MISA Tanzania and Access to Information stakeholders, under the Coalition of Right to Information (CoRI), on Thursday, September 28 held a national event in Dar es Salaam to commemorate the International Day for Universal Access to Information.
The event took take place at Kisenga Hall at the LAPF International Conference Centre from 8am to 2pm and brought together media and access to information stakeholders from all over the country. About 150 participants including journalists, media organisations and institutions, media houses, legal and human rights organisations, government representatives, local and international NGOs, as well as development partners took part in the event.
Retired principle judge and former Tanzania’s Human Rights Commission and Good Governance Commission Chairman, Hon. Amir R. Manento, was chief guest.
International Right to Know Day is celebrated every year on September 28th, and is aimed at promoting citizen’s access to government and public held information, necessary for participating in the governance process as well as accessing other social economic rights.
It is also used to raise awareness of every individual’s right of access to government held information; the right to know how elected officials are exercising power and how tax-payers’ money is being spent.
Among the activities of the day were public dialogues by key players in the access to information campaigns. Discussions focused on stakeholders’ perspective of the state of Access to Information in Tanzania, the Access to Information Act and challenges to its implementation and the shrinking space for media and civil society organisations in the country.