The Vanuatu Government is taking steps to implement its National Right to Information (RTI) Policy.
The Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) Fred Samuel said over the next five years, more and more Government agencies will begin to regularly publish information about their policies, programmes and activities and will provide ways for the public to be given access to information.
Legislation set to pass Parliament later this year, will provide clear guidance on the kind of information that can be released.
Prime Minister Sato Kilman stated to a packed media conference last week that, “The Vanuatu Government has made a number of commitments in both national and regional forums, over recent years to improve transparency and accountability in government, through development and implementation of a Right to Know or freedom of information regime.”
At the media conference, he reiterated the need for the media and anyone commenting publicly to remember that rights, including the right to freedom of expression, also come with responsibilities.
In preparation of the implementation of the RTI policy by government ministries and departments, the Prime Minister has issued a circular to all heads of Government agencies informing them of the establishment of the RTI Unit and the introduction of RTI.
“The implementation of Right to Information will be carried out in different phases.
The first phase will involve a small number of public entities. The process of identifying these public entities will be carried out by the RTI Unit using Readiness Assessment tools. Other public and private bodies not included in the first phase will implement Right to Information when they have mechanisms in place and are ready to do so,” the Prime Minister stated in the Circular.
The recent establishment of the Right to Information Unit within the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer is a major milestone in implementation of RTI in Vanuatu.
“The RTI Unit is the key to RTI implementation in Government and will make use of the great achievements in ICT that have been made and continue to be made in Vanuatu, said Samuel.”
The GCIO will be accompanying the Prime Minister when he travels to United Nations Headquarters in New York next month to accept the 2015 Award for ICTs in Sustainable Development.
The RTI Unit is leading whole of government implementation of Right to Information. Oversight of the work of the Unit and RTI implementation occurs through the RTI Steering Committee, chaired by the Office of the Prime Minister and including members of Government agencies, civil society and the media. The RTI Unit will assist Government agencies to better manage records, publish information routinely and deal with information requests from media and the public.
The RTI Policy was developed by the Right to Information Steering Committee with the assistance of the United Nations Development program (UNDP) and was approved by the Council of Ministers in August 2013.
“The policy commits the government to implement a range of improvements across the public sector including the development of records management policies, processes and practices and the development of a robust information access system. These include both the proactive publication of information as well as mechanism to facilitate information when requests are made by members of the public” said the Prime Minister.