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Germany supports UNESCO work in advancing access to information
An agreement for a three-year contribution for improving access to information was signed in Berlin last week.
Representing Germany鈥檚 agency for economic co-operation and development was Friederike K盲rcher, the head of the section for media, culture, creativity and sport at Bundesministerium f眉r wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ).
From the UNESCO side, the Assistant Director General for Communication and Information, Moez Chakchouk signed the funds-in-trust agreement with BMZ.
To be implemented under the auspices of UNESCO鈥檚 International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), the 750 000 euros grant will especially enable UNESCO to give support to increased access to information in a number of African countries.
In particular, the funding will assist countries to monitor the effectiveness of guarantees to information, as a means towards producing helpful information for guiding practical improvements and ensuring ongoing progress.
This monitoring is based on a specialised indicator, agreed at the UN General Assembly under the Sustainable Development Goals, and it is designed to scientifically assess the state of SDG Target 16.10 on public access to information and fundamental freedoms.
The work to be enabled by the grant aligns directly with .
One of these decisions urges 鈥淢ember States to monitor and report progress on SDG indicator 16.10.2 on access to information, through 2019 Voluntary National Reviews on SDG 16 and/or other processes, as part of their commitments to advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda鈥.
A second decision encourages the IPDC Secretariat, in cooperation with UNESCO鈥檚 Information for All Programme, 鈥渢o develop a mechanism that could involve and support UNESCO Member States in data-collection and reporting on SDG indicator 16.10.2 on access to information鈥.
To this end, UNESCO is now working with stakeholders to develop and test a standard questionnaire that can establish how well a country is implementing guarantees of access to information to the public.
Through a partnership with the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the aim is to obtain credible data to feed UNESCO鈥檚 global reporting on SDG 16.10.2 as well as to strengthen national stakeholder knowledge and action for improvement.
For the project backed by BMZ, the objective is to support a selection of countries, which are interested in developing monitoring on a sustainable and institutionalised basis under the SDG framework.
All activities under the project will be conducted with gender sensitivity, and synergies with the work of Germany鈥檚 Deutsche Welle Akademie will be sought wherever possible.
