"This report reviews the current state of the right of access to information (RTI) across the world to provide a baseline for future assessments over the lifetime of the 2030 Agenda. It finds that there has been significant incorporation of the right in well over half of UN Member States. The right
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has now been adopted into law or policy in 118 countries around the world (61 percent of UN Member States) from the largest countries (China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria and Mexico) to some of the smallest (St Vincent and the Grenadines, Vanuatu) covering 89 percent of the world’s population. In addition, 90 countries have adopted explicit constitutional guarantees [...] This report aims to provide understanding of RTI and its concrete implications on the daily life of citizens and the application of SDGs. It also aims to inform stakeholders on various experiences developed in this field, and the means at their disposal to exercise this right and advocate for its effective and measurable realization." (Executive summary)
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"This research looks at the information needed by in-country development stakeholders with an emphasis on accountability actors including civil society organizations, charities, government workers, and the media. To collect this information, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Sierra Leone
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and Liberia. The majority of interviewees wanted information about financial resources and the channels they flowed through, and all respondents wanted information on the services provided and where the work was happening subnationally, suggesting that these two sets of information may be the most important. Unfortunately, information on subnational locations and services provided is infrequently available through open aid data portals, implying a need to update what aid information is shared." (Page 1)
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"This chapter discusses the role of media in the Republic of Kazakhstan in combating corruption. First, it provides an assessment of the recently passed access to information legislation in the country as it relates to media's access to government information. Second, it analyses the extent to which
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freedom of press is guaranteed and protected, before looking at the level of professionalism and ethics in the media sector. Lastly, this chapter analyses the plurality of Kazakhstan's media sector." (Page 275)
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"In diesem Beitrag wird kurz auf die Ursprünge des IFAI (Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos) sowie auf seine Zusammensetzung und Funktionsweise eingegangen. Im Licht aktuell vorgeschlagener Reformdiskussionen werden die Perspektiven der Institution aufgezeigt und i
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hre Rolle als Garant eines Grundrechtes erklärt. Zudem wird erläutert, weshalb das IFAI keine Institution ist, mithilfe derer eine wirksame Rechenschaftsablage (accountabihiy) erreicht werden kann." (Seite 299)
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"The study finds an overall positive attitude about the benefits of the RTI Act and potentials of its use by the journalists as an effective tool for producing quality in-depth and investigative reports. An opinion prevails that the act has already created some good examples of curbing corruption an
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d promoting transparency in some areas by ensuring peoples’ right to know. But these sporadic examples have not been able to create significant impact in the society. The volume of RTI usage in media reporting is still very low. Journalists mostly ask for information on the banking sector, finance issues, tender and procurement issues. Journalists have a common feeling that the RTI Act has empowered them as seekers of information. They claim information from the authorities as a legal right. They find it particularly useful when the subject of the news story is sensitive, and accessing information on such issues is difficult through conventional ways. Using the act substantially contributes to the improvement of the quality of reports. Journalists want to use RTI Act as a supportive tool for news sourcing and confirmation, because it provides them the most authentic and evidence based source. But it happens that they do not receive complete information from the authority. Again, information collected through the act creates opportunities to dig out more. But fear and risk factors often discourage them to use the act for reporting. Mixed opinions have been there on the experiences of using RTI as a news sourcing tool. The positive experience is that the tool provides opportunity of producing a quality story which gets prominent coverage. The other experience says, authorities often provide inadequate information and the journalist also runs the risk of deteriorating relationship with officials concerned. However, it is encouraging to find that journalists use almost all the information they get through the process of RTI application, appeal and complaint." (Executive summary, page 3-4)
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"Los países de América Latina han implementado importantes reformas de gobierno abierto durante los últimos años. La combinación de los esfuerzos a nivel nacional con el soporte que los países han obtenido por parte de la Alianza para el Gobierno Abierto (AGA) ha sido benéfica para lograr ava
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nces cruciales en diversas áreas relacionadas al gobierno abierto. Entre 2013 y 2014, la OCDE - como socio oficial multilateral de la AGA - llevó a cabo un estudio para conocer el estado actual de los estrategias y prácticas de gobierno abierto en la región. Este reporte presenta los principales hallazgos producto de la implementación de un cuestionario regional enfocado a recabar información sobre estrategias de gobierno abierto, acceso a la información y datos abiertos. En paralelo, el reporte presenta tres casos de estudio que analizan a fondo el estado del gobierno abierto en Costa Rica, Perú y Colombia. El cuestionario y el marco analítico están basados en la experiencia y estándares de la OCDE lo que permitirá a los países latinoamericanos conocer y evaluar la situación de la región en cara a las mejores prácticas internacionales. Se presentan los principales logros y desafíos regionales de una manera comparativa con la finalidad de posicionar las prácticas nacionales e institucionales desde una perspectiva global. Aparte del análisis comparativo de datos e información, el proyecto busca reforzar el marco institucional de los países partícipes del presente estudio con la finalidad de facilitar la implementación de los compromisos adquiridos dentro de la AGA y fortalecer la red regional de oficiales nacionales a cargo de gobierno abierto." (https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org)
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"This is a book about free speech narratives. Stories about how imagination and rational thinking in wildly different cultures capture, imagine, and conceptualize what freedom of speech means. 1989 and 2011 are only two recent (in historic perspective) turning points when freedom of speech and freed
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om of the press emerged, or at least powerful efforts were made to support its emergence, although disheartening backlashes followed in several countries. This book also tells many other free speech narratives that emerged, or evolved outside the frames of 1989 and 2011, also with several troublesome repercussions. The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the year of largely velvet revolutions (in the words of Vaclav Havel), brought freedom of speech to Central Europe and Eastern Europe. It also increased the hope that freedom of speech and democracy can prevail in more and more countries on the earth. This book examines, in some historic perspective, to what extent this hope has become reality since and prior to 1989, also in light of the Arab revolutions of 2011." (Introduction, page 1)
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"The highly debated Protection of State Information Bill (POSIB) in South Africa represents the first attempt of a sub-Saharan African country to create security legislation which is not based on Colonial law. It can be assumed that this law will have a significant impact on similar legislative refo
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rm processes in neighbouring countries, as South Africa acts as a role model." (KAS website, 21.5.2014)
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"Internews’ research reveals a confluence of conditions in ASEAN that make the present time a critical moment for Freedom of Expression / Right to Information (FoE/RTI) interventions in the region. As donor support dwindles, and threats to FoE increase, there is a danger of a severe roll-back of t
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he rights and freedoms in the region that underpin thriving democracies. The backdrop to this scenario – ASEAN integration along with various other regional synergies – has created an opening for dialogue on key social issues such as FoE/RTI that connect countries within the region." (Conclusion)
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"Los diecinueve textos que conforman el libro se articulan en torno a siete temáticas: 1) Percepciones sobre el DIC y los medios, 2) Ética, 3) Estructuras de contenido, 4) Coberturas noticiosas, 5) Agresiones a periodistas, 6) Acceso a la Información Pública, y 7) Estado, medios y normativa. Su
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objetivo mayor es motivar a la reflexión de e inaugurar debate en los temas analizados, considerados de importancia estratégica para una mejor práctica periodística y la promoción del DIC en su más amplio sentido: como derecho articulador de la comunicación democrática." (Pág. web UNIR)
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"While academic studies on the impact of FOI are still surprisingly few and far between, many more studies are available as institutional reports (e.g. the 14-country study by the Open Society Foundations in 2006). Around the world, government and non-governmental organisations are launching web pla
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tforms enabling people to make FOI requests (we found at least 34, at different stages of implementation and use). However, studies of online FOI impact are scarce. We only found six such studies of online FOI sites – one brief Spanish-language report on the government sites in Brasil, Chile and Mexico (Fumega, 2014), and other reports of the CSO [Civil Society Organisations] sites in Chile, Spain, Uruguay and the European Union – and one experimental study of 300 emails sent to government offices in Italy. This makes it difficult to separate the “added value” of online requests and responses from that of offline ones. In theory, online FOI should reflect the same benefits found for ICTs in general transparency and accountability literature: ease of access, ease of request and response, the “multiplier” effect of many groups accessing the same information, building on it and sharing it, the “glare effect” of information being much more visible, and generally beating the path to accountability. However, both offline and online, FOI faces similar challenges: impact and the transition from transparency to accountability; equitable access, security and privacy; cost and time burden both to requester and responder; institutional and public perception; and complex roles of CSOs and the media." (Executive summary)
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"This toolkit is designed for journalists working in any media – newspapers, radio, and television – as well as bloggers and other information professionals who need to get access to information held by public bodies for their stories. The toolkit is for journalists making requests in their own
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country or considering submitting a request in another country. It is based on a comparative analysis of the access to information laws in the region covered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has 56 participating states in Europe, Central Asia and North America; of these 48 have legal provisions on the right of access to information held by public bodies; the law of Kosovo is also analysed." (Overview, page 7)
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"The Update reveals that the challenges faced by advocates, and the campaigning tactics used in each region, are at times remarkably similar. National civil society coalitions, for example, are mentioned by many authors as having made a central contribution to campaigns. In other cases, challenges d
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iffer greatly depending on cultural context. For example, in South Asia, a problem has been identified of a lack of NGO transparency, which has created an environment where some civil society groups are leading by example; this issue is further complicated by the fact that, in some countries in the region, civil society is formally covered within the scope of the national Right to Information law. In many regions there are relatively strong relations among advocates from different countries; the Update seeks to foster better understanding and to stimulate international dialogue among the different regions of the world about this core human rights issue and its development going forward. We note that while there are plenty of national publications about RTI developments, this is far less true at the regional level. The Update also aims to draw attention to the global nature of the movement for the right to information. We hope that this will assist advocates both within and outside of FOIAnet find out about each other, and thereby further build and strengthen the movement." (Introduction, page 8)
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"This report is intended to be a practical, useful guide for stakeholders in national and local governments, the media, civil society, and business to making freedom of information laws work. The authors’ particular emphasis is on the role public officials and journalists must play in effectively
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breathing life into these laws, giving meaning to their democratic intent and legal guarantees [...] This paper begins with a review of the theory and practice of FOI laws, which are universally recognized as critical components of a modern system of free expression. It follows with discussion of the obstacles to effective implementation, including in an appendix several interviews with stakeholders in six countries in which FOI laws have been introduced recently: Albania, Armenia, Indonesia, Jamaica, South Africa, and Ukraine. The paper then makes several recommendations." (Executive summary)
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