Publication: Access to Information in the Middle East and North Africa Region: An Overview of Recent Developments in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia
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2015
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2015-11-17
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The right to access and request information is enshrined in article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights. Access to information (ATI) plays an essential role for promoting accountability and citizens ability to monitor the actions of the government, and it contributes to participatory development. The goal of this report is to provide an overview of the situation of access to information in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region, in particular the cases of Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia. This report looks at previous and current efforts for promoting ATI in the region in order to facilitate knowledge exchange among ATI practitioners across those countries and to help them identify areas for collaboration in the region. For each country, this report will first examine the legal and or institutional framework, including a range of factors such as constitutional provisions, restrictive legislation, relevant regional and international conventions, and key administrative bodies. Government initiatives affecting the right of ATI are then considered in detail for each country. This report examines the practice of ATI for each of these four countries, including the use and implementation of ATI legislation or other applicable transparency provisions. Finally, a summary of recent developments of the ATI coalitions and campaigns in these countries is provided.
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“Almadhoun, Said. 2015. Access to Information in the Middle East and North Africa Region: An Overview of Recent Developments in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22978 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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