International 'Right to Know' Day - September 28; can we observe it in Maldives? :: Maldives News :: Dhivehi Observer

Report

Freedom of information is the weapon against corruption

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi September 2005, from 'Background Note for International 'Right to Know' Day September 28' - 27 September 2005

Maldives is yet to enact an access to information law and has struggled to crack down on poverty and poor governance.

Indeed, in the UNDP's 2005 Human Development Index Maldives only came 96th out of a total of 177 countries surveyed, with the highest country ranked achieving a high level of human development. This compares with Sweden, the country with the oldest right to information law, enacted in 1766, which ranked 6th overall in the Index.

Access to information is a practical shortcut to achieving the goals of poverty eradication and good governance. Information is a public resource in the hands of the government and the challenge is to share it equitably and manage it to the best advantage of the society. An effective access to information regime has the potential to empower the poor and other vulnerable groups of society to demand information concerning the government's pro-poor policies and ensure that their basic needs are met.

Unfortunately, in many countries today even simple policies on health and education are not easily accessible to the public, even though such information is crucial and can have such a huge effect on people's lives. The fact that politicians and civil servants are aware that their actions and decisions cannot be scrutinised also means that public officials can much more easily engage in corrupt practices which cost the country money and resources. Would government officials be as willing or even as able, to act against the public interest if they knew that their decisions could be examined by citizens and publicised?

In this context then, it is significant that the main thrust of any right to information regime is to change the culture of secrecy and aloofness in government and the bureaucracy by practically promote transparency and public accountability in the working of every government department. Right to information laws open up government records to public scrutiny, thereby arming citizens with a vital tool to inform themselves about what the government has done, at what cost and how effectively.

Lack of access to reliable information makes the citizens susceptible to government-manipulated data, which is often used merely to suit government interests. Right to access information has the potential of empowering ordinary people to make more informed electoral decisions and giving them an opportunity to participate more effectively in governance and policy formulation. For example, in India, citizens have used access to information requests to find out why they were not receiving the regular rations of food from the ration shops or free public health care. In Mexico, for the very first time, the national access to information law has been used to make public the salaries of Federal Government leaders. In Japan, their freedom of information law was used to uncover police embezzlement.

An effective access to information regime will immediately show returns – it will empower people to engage more meaningfully in the democratic process, increase government accountability and reduce corruption. Furthermore, open governance along with its associated anti-corruption focus, encourages foreign investors to make long-term investments because they have more confidence in transparent and accountable national institutions and systems. This can thereby boost economic growth and development.

A strong, open democratic government and effective information-sharing regime can also support national stability. Openness weakens perceptions of exclusion from opportunity or unfair advantage of one group over another and opens up direct channels of communication between citizens and the government.

While passing a right to information law can be a slow process, experience has shown that the real challenge comes with implementation. Right to Know Day provides a good opportunity not only to reflect on the importance of the simple, but empowering, right to information but also to draw attention to the fact that this fundamental right of the people needs to be properly implemented and not just consigned to the growing stack of ineffective and unimplemented laws. A sufficient and sustained political will, backed by citizens' initiative can make the implementation of an information regime extremely simple.

For countries which already have a freedom of information legislation in place, Right to Know Day provides an opportunity for critical reflection on how well it is working. Experience has shown that governments and bureaucrats tend to be apathetic towards access laws such that a concerted effort needs to be constantly directed at changing the mindset of civil servants towards openness rather than secrecy. There needs to be constant vigilance.

Effective implementation of the freedom of information legislation is only possible if there is joint partnership between the holders of information - public officials and requesters, that is, citizens, civil society organisations, media etc. In this respect, civil society groups and the media can take the initiative in pressuring governments for access laws and assisting governments with implementation.

Information is power and, in the spirit of democracy and equality, it needs to be shared freely with all people. Right to Know Day is a great opportunity to ask Government why they have not implemented an effective access to information regime. In this modern age, where citizen participation is of utmost priority in order to ensure increased government accountability, governments need to be sensitised to the need of having access to information and must be pressed to pass freedom of information legislation as soon as possible.

For more information please contact the Right to Information team at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative on tapasi@humanrightsinitiative.org or jeet@humanrightsinitiative.org and view our website at www.humanrightsinitiative.org.

Or contact the Media Officer at aditi@humanrightsinitiative.org. (9818216242)

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
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