Open Development: Access to Information and the Sustainable Development Goals

"The effective implementation of RTI [the right to information] is a prerequisite for the effective participation of the population and their ability to have a voice, which are necessary for democratic societies."

From ARTICLE 19 and the Campaign for Freedom of Information, this report reviews the current state of the right of access to information, examining the links between the right to information and fighting poverty. It was launched at the United Nations (UN)'s High Level Political Forum in New York, United States (US), where representatives of civil society and governments from around the world met to review the progress of the UN's anti-poverty initiative, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It examines the progress countries have made since the adoption of the SDGs on implementing the commitment to make access to information available to all people in their countries. In addition to proposing a framework for the UN to use to monitor its progress and providing a baseline for future assessments over the lifetime of the 2030 Agenda, the report presents (and provides links to) case studies on projects where access to information has been used to help communities achieve their rights under the SDGs - addressing issues such as health care promotion in Tunisia and Senegal, indigenous women's participation in Mexico, water in rural Brazil, education in Indonesia, and environmental protection in Bangladesh.

As the report explains, the right of access to information held by government and other powerful bodies (right to information, or RTI) has been widely recognised around the world as a fundamental human right, as well as an important tool for promoting the rule of law, fighting corruption and ensuring other rights. RTI has been a key element of sustainable development since the 1992 Rio Declaration. In the SDGs, access to information held by public bodies has been recognised as a necessary enabling mechanism for public engagement across the goals and specifically incorporated into Goal 16 as well as implicitly as into many other goals and targets.

After exploring the importance of RTI and its specific incorporation into the SDGs, the report provides a summary of international obligations and standards. It then explores existing multi-stakeholder initiatives to inspire RTI monitoring in the SDGs, including the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP), the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and information and communication technologies (ICTs) and e-government: partnerships involving companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and governments.

An indicator adopted by the UN Statistics Commission considers that at least initially this should be measured by review of the legal instruments (16.10.2: Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory, and/or policy guarantees for public access to information). National implementation of this indicator reveals that RTI has now been adopted into law or policy in 118 countries around the world (61% of UN Member States), covering 89% of the world's population. In addition, 90 countries have adopted explicit constitutional guarantees. Many countries are also implementing transparency initiatives such as e-government or open data that supplement the right but generally do not fully ensure the right of access to all information. In addition, RTI is increasingly recognised in declarations by the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, in General Comments, and cases before the UN Human Rights Committee and Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights.

"While the number of such laws has more than tripled in recent times, there are still many challenges to make the right a reality so that all people may benefit from it. While upgrading national legislation and administrative functioning are prerequisites, an equally important aspect is the change in attitudes required so that openness and transparency, trust between authorities and public, and dissemination of information for better management, replace the culture of secrecy and the retention of information in the service of individual interests. This is a long process that requires the joint involvement of all stakeholders, including government, administrations, civil society organizations, journalists, the private sector and every citizen..."

The report goes on to share various case studies demonstrating how ARTICLE 19 has launched projects promoting use of access to information to implement the SDGs. These projects have sought to empower citizens and communities to demand action and improve their access to resources and universal human rights, including education, health, safe environment, and water. The diverse experiences in terms of sectors and geographic areas presented show how RTI was key in empowering citizens and specific groups to advocate and improve their access to specific rights. These examples show how RTI enables advocacy and informed participation that is relevant for developing national SDGs agendas and policies, and their continuous monitoring. (Links to full case studies (or more complete information about projects), often in multiple languages, are included at the end of each case study summary/text box.)

ARTICLE 19 stresses that it is important to measure the RTI progress not only because it is a right in itself, but also because it is a tool for facilitating other rights and commitments set out in the SDGs. According to the organisation, when measuring target 16.10 on access to information, a simple binary measurement of the number of laws, policies, and constitutional provisions is not sufficient. Thus, the report lays out a graduated, multi-stage method that can be used over the 15-year period of the implementation of the goals.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations to ensure that the frameworks are adequate and that the information is reaching the people who need it most. In brief, they focus on:

• RTI laws
• Reviews of existing legal systems
• Open data - Governments and other stakeholders should increase the publication of open data, especially that related to vulnerable groups, and make sure that this data contributes effectively to improving the lives of the economically poorest and most vulnerable. Publishing open data online can help to ensure higher degrees of accountability and transparency; traditionally relevant means should also be used to ensure public access to key information through local media, public billboards, and other methods.
• Independent national monitoring
• Government engagement with civil society - Governments should initiate new ways to mobilise all actors and simplify their message and proceedings; political orientations or economic interests should not impact these efforts and not be the main goals behind the selection of partners.
• Inclusion of more stakeholders - The government can mobilise civil society organisations (CSOs) to support its role of identifying the information of high interest to be proactively disclosed. These actors can also promote the use of ICTs in promoting RTI. They can help the government increase its outreach efforts through guides for raising awareness and simplification of RTI requests for vulnerable groups and people with specific needs (linguistic minorities, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, illiterate people, etc.).
• Improving civic space - Countries should commit to allowing CSOs to act unhindered in their activities. The UN should monitor developments and actively promote a wide civic space.
• Research
• Donor coordination
• Civil society coordination - "By encouraging more co-production between key actors and facilitating the creation of mechanisms to improve the level of trust between actors, more openness and transparency can be achieved, and this would impact positively on the efforts mobilized for the 2030 Agenda and its effectiveness."