BY JANE MUNGABWA –
“There is a need for creating an environment to facilitate the implementation of an Access to information law prior to its implementation”, these were the sentiments of ICT minister Stanley Simataa, during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the ACTION Namibia Coalition. The Minister praised ACTION Namibia’s proactivity with awareness raising before an ATI law is passed.
The Chairperson of the ACTION Namibia Coalition, Frederico Links, expressed similar sentiments to the minister with regard to collaboration to raise ATI awareness and said that “Knowing that there’s an open door is something that we have always wanted and that we continue to request as part of our message of policy-making being a multistakeholder process in a democratic society”.
The ACTION Namibia Coalition shared with the minister the status of the ACTION NOW project, which is funded by the Embassy of Finland. The project will include a series of activities across the country to sensitise law-makers and ordinary citizens alike, about the importance and fundamentals of an Access to Information Law. Sensitisation efforts will include mini-workshops with local authorities, youth groups, women’s groups and a number of civil society organisations.
A wide range of Access to Information (ATI) related policies were discussed at the meeting which included, the draft Access to Information Bill, the status of the Electronic Transactions and Cybercrime Bill and the broadband policy. ACTION has been actively consulting on ATI related policies and intends to continue works closely with the line ministry to ensure that effective information policies are drafted and implemented.
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