CABEI holds forum on access to information in Latin America - Cultural change, benefits, and effectiveness
The specialists shared experiences and reflections on trends in this area in multilateralism.
Tegucigalpa, November 12th, 2020.- In the midst of the pandemic and now with the passage of Hurricane Eta through the Central American region, it is a priority to build spaces of reflection on the challenges towards more transparent institutions, which is why the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), presented the webinar: "Access to Information in Latin America - Cultural Change, Benefits, and Effectiveness".
In opening the virtual forum, CABEI's Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi, noted that it is essential to build capacities so that institutions are more effective with effective communication channels that encourage citizen participation and ensure access and exercise.
He highlighted that the topics scheduled for this exercise cover the general aspects of access to information, in order to learn about its evolution in Latin America, the advances that have been developed and how its use has become a tool to strengthen citizen participation, transparency, governance and accountability.
The forum was attended by experts: Jaqueline Peschard, former Commissioner President of the Federal Institute of Access to Public Information who commented that: "we must adopt practices that guarantee accessibility to information as a fundamental right."
For his part, Marcelo Drago, former President of the Transparency Council, stated that: "an example of transparency in Chile is the Lobby Law platform, a great advance to provide public activity with tools that make its exercise more transparent”.
Maximiliano Alonso, CABEI's Director for Argentina and Colombia, in his closing words gave his vision on the current situation and good practices on this matter.
It should be recalled that CABEI announced its Declaration on Access to Information, approved by the Board of Governors in 2019. With this action, it adopts and implements mechanisms of accountability, particularly with regard to transparency and access to information.
