Right to Information (RTI)

Most of you may have heard about the Right to Information (RTI) in the news, from someone else, or read about it in newspapers or other texts. Commonly referred to as Freedom of Information (FOI) or Access to Information (ATI), RTI is an integral component of the right to freedom of expression, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. RTI reflects the principle that all information held by governments and other public institutions is public information and should only be withheld from the public for legitimate reasons within the public interest.

Additionally, Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on good governance includes ensuring public access to information per national legislation and international agreements. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) also references RTI as a necessary component in addressing corruption.

The exercise of the right to information allows citizens to obtain any information/record/data from their Government and its Ministries and Departments without quoting reasons. It also empowers citizens to inspect government documents and take samples of their work. Invariably, RTI is seen as a means to demand transparency and accountability from the Government, ensuring anti-corruption and building people’s trust in the institutions.

Most Pacific Island countries (PICs) are parties to the international commitments mentioned above and have undertaken to facilitate RTI under regional instruments such as the Pacific Plan and the 2018 Boe Declaration. Some Pacific countries have specific RTI  legislation, while others have constitutional provisions guaranteeing the right to information. Implementation of particular tools for proactive disclosure of information and facilitating access to information, on the one hand, and citizens’ demands for access to information, also vary across the Pacific.

In this small-medium scaled survey, we aim to find out how aware we are of the current practices of RTI in our countries and what our preferences are for improved promotion and exercise of the right to information. In more depth, the questionnaire will focus on the following:

1. To ring-fence the survey, we will consider only one service delivery area – municipal health services, including food control and waste management. Therefore, most questionnaire items can be seen in the context of municipal health services in our villages and towns.
2. Awareness of current practices. We need to assess our awareness of the RTI tools and platforms currently used in our town and country.
3. Usage of the RTI practices. To see if we are making use of such town and country-based practices.
4. We are preferred tools/methods. We need to see which types of tools and techniques we choose to access timely information from different departments and sections of the municipal health service of our village, town, and country.

The survey contains multiple questions that will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. We also have some open-ended questions if you wish to make additional comments. These will be very useful to us when we consider designing and implementing new digital tools to assist people in promptly securing the correct information.