Peace Programs

African Regional Conference on the Right of
Access to Information

Accra, Ghana

Feb. 7-9, 2010

The Carter Center, with our regional partners, will hold the African Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information Feb. 7-9, 2010, in Accra, Ghana. The goal of this action-oriented regional conference is to advance the right of access to information in Africa. The conference will convene approximately 100 participants representing regional and international institutions, government, civil society, media, academia, and the private sector, from at least 15 focus countries in Africa. As a result of the conference, a regional action plan will be developed and will function as an addendum to the well received Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information, providing more specific guidance for the advancement of the right of access to information in Africa.

In February 2008, The Carter Center held the International Conference on the Right to Public Information, which brought together more than 125 persons from 40 countries – representing all key stakeholder groups – to consider the global state of the right of access to information.  At the conclusion of the international conference, the Atlanta Declaration was issued and widely disseminated.  Following the international conference, the Center received numerous requests from participants and others in the community of practice to organize similar forums with more regional focus.  The first regional conference was held in Lima, Peru, in April of 2009, for 115 participants from 18 countries within the Americas.  The African Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information will utilize the methodology and lessons learned from these past conferences and allow participants to contextualize the discussion and findings in the face of their African realities.

Africa stands at a unique moment. With fewer than 7.5 percent [1] of the countries in the region enjoying an enforceable statutory right to information, the African region lags far behind the rest of the world in establishing access to information legislation.  Experts suggest that the main obstacles include a failure of political leadership, a culture of secrecy, low public awareness, and institutional barriers.  Yet, the notions of good governance, participation, and the need to fight corruption and impunity – all reliant on access to information – are increasingly understood as critical for the region's democratic development.  This may explain why more than a quarter of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa are considering draft legislation, and the African Commission on Human and People's Rights in 2007 "renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression in Africa with the following amended title: Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa," and expanded her purview to promote access to information throughout Africa.[2]

The African Regional Conference will provide space for sharing experiences, with a primary focus on in-depth discussions of challenges, potential solutions, and best practices.  By convening people from the same region, we will stimulate peer-to-peer learning and engender a more targeted debate and set of conclusions.  Thus, the four main objectives of the African Regional Conference are to:

1. Identify and explore challenges and potential solutions specific to Africa;
2. Bring together stakeholders to enhance a regional community of practice;
3. Encourage multi-stakeholder national clusters to advance the right of access to information;
4. Create and disseminate regional findings and a plan of action.

The first day of the conference will be chaired by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and will reflect on the state of the right to information in Africa. In addition, plenary panels will focus on questions such as "Does transparency matter?" and "If so, why have African countries not advanced further?" These panels will spotlight the value of transparency for managing oil revenues, addressing climate change, and improving development, as well as providing seeds for discussion on political commitment, institutional capacity, and civil society engagement.  These plenary sessions will serve to inform the discussions that will take place during the remainder of the conference.

The second day will be dedicated to group work, with the participants strategically placed into one of five multi-stakeholder groups to explore:

1. Politics and Economy: shifting the balance toward openness
2. Structural Context and Culture: creating an environment for transparency
3. Non-State and Multi-lateral Actors: examining roles and responsibilities
4. Regional Norm-building: considering regional instruments and standards
5. Demand and Use of New Technology: engaging citizens and increasing awareness

These working groups will examine the challenges to the passage and implementation of the law, constraints, and next generation issues, as well as engage the issue of impact—topics that without our consideration could undermine past advances or retard future gains in the right to information. Each of these working groups will be led by a well-known facilitator with expert rapporteurs, and will be tasked with creating a set of findings and recommendations for the action plan.

On the final day of the conference, we will convene in plenary for working group reports and to consider a draft of regional findings and an action plan. Time will be provided for country clusters to meet and discuss how the action plan may be applied in their countries, and how they might work together to advance critical points. The concluding plenary will seek consensus for the regional action plan, identify specific actors to advance the recommendations, and consider means of monitoring and reporting on progress.

At the conclusion of the regional conference, the action plan will be widely disseminated through online postings and news articles, and forwarded to each African head of state with a cover letter from President Carter.  The Carter Center also will provide technical support to the regional community of practice and country clusters, monitor progress of the action plan, and provide periodic updates on implementation and impact of the African Regional Findings and Plan of Action.

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1. This figure does not include Zimbabwe.  With Zimbabwe, the figure goes up to approximately 9 percent.

2. ACHPR/Res.122 (XXXXII) 07: Resolution on the Expansion of the Mandate and Re-appointment of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, November 2007.