The report analyses and compares data related to ATI policies from Canada, Indonesia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Ukraine, with contributions from local partners in each country. The aim is to measure progress on the implementation of ATI laws in these countries.
Importance
Public ATI is a vital element for achieving the overall 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda. First of all, because of the links between SDG 16: “Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies” and all the other SDGs but also because reliable and accurate information is crucial in order to create an environment in which all the other SDGs can be achieved.
Multi-stakeholder meetings
In early 2019 multi-stakeholder meetings were held to discuss and raise awareness on the importance of SDG indicator 16.10.2 for achieving the 2030 Agenda. This indicator promotes the adaptation and implementation of constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information. Civil society organisations, governments and media representatives were invited to engage on the topic.
Challenges
During the multi-stakeholder meetings two challenges became clear. Firstly, the lack of awareness among the public and government bodies regarding the fundamental right of access to public information. And secondly, the overall lack of data on how to implement ATI.
In order to tackle these challenges we call on United Nations member states to continue their commitment to SDG indicator 16.10.2 and “ensure public access to information and to protect fundamental freedoms”.
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