FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/TRANSPARENCY

Article 19 is a London-based NGO that monitors, lobbies and litigates on behalf of freedom of expression. It also campaigns for the right to access information held by governments, public authorities and private bodies and companies. Article 19 has posted a Model Freedom of Information Law on its site. It also has a Survey of Access to Information in South Asia.

FOI.net, a website maintained by Professor Alasdair Roberts of Syracuse University, lists resources on freedom of information laws. It also keeps a database on Canada's Access to Information Act. It has links to government and NGO resources on freedom of information laws.

The National Security Archive is an independent research institute and library located in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. It also keeps track of the freedom of information movement worldwide.

Edited by U.S. lawyer and journalist Harry Hammit, Access Reports provides updates on freedom of information and privacy issues in the United States and Canada, including analyses of court decisions, laws, regulations and agency guidelines.

Access Info Europe is a human rights organization dedicated to promoting the right of access to information in Europe and contributing to the development of this right globally.

Open Society Justice Initiative, Freedom of Information Program

Arabaccess.org is an informal community of practitioners, researchers, activists and exports seeking to promote access to information legislation in the Arab World. The site is supported by the Lebanese Transparency Association (a national chapter of Transparency International).

CIVIL LIBERTIES/PRIVACY

Privacy International is a London-based watchdog on surveillance by governments and corporations. It maintains a website jointly with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. that focuses on civil liberties and privacy issues.

The Digital Freedom Network (DFN) based in New York develops and promotes the use of Internet technology for human rights activism around the world. It also publishes original news articles about human rights issues, including free speech and access to information.

The Global Internet Liberty Campaign, the leading international NGO fighting Internet censorship, has an Access page on its website that contains news, FOI resources, links to FOI laws and other information related to freedom of information around the world.

Transparency International, the global corruption watchdog, has a working paper on access to information on its website that explains the elements of, and preconditions for, information access. The paper has a section on access to information in developing countries.

European Civil Liberties Network

Statewatch

HUMAN RIGHTS

Amnesty International is the leading global human rights NGO. Based in London, it monitors human rights, including access to information, around the world.

Derechos.org describes itself as the first Internet-based human rights organization. It monitors human rights in Latin America,  coordinates several human rights mailing lists, publishes an online human rights journal, and works on the preservation of memory and for justice for the disappeared. The website has a special section on free speech that includes reports on issues related to access to information in Latin America.

Human Rights Watch, a leading international human rights NGO based in New York, has monitored freedom of expression and access to information in many countries, including Chile, Kuwait and China (especially Internet access).

Human Rights First (formerly Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights)

MEDIA LINKS

Association of European Journalists

Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press (United States)

International Center for Journalists

Reporters Without Borders

International Federation of Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists based in New York does a worldwide monitoring of the state of the press.

The Commonwealth Press Union is composed of newspapers and news agencies in 49 countries. It promotes the welfare and freedom of the Commonwealth press and takes action against infringements on that freedom.

Freedom House, based in New York, is a leading advocate of free expression, human rights and democracy worldwide. It publishes an annual survey of press freedom around the world.

The Freedom of Expression Project To Monitor and Report Violations of Journalists’ Rights monitors violations of press freedom in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Index on Censorship was founded in 1972 and has reported on censorship issues around the world since then. It publishes a country-by-country list of free speech violations.

The Inter-American Press Association based in Florida monitors free press issues in the Americas and provides journalism training for Latin American news organizations.

The International Federation of Journalists has over 500,000 members from 100 countries. It campaigns for journalists’ rights, including free expression, and monitors infringements on those rights.

The International Freedom of Information Exchange (Ifex)  is a coalition of over 50 freedom of expression groups in the world and is managed by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. Ifex regularly publishes alerts on violations of free expression, including the right to information.

The International Press Institute in Vienna is a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, dedicated to freedom of the press and improving the standards and practices of journalism.

The Media Institute of South Africa promotes free, independent and pluralistic media in 11 countries in Southern Africa. It monitors free press violations and helps facilitate the free flow of information and cooperation among media workers in these countries.

The Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa is a Pan-African freedom of expression/human rights NGO based in Kiambu, near Nairobi, Kenya. Founded in Harare, Zimbabwe in August 1993, NDIMA monitors free press issues and conducts training for journalists in the region.

The Pacific Media Watch, founded in 1996, supports media freedom and examines issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region.

Reporters san Frontieres is a Paris-based organization that monitors infringement on media freedoms around the world.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance is a regional network of media organizations committed to a free press in Southeast Asia.

The World Association of Newspapers, founded in 1948, defends and promotes press freedom and the economic independence of newspapers as an essential condition for that freedom.  It represents 18,000 publications in five continents.

The World Press Freedom Committee, composed of 44 journalistic organizations around the world, is dedicated to the free flow of news and the elimination of government interference in the media.

IFTI

Asian Development Bank

The Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information Policy Paper, drafted in 1994, sets the guidelines for the classification of documents. Country Operational Strategy Study (COSS) documents, once approved by the board, may be released but governments concerned can identify which portions should remain confidential. In some cases, the entire COSS may be withheld. Minutes of board discussions are also confidential.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EBRD released a revised Public Information Policy in April 2003, updating the original version that was enacted 2000. The policy sets the guidelines for the release of such documents as Sectoral Policies, which may be disclosed even before board approval. Country Strategy documents, however, are made public and posted on the EBRD website only after they have been approved by the board. Project Summary Documents of private-sector projects are made available at least 30 days before the board takes them up. A review of the implementation of the information policy is also posted on the site.

For comments on the new policy, see the Bank Information Center's EBRD Transparency page.

European Investment Bank

The EIB's Information Policy and its Rules on Public Access to Documents are currently under review. Responding to demands from civil society, the Bank has released a range of project documents, including information on projects from the time they are identified and appraised. More sector studies, research papers and evaluation reports have also been released.

Revised proposal for EIB's Disclosure and Information Policy Review, opened for public comment 5/13/2005.

International Monetary Fund

The March 2000 fact sheet, "Transparency at the IMF," lists efforts by the Fund's Executive Board to disclose more information, including Public Information Notice (PIN) documents that summarize the IMF Executive Board's discussions and the staff's assessment of each member country; Letters of Intent, which state how countries will implement policies with a view of obtaining IMF support; and internal and external evaluations of IMF practices. An April 2001 fact sheet says three-quarters of IMF members agreed to release PIN documents and that 90 percent of Letters of Intent and other loan documents are now public.

Inter-American Development Bank

In a January 1999 document called, Policy on Disclosure of Information, the IADB allowed the release of summaries of investment proposals made to the Bank, preliminary information on projects that may harm the environment and the results of environmental impact assessments of projects. Confidential documents include those on "proposed projects whose public disclosure might adversely affect the private sector enterprise concerned."

World Bank

A new policy on the disclosure of information came into effect in 2001. The new rules allow public access to more documents. Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) for low-income countries are now disclosed, and in 2001, 70 percent of the CAS for middle-income countries were released. Since 2002, documents covering the entire life of Bank projects, from preparation through implementation to independent evaluation, have been released. A number of documents, however, remain secret.

World Trade Organization

In May 2002, the WTO shortened the "destriction" period or the time frame in which documents can be released from an average of eight to nine months to six to eight weeks. Documents can still be withheld if a WTO member-government demands nondisclosure, but the list of undisclosed documents has been cut down.

Back to top