News
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11 November 2015
OGP ATI Working Group Plans Focus on 4 Countries
The Open Government Partnership Access to Information Working Group will focus its attention on helping four countries, according to the group’s “co-anchors.” While the working group will continue with a number of activities, including more general support to interested counties, particular attention will be paid to two pairs of countries: Liberia and Sierra Leone; Honduras […]
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11 November 2015
Draft Vietnam RTI Law Rated Low on International Scale
The Centre for Law and Democracy has rated a draft right to information in Vietnam as earning 59 points out of a possible 150 on the RTI Rating scale. Nevertheless, the Canadian-based organization praised as “heartening” the effort to pass a law. Approval by the National Assembly is expected in 2016, CLD said. But the […]
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9 November 2015
Ghanian Leader Delays Action on RTI Legislation
Blaming a lack of meeting space, the leader of the Ghana Parliament has delayed action until next year on a right to information bill. The excuse was offered by Alban S.K. Bagbin, the majority leader in Parliament, who said the RTI bill would be passed in the first quarter of next year. Bagbin’s suggestion that […]
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6 November 2015
Malawi President Says ATI Bill Will Be Tabled This Month
Malawi President Peter Mutharika has pledged to introduce an access to information bill this month, according to media reports. “Yes, Yes, Government will table the Access to Information bill,” said Mutharika in a speech to Parliament, reported The Nyasa Times. Minister of Information Jappie Mhango said the processing of the bill is at a very […]
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6 November 2015
Draft Italian FOI Legislation Receives Mixed Reviews
Two new evaluations give mixed reviews to a draft freedom of information law for Italy, a rare Europe country without a FOI law. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) examined a bill by Member of Parliament Anna Ascani and concluded “the draft has a long way to go to meet international standards in […]
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6 November 2015
FOI Notes: ECB, Trade Transparency, Open Data, Canada, India, UK, US, Brazil, Research
European Union: The European Central Bank says it will publish the meeting schedules of its six Executive Board members on a monthly basis. The calendars will be released with a three-month time lag starting in February 2016, Bloomberg reports. Trade Transparency: The Washington Post creates the tool below to allow searches of the recently released […]
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6 November 2015
OGP Notes: Articles Offer Perspectives on OGP Summit
Editor’s Note: Many articles were published during and after the Open Government Partnership summit in Mexico City Oct. 26-29. Here are some. Submissions welcome. OGP: Transparency International says the Open Government Partnership needs to ensue that member countries involve civil society, and apply sanctions when countries fail to meet their commitments, among other things, according […]
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30 October 2015
Open Data, FOI Bridges Discussed at OGP Session
The subject was “building bridges” between the open data and freedom of information communities and a little construction occurred during a one-hour session held Oct. 29 during the Open Government Partnership summit meeting in Mexico City. After several speakers sketching out exaggerated differences, various similar interest and interrelationships were explored. Representatives from the Philippines and […]
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29 October 2015
No Progress Made by UN On SDG Access Target 16.10
The access to information and free expression section (16.10) of the Sustainable Development Goals was given short shrift in a just-concluded United Nations meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, held to start developing measurements of the 169 specific SDG targets, according to Bill Orme, who represents a coalition supporting 16.10. The next step is to develop indicators […]
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29 October 2015
OGP Pledges to Support New UN SDG Goals
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee has make it a priority to support implementation of the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By Oct. 29, the final day of the OGP summit in Mexico City, 32 of the now 70 governament members of OGP, and many civil society organizations, had signed a “Joint Declaration on […]
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29 October 2015
FOI Notes: UN, UK, UNCAC, Nigeria
United Nations: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he has established a task force to recommend measures to make the office of the president of the U.N. General Assembly more transparent and accountable following the arrest of former assembly president John Ashe, AP reports. United Kingdom: The Commission on Freedom of Information has condemned as “extraordinarily inappropriate” […]
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29 October 2015
DR Congo Approves Legislation on ATI
The Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Oct. 28 unanimously approved legislation legislation on access to information. The bill, initiated by Senator Moise Nyarugabo, passed with 71 senators, according to a report on mediacongo.net. The bill now is expected to be considered by the National Congress. The text includes 51 articles, and covers public authorities […]
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28 October 2015
South African Official Says OGP Should Not Punish
By Toby McIntosh Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, the country assuming the lead co-chairmanship of the Open Government Partnership, said Oct. 28 that South Africa wants that the OGP “does not become a tool for punishment.” The scope of his remark was undeveloped in his speech at the opening session of the OGP […]
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28 October 2015
OGP Approves Pilot Project for Subnational Governments
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee Oct. 27 approved a pilot project to involve “subnational” governments in the international transparency venture. The plan would bring in six to 10 “pioneers,” yet to be chosen, according to a plan developed by an OGP task force. A last minute alternative, to scale up faster, didn’t gain immediate […]
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27 October 2015
OGP Civil Society Leaders Urge Emphasis on Outcomes
The Open Government Partnership needs to make sure that national commitments are more potentially transformative, according to key OGP leaders representing civil society organizations. Future directions were addressed during Civil Society Day, Oct. 27, when more than 1,000 persons from 94 countries gathered in Mexico City in advance of the official two-day OGP meeting. “How […]
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26 October 2015
Confident OGP Setting Stage For Summit in Mexico City
By Toby McIntosh The Open Government Partnership will kick off its third summit with confidence. The 66-member multilateral institution will host an estimated 1,500 delegates from 94 countries in Mexico City Oct. 26-28. All manner of “open” causes will be on display at dozens of scheduled forums and the significance of the four-year-old experiment will […]
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26 October 2015
Two-Thirds of OGP Members Don’t Contribute Financially
By Toby McIntosh Two-thirds of the 66 members of the Open Government Partnership have never contributed financially, but the trend in the numbers is slowly improving. Only 22 governments have sent in checks over the past four years of the OGP”s existence, some providing way more than others. These are the 22 that have ponied […]
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22 October 2015
OGP Develops Strategies Dealing With Deviancy
Two years ago, when the Open Government was convening in London for its second summit in London, the hottest issue was the demand by leaders of civil society organizations for the OGP to deal with members not living up to open government principles. In particular, CSO activists wanted assurances that the OGP would respond when […]
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22 October 2015
Danish Ombudsman Wins Shorter Response Times
The Danish ombudsman has successfully pressured the government to reduce the response times for information requests from as high as 27 weeks to eight weeks. The development was reported by Jorgen Skadhede in a Journalisten (in Danish) and in a statement from the Ombudsman. “It is a cornerstone of the new offentlighedslov that cases of access […]
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22 October 2015
Bangladesh Researchers Report Encouraging Findings
“Significant progress is taking place and there is reason for optimism,” report Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz in an article in The Daily Star based on their examination of decisions by the Information Commission over the past one year. “Of course, we were also disappointed by many shortfalls that prevail,” they added, but they highlighted “positive developments.” […]