28 September is the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), and this year’s theme focuses on the importance of ATI laws for building strong institutions. We invited two leading experts from the IFEX network — Gilbert Sendugwa (Africa Freedom of Information Centre) and Lamin Jahateh (Gambia Press Union) — to join us for a special edition of our Africa Brief podcast, to discuss why ATI laws, and the Right to Information more broadly, are a critical underpinning for human rights worldwide.
Whether it’s on the global, regional, or national stage, IFEX members in Africa are world leaders both in pushing for strong ATI laws and in promoting the Right to Information more broadly. Indeed, today is only the 2nd IDUAI since it was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2019. This proclamation didn’t happen by accident. It was the culmination of years of advocacy, led by IFEX members in Africa and their partners.
As this episode is a little longer than usual, we’ve added timestamps for the key sections below:
- Setting the Scene
- The Gambian Context
- The African Context
- The Global Context
- Diversity and the Right to Information
- Concluding Thoughts
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