Information newsletter
Issue 10(22), October 2005

FOI-ers around the world: The Global Transparency Initiative

To honor the International "Right to Know Day" on Sep. 28, 2005 the Global Transparency Initiative has officially launched a discussion of its International Financial Institutions Transparency Charter. The Carter will set out the standards and norms that should govern IFI disclosure policy, and the principles that should guide its practice. The Charter is the key discussion document for widening and extending the global IFI transparency and accountability movement. Consultation on the Charter runs until 28 November 2005 at http://www.article19.org/publications/law/case-briefs.html.

Charter Principles

Principle 1: The Right of Access
The right to access information held by IFIs is a fundamental human right which applies regardless of the source of the information (who produced the document), and whether the information relates to a public or private actor.

Principle 2: The Right to Request Information
Everyone has the right to request and to receive information from IFIs, subject only to the limited regime of exceptions, and the procedures for processing such requests should be simple, rapid and free or low-cost.

Principle 3: Routine Disclosure
IFIs should routinely disclose a wide range of information about their structure, policies and procedures, decision-making processes, and country and project work in a timely fashion, and in a language and via a medium that ensures that interested stakeholders can effectively access it.

Principle 4: Limited Exceptions
The regime of exceptions should be based on the principle that access to information may be refused only where the IFI can demonstrate that disclosure would cause serious harm to one of a set of clearly and narrowly defined interests listed in the policy and that the harm to this interest outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Principle 5: Access to Meetings
A presumption should be established giving a right of access to key IFI meetings and information about what transpired in these meetings should be disseminated.

Principle 6: Whistleblower Protection
Whistleblowers – individuals who in good faith disclose concerns about wrongdoing, corruption or other malpractices – should expressly be protected from any sanction, reprisal, or professional or personal detriment, as a result of having made that disclosure.

Principle 7: Appeals
Anyone who believes that an IFI has failed to respect its access to information policy, including through a refusal to provide information in response to a request, should have the right to have the matter reviewed by an independent and authoritative body.

Principle 8: Promotion of Freedom of Information
IFIs should devote adequate resources and energy to ensuring effective implementation of the access to information policy, and to building a culture of openness.

Principle 9: Regular Review
Access to information policies should be subject to regular review to take into account changes in the nature of information held, and to incorporate increasingly progressive disclosure rules.