Hi all, Thanks for these comments. Both of these issues are actually addressed in the main paper (see page 9 on public outreach and pages 3 and 11 on costs). The bit posted below is just an outline - almost a table of contents - for the main paper which is where the substance is found.
Best wishes, Toby ___________________________________ Toby Mendel Executive Director Centre for Law and Democracy t...@law-democracy.org Tel: +1 902 431-3688 Fax: +1 902 431-3689 www.law-democracy.org On 20 Jul 2013, at 02:28, David Goldberg wrote: > Hi all, > > I recommend adding something explicit about cost of accessing information? > > Best wishes > > David > > On 19 July 2013 16:49, Venkatesh Nayak <venkat...@humanrightsinitiative.org> > wrote: > Dear Helen, > I recommend adding ''public education to build people's skills to seek and > use information under the RTI law". This is a very important aspect of > bedding down RTI legislation in developing countries. If adequate efforts are > not put in people will not use the law at the community level because they > would simply be unaware. This is why Section 26 of the Indian Act makes it a > duty of the governments to launch programmes to teach people about the > processes of seeking information. however this provision is subject to the > availability of resources which allows governments to take this duty lightly. > > The second aspect is to build capacity of people staring with CSOs to > understand the information that they receive under the RTI law because of > obvious reasons. Deciphering an official document is not easy and takes some > experience. Without this knowledge the information collected under the RTI > law would not be of much use to the requester belonging to the disadvantaged > segments of society. > with regards > Venkatesh Nayak > > > On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 8:14 PM, Helen Darbishire <he...@access-info.org> > wrote: > Dear FOIAnet friends > > > > We are asking for your input into and seeking comments on a short piece on > access to information and open government, prepared by Access Info Europe and > Centre for Law and Democracy. > > > > The document, attached, with summary below, contains 4 steps for > progressively improving national right to information regimes. It will be > part of the updated Opening Government Report by the Transparency and > Accountability Initiative in the context of the Open Government Partnership > (OGP). Maya Forstater who is working on this is in copy. > > > > The goal of the text is to map out progressively advanced steps for > recognising and implementing the right to information. It will be used to > help guide the action plans of OGP participating states. > > > > We are looking for comments on whether there is anything which is not clear > or which you feel we have overlooked or missed. > > In terms of the order of the steps, this has been the hardest bit and we > would really appreciate comments on it. > > > > Thanks in advance for your rapid input in enriching this document. We don’t > have a specific timeframe but quick comments in the coming week (by 27 July) > would be especially welcome. > > > > With best regards > > > > Helen Darbishire, Access Info Europe > > Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy > > > > > > Right to Information - FOR COMMENTS > Initial steps > > > > Adopt an RTI law* which recognises access as a fundamental right and meets > international standards. > > Publish significant information on a proactive basis including core > information about government. > > Put in place core institutional structures for implementation(information > officers, central internal focal point and oversight body). > > Provide RTI training to officials including all information officers and key > central officials. > > More substantial steps > > > > Undertake robust proactive publication measures including providing most > databases and holding consultations to test and refine this action. > > Each public authority puts in place core implementation systems including for > processing requests and appeals, and reporting. > > Undertake robust promotional measures including significant publicity and > training for all officials. > > Most robust steps > > > > Bring RTI law and practice fully into line with highest international > standards. > > Review and amend secrecy laws. > > Extend promotion to include monitoring and evaluation systems and regular > surveys and consultations. > > Enhance proactive measures including standardised websites and updating key > databases in real time. > > Innovative step > > Implement transparency by design fully incorporating IT to enhance RTI. > > > > * OGP eligibility criteria > > > > > > > > > > -- > "Ye canna get leave tae thrive for thrang", > A Ramsay (ed) A collection of Scots Proverbs (1736)
