1. Relevance of Transparency, Accountability and Participation Since
the Arab Spring
7-9 April 2013: Cairo
The Role of Access to Information In Promoting Governance
Toby Mendel

2. Orientation
 Access to information held by public
authorities
 Public authorities do not own the information
they hold
 Presumption of openness vs. presumption of
secrecy

3. Key Elements
 Access to information law
 Shift of presumption
 Proactive disclosure: reaching out
 South Africa: notice boards
 Pakistan: barber shops
 Open data
 Recent development

4. Global Trends
 Laws: 13-95
 Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen
 Human right
 Constitutions (1990s)
 International law: seek and receive

5. Participation
 Generational change: elections to participation
 My home
 http://maps.google.com/maps?q=b3m+3s7&hl=en&ll=44.666284,-
63.651786&spn=0.001881,0.004066&sll=37.0625,-
95.677068&sspn=34.313287,66.621094&hnear=Halifax,+Nova+Scot
ia+B3M+3S7,+Canada&t=h&z=18

6. Accountability/Service Delivery
 Key benefit: good decisions and ownership
 Examples
 F35s
 South Africa: housing

7. Corruption
 Most high-profile benefit
 Examples from India:
 Bribery vs. RTI
 MKSS

8. Economic Benefits
 Stability
 Competitiveness
 Direct value of information (open data)

9. Getting to There
 Political will
 Different players:
 Government
 Civil society
 Business
 Public
 International community
 Actual drafting

10. Law Just a Start: Implementation
 Institutional structure
 Public authorities
 Information officers
 Oversight body
 Courts
 Central nodal body
 Key tasks
 Capacity building
 Systems: reactive, proactive, record management, reporting
 Public awareness

11. Conclusion
The current developments in the MENA region
are very exciting
It is my great honour to be involved in them
Toby@law-democracy.org
www.law-democracy.org