We’re running a bit late – still catching up after a few days off due to Hurricane Sandy last week. A quick shout out to NDI’s great project assistant, Jack Mahoney, who assisted me in writing this update.
NEWS:
In Spain, the PMO and Declaration supporter Access Info Europe was charged €3,000 by the Spanish Supreme Court for requesting information about how the Spanish government plans to fight corruption. The ruling, which is being appealed, reflects the struggles of NGOs in Spain to obtain information from the government. Spain remains the largest European country without a national transparency law. Also in Europe, Italy‘s Chamber of Deputies recently voted 481 to 19 to approve a new transparency law that Transparency International hailed as a step in the right direction.
In Kyrgyzstan, the PMO community member Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society released a list of Kyrgyz MPs whose offices did not register with an online consortium of civil society groups. At latest count, a dozen MPs have remained inaccessible to civil society activists and their organizations. The Coalition also reports that an ethics crisis is now consuming the Kyrgyz Parliament.
In Lithuania, PMO community member Transparency International Lithuania launched a simple web platform for users to anonymously report cases of corruption. The website includes a map so citizens can see how their communities are affected by corruption, and also includes a list of tools to help them take action.
Lebanon's Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform gathered well over 100 representatives from the media and civil society groups to hold a 'People’s Parliament’ in Beirut’s Martyr’s Square where participants were given the chance to question MPs on reforms to the electoral law of Lebanon.
RTI laws were debated across South Asia the last few weeks.In Pakistan, the PMO Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) called the new National Accountability Commission bill (NAC 2012) 'too little, too late’ and criticized the government’s efforts to limit debate on the bill and prevent public comments from civil society groups. In the Maldives, Transparency Maldives held a symposium on the need for a national RTI law, which Maldives currently lacks. In India, Congress Party leader Digvijay Singh has warned against efforts in his ruling party to dilute the RTI law, arguing that the law is necessary to push ahead with India’s campaign for good governance
In Bangladesh, continuing a story from our last update, the Information Ministry requested that PMO Transparency International Bangladesh send a copy of its recent investigation which found that 97% of Bangladeshi MPs were involved in some form of criminal activity.
The Kurdistan Parliament of Iraq solicited input from NGOs and civil society leaders in forming a new policy for relations between the Parliament and NGOs. The document specifically calls for “the need for transparency and accountability of authorities and NGOs; active NGO participation in policy making; and sustainable funding for civic initiatives.”
A civil society group in Kenya sued the electoral commission to demand that candidates for public office release background information before being certified for the ballot. The International Center for Policy and Conflict is appealing an earlier ruling by a lower court which determined that efforts by the Kenyan Parliament already go far enough. Meanwhile, on the issue of open data, the permanent secretary at the Kenyan information and communications ministry was quoted last week as saying, “I believe that 80% of Africa’s problems can be resolved through open data.” Check out the article on tech innovation in Kenya from The Guardian.
Nigeria: Under a Palliative Legislature (Vanguard)
Canada: Budget watchdog takes feds to court (The Globe and Mail)
Tunisia: Political paralysis dogs Tunisia parliament a year after historic vote (Oman Tribune)
Iceland: Citizens Vote in Favor of Crowdsourced New Constitution (Tech President)
Ghana: Capacity Building Workshop for Parliamentary Candidates Ends (Ghana News Agency)
RESOURCES:
The Open Knowledge Foundation published the second part of its three-part series on the benefits of open data and transparent governance. Read the first part here. Keep your eyes open for the 'Open Up!’ conference in London later this month. The Omidyar Network will be partnering with WIRED magazine and DfID to help governments discover ways to become more transparent with the help of technology.
Agreat resource for NGO’s looking to host hackathons was recently developed by Kevin McArthur, Herb Lainchbury and Donna Horn who all collaborated to write an 'Open Data Hackathon How to Guide’.
Also, check out the results of the 2012 Open Government Census reporting on the status of open data in countries across the world.
RECENT BLOG POSTS:
Your voice can change the law (Chakshu Roy), Nov. 5
Keeping authentication simple (Eric Mill), Nov. 1
Open Government Partnership welcomes new Executive Director (Dan Swislow), Nov. 1
Presentation of the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness at the IPU’s 127th Assembly (Andrew Mandelbaum), Oct. 29
Declaration on Parliamentary Openness to be presented at the IPU Assembly today, (Dan Swislow), Oct. 24
What do you mean?, (Melissa Ortiz Massó), Oct. 22