Promote Access to Public Information Act (CI0011)

Current situation or problem/ issue to be addressed/having to be resolved: - Poor knowledge of the Act n° 2013-867 of December 23, 2013 concerning access to Public interest Information. -Poor knowledge of the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP); Main purpose: -Promote the Act n° 2013-867 of December 23, 2013 concerning access to Public interest Information -Inform citizens on the existence of the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP); Brief description of the commitment: - Popularize the Act concerning access to Public interest Information -Get public bodies to make public interest information available -Sensitize on the role of the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP) in access to information process; OGP challenges addressed by the commitment: Increase in public Integrity; Relevance: The right of individuals to access information and documents held by the Administration and the obligation of this administration to disclose them, are principles universally acknowledged deriving from a fundamental right: the right to information. Ambition: All citizens have access to public interest information and may refer to the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP) if difficulties arise;

11. Promote Access to Public Information Act

Commitment Text:

Promote Access to Public information Act n° 2013-867 of December 23, 2013

- Brief description of the commitment

- Popularize the Act concerning access to public interest information;

- Get public bodies to make public interest information available;

- inform citizens on the existence of the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP).

Quantifiable and verifiable stages for implementing his commitment.

11.1. Sensitization on the Act (several ownership seminars on the Act have already been held and others are planned to make the Act known)

Editorial Note: Milestone 11.2 was added to the commitment by the IRM researcher to reflect the brief description and the goals as specified in the national action plan. The milestone aims to increase awareness of the role of the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and to Public Documents in the access to information procedure.

Responsible institution: Ministry for Communication Supporting institution: Ministry for Communication Start date: December 2015

End date: Continuing

Context and Objectives

This commitment seeks to promote Law No. 2013-867, passed on 23 December 2013, regarding access to public-interest information. It also aims to inform citizens of the existence of the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and Public Documents (CAIDP). This commitment reflects the OGP values regarding access to information and public accountability.

According to the director to the deputy head of staff at the Ministry of Communication, Digital Economy, and Post, this commitment is essentially supported by CAIDP.1 As indicated on the CAIDP website, the right to information has a legal basis in various national and international laws.2

A regulatory body, the CAIDP aims to ensure that public bodies respect citizens’ right to access, without discrimination, documents and information of public interest. It is also appraised of litigation regarding access to information of public interest and can intervene in these matters. Finally, as a consultative body, the CAIDP can be approached by anyone with questions regarding access to public- interest information. When the CAIDP is approached, the administration has two weeks to satisfy the request.

The potential impact of this commitment is moderate. That there is a commitment to make the public aware of the law and how they can use it shows that the government is willing to grant a right of scrutiny to the people. The commitment also reflects government interest in public action to promote democracy and good governance. Furthermore, the commitment also seeks to promote the role of the CAIDP among the public, a key element in ensuring government accountability regarding requests for information. As it is drafted, the commitment is vague and does not explain in what manner (online, in person, or via the press) the public will be made aware. It also does not describe the geographical extent of the commitment’s efforts or their duration. Without knowing these factors, it is difficult to assess the potential impact of this commitment. In addition, as civil society representatives pointed out,3 the CAIDP has suffered criticism over its passivity. For example, it does not travel. Consequently, it has no access to citizens outside of Abidjan.

Completion

This commitment is considered complete, although, according to the representative of the civil society platform, much needs to be done to implement it.4 According to the representative, the platform has not been able to assess these milestones because of a lack of specific measures. The IRM researcher notes the efforts made by the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and Public Documents to promote the Access to Public Information Act.

11.1 Awareness of the law: This milestone is completed. According to the director of the deputy head of staff at the Ministry for Communication, Digital Economy, and Post, communication regarding the law was disseminated only in the town of Abidjan. Such communication should have been distributed throughout the country.5 Also according to the director, the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and to Public Documents (CAIDP) faced financial problems.6 In its assessment report, the civil society platform stressed that an awareness program had started in 2015, prior to the implementation period. This was in fact mentioned in the milestone of the commitment as drafted in the action plan. The CAIDP director of operations7 gave the IRM researcher several reports and seminar papers, articles, information on training sessions, and CAIDP explanations regarding the awareness program.8 Notes from workshops held between January 2016 and October 2017 were also provided to the IRM researcher. The government9 noted that 'a collection of legislative and regulatory texts regarding access to information was transmitted electronically to the persons registered on the CAIDP email list. Also transmitted were numerous radio and television programs that the CAIDP released in its promotion of the right of access to information.'

11.2 To make citizens aware of the existence of the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and to Public Documents: This milestone was completed. The Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and to Public Documents (CAIDP) operations director10 provided the IRM researcher with several reports and newspaper articles regarding seminars and training workshops conducted by the CAIDP before, during, and after the implementation period.11 Before the implementation period, these trainings were aimed at journalists,

media professionals, editors, governmental communication networks, and civil society representatives. During the implementation period (28 July and 22 December 2016), the trainings were aimed at 100 local radio stations and information officers. After the period of implementation (July and August 2017), the trainings targeted the National Côte d’Ivoire Blogger Union, information officers, professors, researchers, and professional networks of online press and archivists.

Early results (if any)

It takes citizens 30 to 45 days to receive a document after an access-to-information request. Under the Access to Public Information Act, each public body and private structure of public interest has to designate someone to be in charge of information. This person is responsible for receiving and processing requests from users. The document in question must be of public interest. According to the director of the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and to Public Documents (CAIDP),12 from January 2016 to August 2017, 263 public government bodies received such requests. According to the director, 167 (63.5 percent) of them had designated a person to deal with such requests. Users can send a copy of their request to the CAIDP so that it can, if necessary, intervene with the body in question on their behalf. Such intervention would facilitate the processing of any dispute. It must be pointed out that public documents were released only between September 2016 and September 2017. The CAIDP was solicited 11 times (nine litigious cases and two consultative), according to its director of operations.

However, the CAIDP is situated in Abidjan, so does not cover the whole country, even though the CAIDP can be used electronically.13

Next Steps

Since this commitment satisfies its objectives of facilitating citizen access to information and documents of public interest, the IRM researcher recommends that it be continued in the next action plan. In the next plan, it must have concrete, quantifiable, and verifiable milestones that are addressed during the implementation period. According to the civil society platform, the Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and to Public Documents should not only cover all 31 regions, but also do more to make people aware of the commission and other decentralized agencies so that they can be used when necessary.

1 Ahmed Sako, Adjunct Cabinet Director, Ministère de la Communication, de l’Economie Numérique et de la Poste, interview by IRM researcher, 5 February 2018.

2 'Historique,' Commission d’Accès à l’Information d’Intérêt Public et aux Documents Publics, http://www.caidp.ci/accueil/caidp/historique; Il s’agit de la Constitution Ivoirienne, la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme du 10 décembre 1948, la Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples du 27 juin 1981, le Projet de Loi Type Relatif à l’Accès à l’Information Adopté par la Commission des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples de l’Union Africaine, le 8 Juin 2010.

3 Civil society platform representative, interview by IRM researcher, 2018, followed by phone and email exchanges.

4 Civil society platform representative interview by IRM researcher, 2018, followed by phone and email exchanges.

5 Ahmed Sako, Adjunct Cabinet Director, Ministère de la Communication, de l’Economie Numérique et de la Poste, interview by IRM researcher, 5 February 2018.

6 Ibid.

7 Brice N’Guessan-Balle, Director of Operations, Commission d’Accès à l’Information d’Intérêt Public et aux Documents Publics, phone interview and email exchanges with IRM researcher, 22 and 23 February 2018.

8 See https://bit.ly/2HmhXGG for a copy of these documents.

9 Chantal Angoua, Technical Advisor, Ministry of Industry and Mines, point of contact for the OGP process, comments on the progress report received by the IRM researcher 18 June 2018.

10 Brice N’Guessan-Balle, Director of Operations, Commission d’Accès à l’Information d’Intérêt Public et aux Documents Publics, phone and email exchanges with IRM researcher, 22 and 23 February 2018.

11 See https://bit.ly/2HmhXGG for a copy of these documents.

12 Brice N’Guessan-Balle, Director of Operations, Commission d’Accès à l’Information d’Intérêt Oublic et aux Documents Publics, phone and email exchanges with IRM researcher, 22 and 23 February 2018.

13 Chantal Angoua, Technical Advisor, Ministry of Industry and Mines, point of contact for the OGP process, comments on the progress report received by the IRM researcher 18 June 2018.

Commitment 11: Promote access to Public Information Act n° 2013-867 of December 23, 2013

Brief Description of the commitment:

- Popularize the Act concerning access to Public interest Information

- Get public bodies to make public interest information available

- Sensitize on the role of the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP) in access to information process

Measurable and verifiable steps to achieve the commitment:

11.1. Sensitization on the Act (several ownership seminars on the Act have already been held and others are planned to make the Act known)

Editorial note: The IRM researcher added an additional milestone (11.2 Sensitize on the role of the Commission for Access to Public Interest Information and Public Documents (CAIDP) in access to information process) to reflect the brief description and ambition, as indicated in the National Action Plan.

Responsible Institution(s): Ministry of Communication

Supporting Institution(s): Ministry of Communication

Start Date: December 2015 End Date: Continuous

Action Plan is available here:

Commitment Aim:

This commitment aims to promote Law No. 2013-867 of 23 December 2013 on access to public interest information by informing citizens of the existence of the Commission for

Access to Information of Public Interest and Public Documents (CAIDP). The CAIDP is a regulatory institution that ensures access to public interest information. Its objective is to make sure that public institutions respect citizens’ right to access public interest documents and information.

Status

Midterm: Complete

The government completely implemented this commitment by midterm. The CAIDP had conducted several public seminars and trainings on the law, including sessions for civil society representatives. The CAIDP also organized many radio and TV programs for promoting the law. One recommendation from civil society was that the CAIDP cover all regions with more training for populations. Additionally, as stated in the progress report and according to the civil society representatives, while the trainings were useful, CAIDP staff were unmotivated to conduct trainings for citizens outside Abidjan. ^[59]

According to CSO representatives, awareness efforts started in 2015, prior to the action plan’s implementation. They recommended that the CAIDP should cover all 31 regions, and increase public awareness of the CAIDP is as well as its decentralized structures. ^[60]

For more information, please see the 2016−2018 IRM midterm report. ^[61]

End of term: Complete

The government completely implemented all milestones by midterm.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

This commitment set the stage to raise citizen awareness of the law on access to information, and to encourage its use. It also aimed to increase public awareness regarding the existence of the CAIDP. It marginally changed government practice with respect to access to information. The CAIDP website now provides information such as a fact sheet on “how to access information or documents of public interest” ^[62] and an article on “the typology of documents of public interest to be distributed proactively.” ^[63]

According to a journalist, ^[64] the CAIDP held its first sensitization activities in regions across the country. Nevertheless, he has doubts about the scope of the commitment as the CAIDP administration has no archives or point people responsible for information. Additionally, only journalists and researchers access CAIDP and information; it is not a standard practice for the general public to use the data. ^[65]

Carried Forward?

The commitment was not carried into the new national action plan for 2018−2020.