Access to Information Laws during the Decade of Action: Trends and Challenges

Within the framework of the celebrations of the International Day of Universal Access to Information 2021 the 1st Panel will look at trends of access to information laws in the 21 centuries.  

The overall theme of the 2021 International Day for Universal Access to Information celebrations is « The Right to Know – Building Back Better with Access to Information ».   
 

-Global trends: national access to information laws – numbers, new developments, persistent weaknesses
-International trends: the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents
-Adoption of access to information rules by intergovernmental organisations
-Implementation challenges: political will, funding, assessing progress

The past two decades have seen a remarkable growth in the number of access to information laws globally. This first panel of discussions as part of the International Day for Universal Access to Information celebrations will focus on national legal developments, looking at trends but also challenges. The discussion will focus on adoption of laws, where standards have been pushed forward and where progress has been more limited, as well as some of the key implementation challenges.

The panel will also discuss the important international developments that have taken place alongside these national ones. The first dedicated treaty on this issue, the the Council of Europe’s Convention on Access to Official Information, came into force last year. A growing number of intergovernmental organisations have adopted policies on this. The panel will discuss these developments and what they hold longer-term for access to information.

Opening: Message of the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO, Paris, Mr. Tawfik Jelassi;

Moderator: 

• Mr. Eduardo Bertoni, Representative-Coordinator, Inter American Institute of Human Rights, Regional Office for South America;

Speakers :  

• Mr. Toby Mendel, Executive Director, Centre for Law and Democracy, Chair, FOIAnet, Canada;

• Ms. Anna Brandt, Swedish Ambassador to UNESCO and OECD, Chair of IPDC, Sweden;

• Ms. Elvana Thaçi, Secretary to the Tromsø Convention, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe;

• Mr. Toby McIntosh, Editor - Eyeonglobaltransparency.net, Steering Committee, FOIAnet, United States of America;

• Council of Europe 
• FOIANET