Posts Tagged ‘rti campaigns’
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5 March 2015
Sri Lanka’s RTI Bill – Misconceptions and Recommendations
By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena and Venkatesh Nayak This article appeared Feb. 28 in The Sri Lanka Guardian. Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena is a Colombo based civil liberties advocate, the editorial (legal) consultant/columnist for the Sunday Times and a legal consultant for the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) Sri Lanka media law initiative based at the University of London, […]
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5 March 2015
The Power of a Question in El Salvador
By Max Heywood This article first appeared March 2 on the Transparency International blog. Heywood is Programme Coordinator in the Americas Department of Transparency International. Read this in Spanish here. Transparency laws mean nothing if they are not applied, and it sometimes takes brave citizens and active civil society organisations to make sure that they are. […]
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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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17 November 2014
NGOs in Myanmar Pledge Effort to Push RTI Cause
Almost a dozen nongovernment organizations in Myanmar have agreed to work collaboratively towards establishing and implementing a right to information RTI law. The joint statement resulted from a workshop in Yangon hosted by the Local Resource Centre and the Centre for Law and Democracy in collaboration with International Media Support. Issuing the statement were: the […]
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8 October 2014
DRC Civil Society Mobilizing to Demand ATI Law
By Longendja Isa Mboyo Henri Christin The author is the Executive Director of CODHOD, Executive Director of COLLECTIF 24. This is a chapter in a recently issued State of Right to Information in Africa Report 2014 and is reprinted with permission. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Apart from the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the […]
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2 October 2014
Africa’s Progress on RTI Assessed in Two Reports
Two key groups advocating for right to information laws in Africa have issued detailed reports, both calling for intensified efforts to continue progress and taking a close look at national situations. The Africa Freedom of Information Centre Sept. 29 launched its first State of the Right to Information in Africa Report. The report is on […]
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18 July 2014
FOI Notes: FOI Posters, Arabic Website, Development, US, Canada, More
FOI Posters: “Veteran and award-winning photojournalists who have taken up the challenge of grounding the FOI issue on something more basic – corruption, poverty, and the lack of basic services,” according to a blog post at the Philippines Center for Investigative Journalism.FOI advocates created a special Facebook album where any photographer, amateur or professional, can […]
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27 June 2014
Study Evaluates FOI in Italy, Seven Other Countries
A comparative analysis on freedom of information laws in eight countries is designed to lay the groundwork for a campaign to improve the Italian access regime. The report was written by Alexandre Salha, the former Project Manager at Transparency International Lebanon, who is now working with the Italian group Diritto Di Sapere. The countries examined […]
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20 June 2014
Polish FOI Laws, Practices Weak, Evaluation Finds
Poland’s access to information regime is critically evaluated in a report just published in English. “Public institutions too often use a restricted interpretation of the existing regulations,” according to “Waiting for open government.” It was prepared in December of 2013 by the Polish Open Government Coalition as part of an effort to encourage Poland to […]
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6 June 2014
Push for Bahamian FOI Law to Kick Off With March
A broad coalition of groups is planning a march on June 11 to dramatize a campaign for a freedom of information law. The march is being supported by some political parties, churches, trade unions, business associations, concerned citizens’ groups, including Bahamas Against Crime and the Bahamas Humane Society. The Trade Union Congress has called on […]
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4 March 2014
Turkish Groups RTI Experiences, Make Plans
A focus group meeting on right to information was held Jan. 14 in Ankara, Turkey, and civil society participants summarized their goals in a report. The session was organized jointly by TACSO Turkey and STGM and brought together 16 CSO participants. The purpose of the meeting was to share their opinions and experience in relation […]
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4 March 2014
FOI Notes: Research, Oscars, OGP, Open Data, RTI Video
Research: The Governance Lab (The GovLab) at New York University announced the formation of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Opening Governance, which will seek to develop blueprints for more effective and legitimate democratic institutions to help improve people’s lives. It is made possible by a three-year grant of $5 million from the John D. […]
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14 February 2014
ATI Used in Brazil to Get Access to Water
This report by Article 19 appears on the Article 19 website here. Freedom of expression and information are key in the battle to fight poverty and improve people’s lives. The availability and accessibility of information promotes transparency, ensures better governance and reduces inefficiency and corruption. Information gives people the opportunity to improve their own lives, participate […]
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2 November 2013
Ideas Emerge to Bring Open Data, RTI Efforts Closer
Suggestions for improving cooperation between the open data and right to information communities emerged during a session Oct. 31 at the Open Government Partnership summit in London. The ideas came during a temperate discussion among persons from each community. One suggestion was to work together to compile example of access laws being used to get data […]
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19 July 2013
Indian Activist on Hunger Strike in State of Goa
An Indian right to information activist, Rajan Ghate, began a hunger strike July 16 to protest the failure to appoint a chief information commissioner and other commissioners in the state of Goa. Ghate received support July 18 from Vivek Velankar, a Maharashtra RTI activist, who visited him at Azad Maidan, according to an article in […]
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8 October 2012
The Fight For Information In Italy
By Alessia Cerantola This article was published Sept. 27, 2012, by the European Journalism Centre. In many countries, access to public information is guaranteed by law. Often at the constitutional level. Not in Italy. Two-year Waiting Period When Focus magazine decided to release a special issue on the quality of Italian hospitals, its journalists knew […]
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30 August 2012
FOI Notes: Middle East, EU, Mini-Grants, Contest
Middle East: The August issue of the ATI newsletter on the regional dialogue on access to information in MENA region contains a country-by-country update on recent regional developments by Toby Mendel of the Centre for Democracy and Law, a summary of a June regional workshop, an article on the media and ATI laws by Rosario […]
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14 May 2012
Folk Songs Explain the RTI Law in Bangladesh
Sung to the tunes of traditional folk songs, new lyrics are being used to explain the right to information law in Bangladesh. Days of secrecy are long gone, Public officials are now under obligation, To ensure people’s right to information, Says the law of the nation The “Tathya Adhikarer Gaan” or “Songs on the Right […]
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8 April 2011
Canadian Political Parties Criticized for Silence on FOI
Three Canadian groups have asked the political parties to say what they will do to fix an access to information system that the groups say is “in chaos.” “In the campaign so far, politicians have used words like open government, transparency and democracy,” said Troy Lanigan of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, “but they say almost […]
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22 September 2010
Paraguayan NGOs Launch Campaign to Pass FOI Law
Leaders of nongovernment organizations in Paraguay have begun talking with congressional leaders about passing a freedom of information law. The groups have developed a draft law (in Spanish). “We are trying to get a broad consensus on the importance of having a legislative debate on a FOI law,” according to Ezequiel Santagada, an attorney […]