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EUROPEAN UNION |
EU Awards MRA €70,000 Grant for Freedom of Information Advocacy
The European Union (EU) has awarded Media Rights Agenda (MRA) a grant of
€70,000 (about N11.9 million) to support its advocacy work on the Freedom
of Information Bill over the next one year.
The grant was awarded under the EU’s European Initiative for Democracy and
Human Rights (EIDHR) Micro Projects through which it seeks to promote
democracy, the rule of law and human rights in order to reinforce
sustainable development in Third World countries by engaging with
non-state actors.
Under the terms of the grant, the EU is providing 94.52 per cent of the
total budget of €74,044 for MRA to carry out a series of activities
towards securing the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill, which has
been pending before the National Assembly since 1999. The balance of
€4,044 will be contributed by MRA under the partnership agreement.
With the EU’s support, MRA plans to continue advocacy work on the Bill at
the National Assembly and intensify its advocacy targeted at members of
the Executive. It will also conduct media campaigns and public
enlightenment activities as well as to build the capacity of the Freedom
of Information Coalition and its secretariat to coordinate all the
activities.
In the course of these activities, MRA hopes to expand and strengthen
alliances with other stakeholders on the Bill; produce documented
arguments on how a regime of access to information will strengthen the
fight against corruption by promoting transparency and accountability in
governance; increase the capacity of the media to engage in enlightened
and informed reporting of the issues and relevant events; and ultimately
get the Bill passed by the Senate and assented to by the President.
Mr. Edetaen Ojo, MRA’s Executive Director, noted that the EU support would
enable the organization implement what it hopes will be the final phase of
advocacy campaign to secure the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill
into law.
He said: “We appreciate the support and partnership of the European
Union. After more than six years of hard work, MRA and other member
organizations of the Freedom of Information Coalition are very much set
for a vigorous final campaign on the Freedom of Information Bill during
which we expected to see the Bill passed by the Senate and assented to by
President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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