and
Lalanath de Silva Lea Newfarmer
Director, TAI & PP10 Participa, Chile
World Resources Institute
Background: Relevant International Commitments
1992178 governments sign the Rio
Declaration. Principle 10 mandated appropriate access to information, encouragement of public participation, and effective access to judicial proceedings.
2002 WSSD Plan of Implementation
calls on governments to implement Principle 10.
Principle 10 of the Rio DeclarationEnvironmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level.
At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.
States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available.
Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.
Partnership for Principle 10
• Platform for Principle 10 activities worldwide
• PP10 Partners: governments, NGOs and international organizations committed to Principle 10
• More than 25 Partners and growing
www.pp10.org
History of PP10
Launched at WSSD, 2002
First Meeting of Partners in Lisbon, 2003
Second Meeting of Partners in
Washington DC, 2004
Third Meeting of Partners in London, 2005
PP10 Partners and ObserversGovernments 11Bolivia, Chile, European Commission, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United StatesInternational Organizations 4IUCN, UNDP, UNEP, The World Bank
National NGOs 20CEDHA (Argentina), CEBEM-REDESMA, LIDEMA, PRODENA (Bolivia), CODESOSUR, RIDES, Participa (Chile), ECOLEX, Coalicion Acceso, CEDA (Ecuador), EMLA (Hungary), ICEL (Indonesia), IA-Mex (Mexico), OIKOS, INDE (Portugal), EJNF (South Africa), TEI (Thailand), Capacity Global, FIELD (UK), ACODE (Uganda), WRI (USA)
PP10 Strategy
• Develop strategies to implement Principle 10 at the national level
• Exchange information, share best practice & produce collective outputs
• Serve as a mechanism for monitoring and self-evaluation
• Mobilize financial resources for Principle 10 implementation
• Promote recognition & implementation of Principle 10 in international agreements, processes & initiatives
PP10 Commitments
Shared Commitments
Action-Oriented Specific Commitments
PP10 – Collective Products
• Tracking progress of commitments and on the web
• Collections of court decisions on access and decisions of national bodies set up to review national compliance
• Maintaining a Panel of Experts that partners can use when they need assistance
The Access Initiative – Assessing implementation of Principle 10 and
working for access rights
A global civil society coalition promoting access to information, participation, and justice in national decision-making that affects the environment.
6 organizations jointly lead The Access Initiative
www.accessinitiative.org and www.iniciativadeacceso.org
The Access Initiative’s strategy is to…• Develop and
continuously refine an indicator-based tool to assess government performance
• Support civil society teams in an increasing number of countries to conduct assessments
• Utilize the results of assessments to urge governments to act on assessment results
What does TAI attempt to assess?
Access to information Public participation Access to justice Capacity building
Both law and practice related to:
Global Growth of TAI Network
Access Enhancing Action: Chile and Uganda
Chile– TAI assessments in 2001 and 2004– PP10 commitments (government and
civil society members)– Increasing government-CSO
collaboration and change
Uganda– TAI assessments– PP10 commitments – FOIA Passed by Parliament
TAI and PP10 in ChilePARTICIPA and TAI
2000: Member of the Core Team, worked with WRI, ACODE,TEI and EMLA and contributed to the development of the TAI methodology
2001: Pilot national assessment in Chile (PARTICIPA, RIDES, and TERRAM)
2004-5: National assessment with new coalition members and an Advisory Committee that included CONAMA and CEPAL, among others.
TAI and PP10 in Chile
The usefulness of being a part of TAI:•Credible assessment of the status of access rights in Chile based on a
common, international methodology
• Results identify specific issues that need to be improved and highlighted the gaps between the legal framework governing access rights and the practice
• Encourages a coalition-based approach
• Provides new opportunities to compare the ways that Principle 10 is being implemented, at the regional and international level (ex. Chile- Mexico seminar
at CEPAL in 2002, 10 TAI countries in Latin America)
•Repeat assessments offer concrete measures of progress at the national level
Basis for discussion and collaboration with the government.
TAI and PP10 in ChilePartnership for Principle 10
(2002)Three government agencies and two NGOs in Chile announce join PP10 during the World Summit for Sustainable Development(General Secretary of the President, Ministry of International Relations, National Commission for the Environment (CONAMA), PARTICIPA and RIDES)
Examples of joint PP10 Chile Commitments:
PARTICIPA and RIDES will support and help CONAMA design and create information and participation system for Toxic Release Emission Inventory (TREI)
PARTICIPA and RIDES will work with CONAMA to publish a writtenguide for public officials and hold a series of training workshops
PP10 provides an important platform for work at the national level; mutual support and collaboration between civil society and government representatives.
PP10 in Chile2003-2004: Fullfilling commitments through joint work on specific activities
2005: Project from the Foreign Commonwealth:Access to information workshops in regions, information materials, work with public services
New partner: CODESOSUR-SINERGIAS
2006: Project from FCO: Access to information workshops, environmental info regional maps, work with public services, Declaration of Best Practices
New partner: Division of Social Organizations
Benefits of PP10
• Platform for civil government and civil society collaboration
• Commitments keep the access rights on the agenda: both for individual organizations and also for the
coalition as a whole
• Builds capacity and strengthens activities of both govt and civil society
•Emphasis on measurability and timelines keep the partnership focused on action, activities, and outcomes
• Global partnership offers possibilities of funding, creates incentives for fullfilling commitments
•Opens the door to new partners in the region and in the world
TAI and PP10 in Uganda
““Effective governance based on Effective governance based on transparent decision-making and transparent decision-making and public access to government decisions public access to government decisions is the foundation for fair, legitimate, is the foundation for fair, legitimate, sustainable economic and sustainable economic and development choices.”development choices.”
- Godber Tumushabe, ACODE - Godber Tumushabe, ACODE
TAI and PP10 in UgandaIndependent assessments•Pilot test national assessment in Uganda (2002)•Second national assessment in Uganda (under review)
Results of process•Government agencies requested NGO help in drafting legislation•Government and ACODE (NGO) work together to submit commitments to the Partnership for Principle 10
TAI and PP10 in Uganda
TAI Assessment noted highlighted lack of Freedom of Information Act
Government commitments to PP10 included a commitment to table new Freedom of Information Legislation
Parliament passed FOIA legislation in 2005
Collaboration:Freedom of Information Act
Looking Forward…
• TAI Global Meeting follow up
• PP10 3rd CoW follow up
• TAI Version 2.0
• Expected expansion
For more information…• www.accessinitiative.org
• www.pp10.org
TAI / PP10 Secretariatc/o World Resources Institute10 G St, NE, Suite 800Washington, DC 20002
What are the DifferencesBetween TAI & PP10?
PP10
Coalitions of NGOs Assessment of
progress in implementing Principle 10
Partnership of governments, civil society, and international organizations
Implementation of Principle 10
TAI
Shared Commitments
Encourage credible and independent assessments
Collaborate to improve policies and practice
Develop and be accountable for specific commitments
All partners commit to
Specific Commitments
Improve their own institutional performance
Contribute to the improvement of performance by other partners
Contribute to the collective work of PP10
Each partner commits to
activities and initiatives
that
Examples of SpecificCommitments
National-level NGO
Government Agency
DonorAgency
Produce manuals for the public
Conduct repeat assessments
Develop a new public information system
Train staff about public participation
Support implementation in specific countries
Provide funding for the Partnership
PP10 Strategy Coordinate peer review and tracking of commitments
Mobilize financial resources for assessments and follow-up
Facilitate collaboration and learning across countries
Support expansion and outreach
All designed to support national-level collaboration
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