"This Tool Box is meant to help keep up the pressure on the authorities not just to pay lip service to the idea of free access to information but to implement it. It will describe in some more detail why such access is an essential citizen's right and how it can be exercised efficiently, without com
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promising other rights or legitimate concerns in the process. It will also look at those pieces of existing legislation that need to be reviewed to ensure open and transparent government." (Page 6)
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"This manual for public officials is designed as a resource for officials who want to adopt administrative practices that conform to the best standards of freedom of information. It should help them to make their work and procedures more professional, which will increase the public’s trust in and
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appreciation of their administration. This manual can be used in three basic ways: used as a teaching guide for trainers running courses for public officials responsible for handling information requests; used as a learning tool by such officials – in other words they can work through the manual on their own; used as a reference tool by officials who have already gone through a training course." (Introduction)
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"The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) regards this brochure as a document for discussion and orientation on the growing importance of information – and especially access to information – in international development cooperation. This document seeks to establish a framework for
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stimulating activities in this domain. It is also a contribution from SDC to the wider debate on access to information as one of the essential components of governance." (Introduction, page 4)
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"Conceptually, there are three stages in the promotion of a right to information regime: pre-legislation stage; during drafting stage; and post-legislation stage. Civil society in India has played a role in all the three stages. Accordingly, this paper examines how civil society has 1. brought about
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a conceptual shift in the debate on right to information; 2. used public hearing as a mode of mobilizing people to demand transparency and accountability; 3. used several methods of social audit to promote transparency and accountability; 4. exerted pressure, through networking, on government for a legislation on right to information; 5. supplied drafts of possible legislation and flagged gaps in the legislation once it was passed; 6. used state-level legislation, created awareness about it, prepared people to use it and officials to implement it. This paper concentrates on the role of civil society in promoting the concept of social audit through four methods: public hearings, report cards, budget information, and social audit under «panchayati raj». Social audit is a way of measuring, understanding, reporting and ultimately improving an organization’s social and ethical performance." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"This Practical Guidance Note aims to: heighten awareness and knowledge within UNDP country offices (COs) on right to information generally and right to information legislation specifically; assist COs by providing practical information and guidance for right to information legislation programming;
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signpost additional resources, sources of expertise and further reading." (Executive summary)
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"This report on copyright in the print industries sector was commissioned by the (South African) Department of Arts and Culture, through the Print Industries Cluster Council as part of a broader initiative to identify policy and development needs in the cultural industries. The report deals in parti
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cular with copyright as an aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and the impact of these rights on growth and development in the print industries sector. It surveys the state of copyright as it relates to the written word and identifies ways in which copyright laws and practices in South Africa are aiding or inhibiting growth. Finally, it sets out a range of recommendations for further action that could contribute towards growth and development in the book and print industries sector." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1768)
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