of Information Act because many of them are issuing “decisions that are inconsistent with the spirit and letters of the Law.” In a communiqué at the end of their three-day Freedom of Information Implementers Strategy Meeting, held in […]
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29 January 2015
Groups Praise Government of Cambodia for ATI Law Plans
Participants in a December National Workshop on Access to Information in Cambodia issued a statement praising the government’s commitment to develop an Access to Information Law with the Ministry of Information taking the lead role in the process. The 191 participants also drew attention to a variety of transparency problems. Regarding the commitment to develop […]
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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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2 December 2014
Starting and Sustaining a Youth Movement for FOI
By Jeff Crisostomo The author is the Founding Convener of the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI) in the Philippines. The FOI Youth Initiative (FYI) is a national network of more than two hundred Filipino youth and student organizations that call for transparency, accountability, and participation in government through the immediate passage of the People’s Freedom of Information Act. […]
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10 September 2014
Bloggers in Vietnam Support Right to Information
Vietnamese bloggers and activists posted a statement on Facebook Sept. 2 pushing for the right to know. “Freedom of expression is closely linked to the right to access information,” the bloggers wrote. They said “every person has the right to receive information from the government such as national policies, activities by government offices and/or the […]
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1 July 2014
Germany Failing on RTI in Five States
By Walter Keim The following is the text of a letter sent June 27 by RTI activist Keim to Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression 5 German states fail to respect human right of access to information, found for 84% of the worlds population. EU, CoE, OSCE and […]
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13 June 2014
Suggestions Expand List of Quotations on FOI/RTI
The first addition for FreedomInfo’s new list of FOI quotations arrived shortly after we published it, requesting suggestions from readers. Thanks to Jacqueline Strandberg, a policy analyst for the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, who keeps this quote on a post-it by her computer. The practice of routinely holding information away from the public creates […]
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9 May 2014
Internews Proposes Forum on FoE/RTI for Southeast Asia
Internews Europe has recommended the creation of a regional forum and network for Southeast Asian organizations working across the range of freedom of expression and right to information issues. Funding for activists to work on these issues has diminished, according to the report. The 60-page report, “Freedom of Expression and Right to Information in ASEAN […]
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9 May 2014
Advocates Begin RTI Petition Campaign in Sri Lanka
A petition calling on the government to pass a right to information law is being circulated in Sri Lanka, where efforts to pass a bill have been frustrated in recent years. The Action Committee for Media Freedom Rights activists held an event in Colombo May 5 to launch the petition drive. “This is the only […]
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9 May 2014
Access to information: Key to development
By Annie Game Game is Executive Director of IFEX. This article was posted May 1, World Press Freedom Day, on the IFEX blog and is available in: Français Español ???? When residents of Bangladesh’s Khulna municipality along the Rupsha River began noticing a spike in health problems in their community, they turned to community leader […]
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14 March 2014
African Network Issues Recommendations
The Working Group of the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI) has called on more African countries to pass the Model Law on Access to Information developed by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa and adopted by the African Commission. The civil society coalition’s March 6 statement […]
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14 March 2014
The Importance of RTI in Corruption fight
By Zibusiso Dube Dube is the Information Manager at Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA). He writes in his personal capacity. This article first appeared March 3 in Southern Eye. Zimbabwe’s terrible corruption has been laid bare for all to see. Chief executive officer (CEO) of Premier Services Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) Cuthbert Dube allegedly earned […]
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10 March 2014
Crowdfunding FOI Requests Gains in Use, Seems to Work
By Toby McIntosh The use of crowdfunding to raise money for freedom of information requests is occurring at modest levels in the Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States, according to reports gathered by FreedomInfo.org. The number of instances may be too few to be called a trend, but too intriguing to be ignored. And […]
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30 December 2013
Protestors in Denmark Carry Torches Over New FOI Law
Amendments to the Danish freedom of information law will create more darkness, according to about 1,500 protestors who carried torches in a silent protest Dec. 19. The rally outside Christiansborg Dec. 29 came in advance of the Jan. 1 effective date of the amended law, according to a Copenhagen Post account. The main concern is that […]
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31 July 2013
Colonial Mindset Visible in RTI Responses
By Raja Muzaffar Bhat The author is an RTI / Social activist and the founder of J&K RTI movement. Reach him at muzaffar.rti@gmail.com. This article was originally published July 30 in Greater Kashmir. Background From the last nearly eight years I have been drafting applications under Right to Information Act (RTI) to seek information from different […]
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24 July 2013
Indian RTI activist Ends Hunger Strike in Goa
Indian RTI activist Rajan Ghate on July 22 ended his six day hunger strike following assurances from Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over the appointment of state information commissioners. Ghate started his strike to demand that the state government appoint a Chief Information Commissioner as well as State Information Commissioners, posts unfilled for more than […]
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13 June 2013
FOI Notes: Transparency Champions, OGP Strategy, EU, Open Data
Transparency Voices: The Guardian features 12 transparency advocates: Peru Carlos Arroyo, national co-ordinator for Peru’s Anti-Corruption Network, Lima Nigeria Faith Nwadishi, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative board member; national co-ordinator, Publish What You Pay Bangladesh Hasibur Rahman, Management and Resources Development Initiative executive director, development worker, rights activist Mexico José Luis Moyá, consultant and landlord, Mexico […]
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14 March 2013
Malaysia Urged to Enact FOI Law; Fix Two State Laws
Malaysia needs to enact a freedom of information law, two nongovernmental organizations have urged, also pointed to weaknesses affecting the two state FOI laws in Malaysia. The comments came from the London-based freedom of expression group Article 19 and the Malaysian human rights group Suaram in the context of the Universal Periodic Review, a state-driven […]
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10 January 2013
FOI Notes: Chile, Social Media, FOI Journalism, Open Data, Social Media, China, Aid Transparency
Chile: Chilean journalists think there´s more transparency in Chile now, but there still are institutions that are very slow to provide the answers. Almost 500 Chilean journalists participated in a survey (in Spanish) by the National Press Association (Asociación Nacional de la Prensa “ANP”) about the state of the access to public information, according to a […]