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Annex 3 Freedom of Information: Prepared for the Transparency and Accountability Initiative Workshop October 14 – 15, 2010

In approaching this subject area within the parameters of this project, the approach that was adopted focused on drawing on the key literature in this area, and so the primary methodology was a desktop survey and summary of the current state of the sector. This is supplemented with an account of some theoretical considerations of Freedom of Information (FOI), both in terms of their rationale, and the nature of the right that they generate. As the author and the senior researcher for this paper are both scholars and advocates for FOI, they drew on their own experience in the field and the case studies and grey literature being generated by civil society colleagues and partners from both India and South Africa to support the academic literature and the theoretical approach so as to better understand the current status of FOI in relation to other transparency and accountability initiatives. Because systematically-produced evidence of impact is so sparse in the FOI arena, we have focused on a case-study approach, using the experience of two organisations – the Open Democracy Advice Centre in South Africa, and MKSS in India – to shed some light on the relationship between FOI and socio-economic change.

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Uploaded on: Dec 10, 2015
Year Published: 2010


Resource Tags

Resource Type: Impact Evidence Issues: Community Organizing, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Health, Housing Rights & Informal Settlements Tool Type: Reports / Research Method: Filing Right to Information Claims Languages: English Regions: Sub-Saharan Africa Nature of Impact: Citizen Action & Participation Institutions Engaged: Service Delivery Agencies Evaluation Method: Case Studies