The Daily Star: Dhaka: Friday, September 15, 2017.
Later this
month, the world will mark the International Day for Universal Access to
Information, hitherto known as International Right to Know Day. Like many an
international day, its relevance to our lives seems murky. Yet there is no
development without people. The Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
2030, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, underlined the key role of
people for their implementation. Among the SDGs is Goal 16, aiming for "accountable
and inclusive institutions."
Translating
this concept into practice is a challenging task. We have seen it in relation
to the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in our country, as
in many others.
The challenge
is rooted in people's perception that activities relating to development and
governance are the sole prerogative of the state. In the authoritarian
tradition inherited from colonial history, state activities are hidden from the
people. This created a rigid and secretive attitude in our public officials
which is inimical to people's participation in state affairs. The key to
success, therefore, lies in changing the mindset both of people and state
authorities.
We have
emphasised in some earlier columns that without a larger involvement of our
citizens in making use of the RTI Act 2009, the objectives of the law cannot be
truly advanced. We have similarly underlined the need for our government to
invest greater attention on Goal 16, with its targets and indicators, which incorporates
the same objective in the SDGs.
Bangladesh
has made a good start in setting the SDG ball rolling. The government proclaims
its commitment to the goals in all national and international fora. It quickly
set up an inter-ministerial committee, under supervision of the Prime
Minister's Office, to monitor implementation and report on progress.
Bangladesh
became one of the first few countries to participate in the voluntary progress
review which took place at the UN last July. In her foreword to the report
submitted in this regard, the prime minister reiterated: "We have earned
international acclamations for our tremendous success in MDG implementation …
We are committed to redoubling our efforts to achieve SDG targets."
The government
has incorporated the key provisions of the SDGs in the 7th Five Year Plan for
2016-2020. It has also drawn up a handbook mapping the responsibilities of
different ministries/authorities for implementation of the SDGs and their
targets.
Let us be
clear: Poverty, hunger, gender discrimination, education, health, water and
sanitation, clean energy, decent work and economic growth, climate change and
so on, are normal subjects of a government's development agenda. Goal 16,
however, is unfamiliar territory, particularly as it pertains to RTI and
guarantees public access to information (indicator 16.10.2). It is not
surprising, therefore, that the handbook provides little indication yet on how
the government intends to go about it.
Among other
things, Goal 16 seeks to "ensure public access to information and protect
fundamental freedoms" as, without them, development is incomplete. These
objectives are unquantifiable, imperceptible and non-tangible; hence difficult
to monitor and assess. National and international efforts have, therefore, been
set in motion to develop appropriate tracking methods.
This is where
civil society's role comes in. In Bangladesh, a "Citizen's Platform for
SDGs" has been set up by a group of individuals "to contribute to the
delivery of the SDGs and enhance accountability in the process." Their
efforts should include specific attention to the more difficult targets of Goal
16, particularly its indicator 16.10.2, which relates to RTI. NGOs and
individuals promoting RTI implementation could give them a helping hand.
At the
international level, a network of individuals and activists, from countries
where RTI/Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts are in force, is collaborating
under the banner of "FOIAnet" to develop a common approach to measure
progress of indicator 16.10.2 in every country. This network has suggested that
at the initial stage, the national groups should focus their efforts on: (i)
how much a state is proactively disclosing information to its citizens; (ii)
what institutional measures are in place to facilitate implementation of
RTI/FOI laws; and (iii) to what extent information requests are made by
citizens and responded to by the authorities. The latter action would be based
on submitting test requests to a few public authorities in each country.
Additional elements would be gradually introduced, as experience is gained and
progress made towards 2030.
The exercise
has already commenced in many countries. It is expected that the information so
compiled by national groups will be collated by UNESCO and reported to the
General Assembly annually. A ranking of state performance is likely to emerge.
Some national groups expect to release preliminary reports later this month.
Bangladesh's should follow soon.
We hope that
Citizen's Platform members will soon recognise that success of the SDGs would
require more than tracking progress of government undertakings. It would call
for concrete measures by citizens, individually and collectively, to promote
transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly governance. An effective strategy
here would be to generate a sizable number of RTI requests by citizens to
public authorities, thereby initiating greater interaction between the two and
contributing to changing the colonial mindset of both.
We propose
the following "to-do list" for civil society groups engaged in the
promotion of SDGs and RTI in the country.
Help increase
the number of RTI requests submitted to public authorities annually. Set a
target to increase the yearly figure (say, by 20 percent). Last year's Annual
Report of the Information Commission recorded only 6,369 requests.
Develop a
strategy to attract the middle class to engage in the RTI process. This section
of the society, with enormous influence, has largely stayed away either for
lack of awareness or trust in its efficacy. If well-known public figures,
including members of the Platform, submit RTI requests, it may encourage
others.
Lobby with
the government to designate a nodal agency to promote the RTI Act. Presently,
the Ministry of Information plays a limited role, with the Cabinet Division
becoming increasingly engaged. There should be more clarity on the subject.
Devise a
mechanism to monitor the work of the Information Commission, provide it with
encouragement and moral support to interpret and apply the RTI Act more
objectively, and impose sanctions on public officials who deliberately disregard
the law. Set a target for annual percentage increase in the number of sanctions
imposed. Around 15 penalties have been awarded since the beginning.
Provide civil
society input to the selection process of a neutral and objective Information
Commission. The selection of the new Chief Information Commissioner due in few
months provides an opportunity.
Take heart
from the fact that the marginalised communities of the country, who were
introduced to RTI by NGOs, have both benefitted from and contributed to
establishing a transparent delivery system of the government's safety net
programmes through their persistent use of the law. There can be no better
example of RTI helping the realisation of SDG objectives of ending poverty,
hunger and discrimination.
Finally, we
hope that the Inter-Ministerial SDG Monitoring and Implementation Committee
will take note of these points and support civil society efforts towards
forging closer collaboration between citizens and public authorities. This will
advance our SDG objectives and make Bangladesh a role model again.
Shamsul Bari
is Chairman, Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB) and Ruhi Naz is Project
Coordinator (RTI section), RIB. Email: rib@citech-bd.com.
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