4 October 2011, Ottawa – The largest global monitoring of the right of access to information in practice, the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign has found widespread violations of the right to information with only 1 in 4 requests resulting in provision of full information.
480 requests for budget information were submitted in 80 countries by a global network of civil society organisations. No information at all was provided in response to over half of the requests and 38% of the requests elicited no response from the government body to which the request was sent (mute refusals).
The poor results come in spite of the fact that requesters made multiple resubmissions of the six questions, totalling 1061 formal requests made in the 80 countries, accompanied in many cases by phone calls, additional letters, faxes, and e-mails, and in some countries personal visits to the relevant public authorities.
As they presented the findings of the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign in Ottawa during at the 7th International Conference of Information Commissioners, human rights organisations Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy called on governments to improve respect for the right to information in practice. Country Ranking Chart by Results: 
Full Report for the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign: Detailed Results Chart by Country: The monitoring survey, organised in collaboration with the International Budget Partnership, involved sending government bodies in the 80 countries the same six questions about public spending in areas of environmental protection, promotion of maternal health, and overseas development assistance. Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, commented: «The tremendous advances in terms of recognising the right to information as a fundamental human right at both the international and national levels have yet to be translated into respect in practice for this right. Basic information in key areas such as protection of maternal health and the environment remains inaccessible even in countries where the right to information is constitutionally and/or legally protected.» The Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign survey found a huge range in country performance: only 12 out of 80 countries responded to all 6 questions in a way that complies with right to information standards, for example by answering the requester within 30 calendar days.
» Top performing countries included a number of new democracies and/or countries with young right to information laws, indicating that recent campaigns to promote the right to information have a positive effect on performance.
The top 15 countries were: New Zealand (1st place), Georgia, India, Namibia, Armenia, Colombia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Germany (see attached charts for full details).
» The poorest performers tended to be those with no access to information law and performance improved with the age of the right to information law. The main exception was France, whose law was 32 years old at the time of the monitoring and which gave only one answer to the 6 requests.
The bottom 15 countries which provided no response to five or more questions after repeated submission of the requests were (in descending order): Malaysia, France, Morocco, Uganda, Yemen, Iraq, Nigeria, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, East Timor, Liberia, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela (80th place).
Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy note that the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign is based on a small number of requests and yet it highlights some very worrying patterns. «Simple measures such as improving data management and training of public officials are essential,» commented Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe. «The survey also found that countries were too ready to provide incomplete information or state that information is not held. When it comes to key financial data related to protection of other human rights, public bodies should make an appropriate efforts to extract data from existing documents.» In the context of many governments signing up to the Open Government Partnership, the findings of the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign should be instructive in helping to identify reform priorities.
Tracking Implementation
Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy recently launched the RTI Rating, a comprehensive assessment of the legal framework in the 89 countries that have adopted right to information laws. The next phase of this work will be to assess implementation in practice. The Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign represents an initial attempt to collect data for such an exercise. On the occasion of the 7th International Conference of Information Commissioners it is opportune to note the important role that Information Commissioners could play in ensuring much more comprehensive data collection on respect for the right to information at the national level, including by scientific tracking of requests and how they have been dealt with.
Project Background Material
The project commenced in February 2010 at a meeting of the project partners held in Washington DC, USA, where the protocol and questions were finalised. The 80 national partner organisations began filing requests during March and April 2010, in line with the protocol developed under this project. The actual requests submitted were adjusted according to whether the country had an access to information law or not; requesters were instructed not to tell public bodies that this was part of an international monitoring exercise. The protocol Model information requests
The Questions:
In order to define the project the questions to be asked, Access Info Europe, the Centre for Law and Democracy and the International Budget Partnership worked with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the the World Resources Institute, Oxfam USA, Development Initiatives, Publish What You Fund, the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program at Columbia University, Family Care International, and the White Ribbon Alliance.
Maternal Health Questions
Q1. What was the total amount actually spent nationwide during the last two fiscal years on purchasing/procuring each of the following medications: (a) magnesium sulphate for treating eclampsia, and (b) uterotonics for use for treating post partum hemorrhaging? Please specify which uterotonic (such as oxytocin, misoprostol, ergometrine, etc.) was purchased. Please also include amounts spent by sub-national governments, or indicate clearly if you do not have this information. Q2. What was the total amount spent during the last two fiscal years for pre-service training of midwives (or midwife equivalents) and how many midwives graduated from pre-service training?
Aid Effectiveness Questions
For Aid-Recipient Countries Q3. What was the total amount of overseas development assistance received during the last fiscal year from the European Development Fund, the World Bank, and the following three US government agencies: i) the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), ii) the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and iii) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Were you notified and if so, what were the dates (month and year) on which each of these agencies notified you (recipient government) about the assistance? Q 4. What is the total amount of overseas development assistance committed for the next three fiscal years by the European Development Fund, the World Bank, and the following three US government agencies: i) the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), ii) the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and iii) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Were you notified and if so, what are the dates (month and year) on which each of these agencies notified you (recipient government) about the assistance? For Donor Countries Q3. What was the total amount of overseas development assistance actually provided during the last fiscal year (not your fiscal year, but the fiscal years of each of the relevant recipient government) to each of the following governments: Rwanda, Liberia, Ethiopia, Colombia, and Vietnam, and what were the dates (month and year) on which you notified the governments about the assistance? Q4. What is the total amount of overseas development assistance committed during the next three fiscal years (not your fiscal year, but the fiscal years of each of the relevant recipient government) to each of the following governments: Rwanda, Liberia, Ethiopia, Colombia, and Vietnam, and what were the dates (month and year) on which you notified the governments about the assistance?
Environment Questions
Q5. As a share of the national budget, what was the total amount actually spent on all national agencies in charge of environmental protection and conservation during the last two fiscal years? Q6. What was the total amount actually incurred during the past three fiscal years on subsidies for oil, gas and coal production and consumption?