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Africa Freedom
of Information Centre Launched
LAGOS, NIGERIA: Friday, September 28, 2007: A network of
Freedom of Information advocates in Africa today announced the launch of
a regional Centre in Lagos to galvanize the campaign for the adoption of
access to information laws on the continent.
Known as the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC),
it will provide technical assistance to civil society organizations in
the region involved in various stages of Freedom of Information work,
including the drafting of access to information bills, advocacy for
their passage into Law, implementation, litigation and monitoring
activities.
The decision to establish the Centre was taken by
representatives of 30 civil society organisations from 16 countries,
including Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana,
Togo Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Senegal, Benin Republic,
Guinea, Uganda and Kenya,
who met in Lagos on September 22 and 23, 2006
to discuss ways to promote the right of access to information held by
public authorities and share experiences on strategies for advancing the
adoption of laws that fully protect this right.
In the “Lagos Declaration on the Right of Access to Information”
adopted at the end of their meeting, the participating organizations
expressed concern that Africa was lagging behind in the global drive
towards the adoption of Freedom of Information Laws and agreed to
establish a regional centre, where experiences garnered in the different
countries can be pooled and shared among civil society activists and
which will provide a platform for cooperation and collaborative
activities among civil society organizations in the region.
The Centre is a project of the Africa Freedom of Information Trust (AFIT),
an organization incorporated under Nigerian Laws and will be run by a
Steering Committee, comprising Ms Agnes Ebo’o, Coordinator of
Citizens Governance Initiative (CGI) in
Cameroon; Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda
(MRA) in Nigeria; Ms Nana Oye Lithur, Regional Coordinator of the
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Africa Office in Ghana; Mr.
Gabriel Baglo, Director of the Africa Office of the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Senegal; Ms Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua,
FOI Project Coordinator at the Kenya
Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) and Mr.
Patrick Tumwine,
Advocacy and Networking
Officer at Human Rights
Network, Uganda (HURINET-U).
Mr. Edetaen Ojo, who has been designated Director of the Centre, said:
“It is unacceptable that out of about 75 countries around the world that
currently have Freedom of Information laws, Africa accounts for only
four of that number. We expect the Centre to tip the scales in our
favour by energizing ongoing campaigns in a number of countries for the
adoption of such laws and launching fresh initiatives in other
countries.”
Ms Agnes Ebo’o, CGI Coordinator and AFIC
Steering Committee member, said: “The state of access to information in
Central Africa is particularly lamentable as not a single country in the
sub-region has a Freedom of Information Law while there is hardly any
initiative to adopt such a Law. We hope that the Centre can help
generate the much-needed awareness in Central African countries about
the right of access to information and serve as a catalyst for reversing
this undesirable situation.”
The Centre will maintain a physical library and a bi-lingual virtual
resource centre which will provide up-to-date information about the
state of access to information in all countries in the region and
contain the texts of Freedom of Information Bills and Laws in various
African countries as well as the texts of standard-setting documents in
Africa, other regions and internationally.
The specific activities of the Centre will also include:
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Assisting civil society
organizations in different countries to develop and implement
Freedom of Information advocacy, litigation and monitoring
strategies.
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Building the capacity of
civil society organizations engaged in Freedom of Information work
through training and awareness-raising activities, to improve their
skills in research, legislative drafting, advocacy and lobbying,
litigation, monitoring, and fund-raising.
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Providing support and
solidarity for national-level activities and efforts in these areas;
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Building linkages and
networking Freedom of Information advocates across the continent
and, in particular, documenting Freedom of Information advocacy
strategies and experiences in countries where advocacy has been
successful and sharing best practices with other countries;
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Establishing a database
on Freedom of Information in Africa and other parts of the world to
facilitate comparative knowledge and experience; and
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Facilitating
collaborative action to introduce regional and sub-regional
mechanisms and standards on the right to information in Africa.
For further
information, please contact:
Nigeria:
Ene Enonche
Cell: (+234) (0)803 451 6807
E-mail:
ene@mediarightsagenda.org
Or
Senegal:
Louis Thomasi
Tel: +221- 842 01 42/43
Email:
ifjafrique@ifjafrique.org
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