We can learn from how other countries in this region benefit from the law.
There appears to be a shift in the attitude of many public authorities towards the RTI Act.
Delay in reconstituting the Information Commission is hindering transparency and accountability.
Public interest should be the yardstick when balancing citizens' right to information concerning governance and state need to safeguard sensitive information.
The success of the RTI Act anywhere in the world largely depends on the determination and commitment of the citizens to put it to practical use.
Bangladesh's RTI law is the best law to utilise in making a new Bangladesh where people's power reigns supreme in the true sense of the term.
Now is the opportunity for our youth to lead us in using existing laws to build a better country.
From its onset in early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has damaged trust in governments. As governments fumbled with different approaches, citizens’ distrust of them increased in tandem. Allegations of misinformation, disinformation and lack of information polluted the atmosphere.
September is an important month for Right to Information (RTI) buffs all over the world. They undertake various activities during the month to commemorate the International Right to Know Day on September 28 with two key focus points.
The relationship between governments and the people has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries.
The Covid-19 pandemic will be recorded as one of the most consequential events in human history. A small part of that history will relate to how governments interacted with their populations in responding to the crisis.
One of the institutional casualties of the global Covid-19 pandemic is people’s right to information.
Our last column was focused on the multifarious use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the United States.
How has the global use of Right to Information (RTI) laws brought about important new developments and catalysed change? The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regime in the US is the perfect example to illustrate this story.
Those who read this column regularly are aware of its two recurring themes.
The global excitement about Right to Information (RTI) appears to be on the wane. Instead of facilitating citizens’ role to monitor public work by accessing official documents, governments are resorting to procedural and other hurdles to curtail the reach of the law.
The euphoria accompanying the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War era late last century was followed by an upsurge of democracy in the new republics and a resurgence in nominal democracies.
