[Pal-dc] Access to Information: Central to the Post-2015 Development Agenda

[Fiona Bradley]

Access to information should be central to the post-2015 development agenda.

Access to information is crucial for everyone, including those living in poverty. It empowers them to:
• exercise their political and socio-economic rights
• be economically active
• learn new skills
• hold their governments to account.
Access to information is a prerequisite for development programmes across all sectors and at all levels. To safeguard the success of the post-2015 development agenda, the post-2015 process must focus on ensuring that governments, civil society, communities, and individuals have the right to the essential information needed to solve problems and make better decisions and effective access to that information.

Governments, the private sector, civil society and international institutions should make an international commitment to ensure that everyone has access to, understands, and is able to use and share the information that is necessary to promote sustainable development.

Today, at the 6th meeting of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations in New York, IFLA will host a roundtable discussion with leaders in the field to explore how to integrate access to information into the post-2015 development agenda and the presentation of a joint statement on access to information<http://www.ifla.org/node/8210>.

We will be joined by the following distinguished speakers:
  Raul Zambrano, UNDP Governance Team leader
  Philip Alston, Ex-Chair of the UN Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights
  Paula Martins, Artigo 19 Brazil



The event will be chaired by Stuart Hamilton, Director Policy and Advocacy at IFLA.

You can follow the online discussions by tweeting at @Beyond_Access, @article19org, @devinitorg, @CIVICUSalliance, @IFLA_ALP and using the hashtag #post2015.
The event will take place at 18.15pm - 19.30pm EST (23.15 GMT).

For more information on IFLA's work on Libraries, Access to Information and Development, please visit: http://www.ifla.org/libraries-development


Fiona Bradley
Manager, Member Services and Development
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions



P.O. Box 95312
2509 CH The Hague
Netherlands



Email: fiona.bradley at ifla.org<mailto:fiona.bradley at ifla.org>
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