Conference participants develop plan of action for open governments

The Carter Center in conjunction with other organizations held a conference in Peru where more than 115 representatives from 18 countries discussed obstacles and potential solutions to the right of access to public information in the Americas. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter spoke on the final conference day and reminded participants that "access to information can change the landscape of society."

Participants in a conference on the right of access to information released today their findings and plan of action to advance the right in the Americas.

The Americas Regional Plan of Action provides a blueprint for the regional and international community, states, and non-state actors to establish, develop, and nurture the right of access to information in the Americas and calls on them to commit to the plan in furtherance of our common objective. The regional document serves as an annex to last year's global Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action.

The conference was held April 28-30, 2009, in Lima, Peru, and was organized by The Carter Center in collaboration with the Organization of American States, the Andean Jurists Commission, and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. More than 115 representatives from government, civil society, media, private sector, regional intergovernmental organizations, international and regional financial institutions, and donors from 18 countries in the region came together to consider the main obstacles and potential solutions to advance the right of access to information in the Americas.

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To read the full Americas Regional Findings and Plan of Action and the Atlanta Declaration for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information, please go here.

Carter Center Unveils Declaration

This just in from the Carter Center's initiative on access to information...

In July, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter forwarded the Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right to Information to all heads of state and leaders of the major international organizations and financial institutions. President Carter urged these leaders to ensure the right of access to information and its implementation and enforcement. The Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action (please see attached) was the product of the Carter Center’s International Conference on the Right to Public Information, held February 27-29, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. The more than 125 participants, representing governments, civil society, international organizations and financial institutions, private sector, donors and scholars, from 40 countries who met to discuss the successes and future challenges to the establishment of a right of access to information.

The Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action, serving as a framework for advancing this human right, finds that access to information is fundamental to dignity, equity and peace with justice, and that a lack of access to information disproportionately affects the poor, women and other vulnerable and marginalized societies. The Declaration calls on all states and intergovernmental organizations to enact legislation and instruments for the exercise, full implementation and effective enforcement of this right. It further encourages all stakeholders to take concrete steps to establish, develop, protect and promote the right of access to information. The Declaration is available in Spanish, French, Chinese, and Bulgarian (Portugese coming soon).

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