A new draft access to information law for Palestine is now ready for submission to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration, according to a UNESCO summary of a meeting in Ramallah Dec. 1-2 where the bill was reviewed.
The seminar was organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ministry of Information and attended by the key actors involved in the drafting and promoting of the law. “Participants reviewed the latest draft of the law and agreed on amendments to bring it further in line with international standards and good practice,” according to the summary.
“We are very keen that our law be in line with international standards, while taking into account the specific context of Palestine,” said Rafiq Al-Natseh, Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) was quoted as saying.
Mahmoud Khalifah, Deputy Minister of Information, expressed the Ministry’s support for the adoption of a right to information law for Palestine, adding: “It is also important that the law be carefully examined, to ensure that it is in line with international agreements and treaties signed by Palestine.”
Lodovico Folin Calabi, Head of the UNESCO Ramallah office and Representative of UNESCO in Palestine, said, “It would promote participation, accountability, transparency and good governance, and send a good message on Palestine’s commitment to the international human rights treaties that it accessed last year.”
Separately, a group called “You Know” announced a platform designed to fill the gap left by the lack of a FOI law and “bring important information to the people of Palestine.”
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