Posts Tagged ‘NGOs’
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7 October 2009
Saber Mas: New Report on Access to Information in Latin America
Open government advocates offer first-hand accounts of FOI promotion in Latin America Latin America’s leading open government advocates recently released a report, bringing together data from 17 countries and offering new findings on the status of freedom of information in the region. The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information (Alianza Regional para la […]
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30 September 2009
OSCE Ambassador Statements Mar International Right to Know Day Event
by Yvette M. Chin Podgorica, Montenegro — The head of the the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission to Montenegro, Ambassador Paraschiva Badescu, committed a diplomatic faux pas in the middle of an International Right to Know Day event, asserting that requests for information “need to be justified.” Civil society organizations rejected these unfounded […]
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25 September 2009
The World Prepares for International Right To Know Day, 28 September 2009
The 7th International Right to Know Day on 28th of September 2009 will mark a year of historic advances for the right of access to information and will be celebrated by the Freedom of Information Advocate’s Network which has around 200 organizations in 75 countries who are calling for universal respect for the public’s right […]
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17 July 2009
Safeguarding the Right to Information: Report of the People’s RTI Assessment 2008 in India
A Comprehensive Look at the Implementation and Use of India’s RTI Act New Delhi, India — In the first two years of access-to-information implementation in India, about 1.6 million requests for information were made in urban areas, while an additional 400,000 applications were made in the rural villages. Taking such a large-scale access-to-information regime head on, […]
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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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12 June 2009
Debate about PM Gordon Brown’s Proposed Changes to UK Freedom of Information Act
Discussion Rekindled about Cabinet Minutes and Revelations of Widespread MP Corruption By Yvette M. Chin London, United Kingdom — Civil society organizations and the news media have expressed mixed feelings about Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s proposed changes to the United Kingdom‘s Freedom of Information Act. Official documents could now be routinely released after 20 years instead of […]
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22 May 2009
Caucasus FOI Advocates Discuss Common Problems and Plan Cooperation
May 2009 Workshop in Georgia Compares FOI Laws and Practices Across Region Telavi, Georgia — Some 25 freedom of information advocates and practitioners from the Caucasus region convened on May 8-11, 2009, to compare the laws and the practices across the region and to outline some common strategies to strengthen the right of access in […]
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1 May 2009
Guatemala’s Transparency Law in Action
Over 8,000 NGOs and Private Contractors Also Subject to the Law Guatemala City, Guatemala — On April 21, 2009, Guatemala’s Law for Free Access to Public Information went into effect, officially allowing citizens to request information from 1,000 government offices and over 8,000 NGOs that manage public resources. Manfredo Marroquín of the citizen action group Acción Ciudadana […]
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30 April 2009
IMF Holds Consultation on Transparency Policy
Article IV Reports Source of Tension Ana Quiros from Nicaragua had a very direct message for the International Monetary Fund. We would like to see what you are discussing with Nicaragua, and not just in a press note, said Quiros, who works for the Information Center & Advisory Services in Health (Centro de Informacion y […]
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21 April 2009
Yemeni Group Says Lack of Translation Inhibited Transparency
On April 13, 2009, the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights, a civil society organization based in Sana’a, officially submitted their case regarding the World Bank’s translation framework to the World Bank Inspection Panel. The forthcoming case is the culmination of the Bank’s rejection of repeated requests by Yemeni civil society groups to translate a key […]
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14 April 2009
European Court of Human Rights: Right to Information Essential to Free Expression
Társaság a Szabadságjogokért v. Hungary a Landmark Decision in the Right to Know Strasbourg, France — In a landmark decision today, the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe found in favor of Társaság a Szabadságjogokért, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, in its complaint against the Hungarian government over a submission to the Hungarian […]
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10 April 2009
Signs and Smokesignals
Asked by e-mail about the fund, Alejandra Videos, a Senior Communications Officer with the World Bank replied, We dont have anything new to report on the Facility. Well let you know if anything comes up. Another Bank official explained that no disclosure about the funds expenditures is necessary under Bank rules because it is bank-executed […]
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10 April 2009
Moldova: Acces-info Center Releases Evaluation of Access to Public Information
Chisinau, Moldova — Experts found that, although the Moldovan government improved somewhat in communicating with the public, the passing of the State Secrets Law and other deficiencies diminish the positive impact of the governments reforms, according to Acces-Info Center’s Fourth Quarter 2008 evaluation of access to official public information. According to its press release, the […]
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7 April 2009
Brazil Pledges to Pass Right to Information Bill
Lula Government Drafting New Law with High-Level Support; Civil Society/Media Coalition Campaigns for Access to Information International Seminar April 1-2 Opens Public Debate on Proposed Law; First Draft Lacks Independent Agency for Implementation and Appeals Brasilia, Brazil — The Lula government in Brazil last week publicly committed to pass a right-to-information law this year, thus […]
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20 March 2009
Documents in Action: FOI Success Stories in Mexico
By Emilene Martinez-Morales Mexico City, Mexico – Mexico’s civil society have maximized the potential of its Federal Access to Information Law to affect policies in local communities, advocate for citizens’ rights, and expose corruption at the highest levels of state. Openness advocates have utilized two key institutional features of Mexico’s access-to-information system. The electronic system […]
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27 January 2009
Russian Government Heeds Civil Society’s Call for Access to Information Law
Moscow, Russia — On January 21, 2009, the same day that US President Barack Obama took decisive steps for transparency and accountability in the US government, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, passed the Bill on Ensuring Access to Information about Activities of State Organs and Organs of Local Administration. The […]
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22 December 2008
World Bank Emphasizes Demand Side in Cambodian Project
Shifting strategic emphasis, the World Bank is taking a new approach to its work with Cambodia, one that among other things will mean funneling money to civil society organizations in an effort to stimulate demand for better governance. The new direction is known as “demand for good governance” (DFGG) and contrasts fundamentally from the traditional […]
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22 December 2008
World Bank, Others to Support CSOs with New Funds
A new “Global Partnership Facility” holds the promise of new resources for civil society groups working on governance and anticorruption issues, including freedom of information and media development. The $65 million four-year initiative being administered by the World Bank is designed to “strengthen governance programs and further the fight against corruption,” according to a Dec. […]
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17 July 2008
PAKISTAN: Access to Information Advocates Criticize Proposed Freedom of Information Bill
The Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) this week held a consultation on the draft Freedom of Information Bill of 2008, which is likely to soon be tabled for consideration by the legislature. The CRCP, which has been working for to strengthen the freedom of information (FOI) framework in Pakistan since 1998, expressed reservations about […]
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18 January 2008
GTI Questions IMF Delay of Transparency Policy Review
The Global Transparency Initiative has expressed concern about the decision by they International Monetary Fund to postponement review of the IMF Transparency Policy, originally scheduled for 2008. GTI wrote to IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dec. 17 after learning from the IMF’s External Relations Department that the next review of the Fund’s Transparency Policy, originally […]