Way Forward: Towards Right to Know Day 2011 Gilbert Sendugwa Coordinator/ Head of Secretariat Africa Freedom of Information Centre

The Act Implementation – full implementation within 1 year of adoption Manual of functions and index of records of public body (within 6 months of adoption) Automatic disclosure & publication of certain records without receiving requests once every 2 years Each Minister shall submit annual report to Parliament on requests (read implementation)

Progress Constitutional Guarantees, Art. 41 Access to Information Act, 2005 ATI Implementation Plan Appointed Information Officers Public awareness on the law

Way Forward Ministry of Information & National Guidance Manual of functions and index of records of public body Regulations to guide implementation (while not required, it is a good practice) Capacity strengthening for information officers & systems Promote & coordinate ATI implementation at central and local governments Awareness raising on the right & enabling legislations Initiate process to harmonise OSA with constitution

…Way Forward Line Ministries Pilot ATI- e.g. budget transparency (30% of National Budget) Pro-active disclosure of govt budget & plans- in a manner that allows use of information Improve records management for ease of dissemination Introduce and implement client charters Introduce and make use of Notice boards Awareness raising on the right & enabling legislations Share experiences on good practices e.g. LG

Parliament Require all ministers to make annual reports on ATI implementation as required Establish & enforce sanctions for failure to report Debate status of implementation and suggest measures to improve implementation Allocate resources to facilitate implementation & oversight Expand space for civil society & media to facilitate successful ATI implementation

…Way Forward Uganda Human Rights Commission Make ATI implementation & oversight part of annual reports to parliament Compliance with international treaty and convention obligations on human rights- – African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance – Protocol to the African Charter on Human And Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples Rights – Protocol of the Court of Justice of the African Union Sensitise population on ATI as a fundamental Human Rights

Way Forward Civil Society & media Create awareness of the right Monitor implementation & oversight practices Advocacy for policy & legislative reforms

Opportunities Legal framework Leader/ led ratio Decentralisation FM stations Barazas/ public accountability forums Use of ICT

Ever thought of life without information?

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