Declaration on Access to information in Africa out for comment

The second draft Declaration on Access to Information was released on 20 July 2011. The declaration acknowledges that access to information “is the right of all natural and legal to seek, access and obtain information from public bodies and private bodies acting in a public nature.” The Declaration will be adopted at a session that will bring together two important conferences, the Pan African Conference on Access to Information   in Cape Town from 17-19 September 2011.

The adoption of the Declaration is informed by the process that led to the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media   in 1991 which has improved the state of media freedom in Africa. Similarly, it is envisaged that a declaration on access to information will improve citizen’s access to information held by government and private bodies. Comments on the document should be sent before 15 August 2011. Thereafter, the next version will be deliberated upon the day before the conference (16 September), and a near-final version presented to the conference the day after. The co-ordinators of this process have pointed out that the current version does not include principles on whistle blowing, healthcare, gender, anti-corruption, and environmental protection. They are open to considering proposals on these.

Download : Draft declaration on Access to Information