Slight Improvement in Access to Official Information During the 3rd Quarter

The government, several ministries, certain district councils, and the General Prosecutor’s Office undertook concrete actions to improve access to public information in response to the second quarterly assessment by the “Acces-info” Centre.  The 14-member experts group established under the Strengthening Civil Society Monitoring Capacity in Moldova Program and managed by the United States Agency for International Development. One positive step in the third quarter was the active government participation in events marking “Right to Know Days” on 22-28 September.  Analysts noted that several public institutions at the central, district, and local levels were involved in the yearly conference “Access to Information: Legislation, Reality, Prospects.”.  In a second positive step, Parliament revived the draft law on transparency in the decision-making process and placed it on the agenda for debate this month.   However, the third quarter assessment is far from completely positive.  Acces-Info’s expert group identified several major issues, the greatest of which is the lack of a single clear mechanism for communicating with the public.  A single mechanism could pass information to the public objectively and efficiently, as well as establish a dialogue between state institutions and citizens, so that citizens can be involved in the decision-making process.  Other challenges include: • Insufficient information on state websites • Frequent refusals to supply public information, even when requested by journalists • Court decisions on access to information are not always fully implemented • Decentralized institutions and rayonal police stations mistakenly believing they have no obligation to supply information • Insufficient public awareness campaigns by government and NGOs regarding human rights, including the right to information, leading to passivity among citizens. On a scale of 0 to 5, the expert group scored the level of access to official information in Moldova during the third quarter of 2008 at 2.36.  This shows slight improvement over the second quarter assessment of 2.12, and the first quarter assessment of 2.09.   For additional information, please contact the Acces-info Centre at tel.: (37322) 28-13-94, or Vasile Spinei, Project Director at e-mail: accesinfo1@yahoo.com. #### The Strengthening Civil Society Monitoring Capacity in Moldova (SCSMCM) Program is financed by the US Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation and managed by the United States Agency for Development (USAID).  SCSMCM is implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), with technical support from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX).   With funding from the United States Government, USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries to provide a better future for all.