International Right to Know Day is Sept. 28

The Cayman Islands' Freedom of Information Unit is marking International Right to Know Day on Sept. 28 by launching a Sunshine Week celebration of open government that is based on the U.S. model.

FOI Coordinator Carole Excell told the Cayman Net News, "We will start small this year — with engaging some key groups in learning about the new [Freedom of Information] law and in our plans for implementation which we hope will be expanded each year to include more and more people." Learn more on the Cayman Islands' FOI Web site.

Another week of Sunshine is forecast for Canada, where the Canadian Newspaper Association has just released its third annual National FOI Audit.

To conduct the audit, reporters from 30 newspapers in nine of 10 provinces and The Canadian Press asked first in-person and then through formal, written requests for several different documents. What they found was that, "access to some of the most basic information continues to be unnecessarily difficult in many jurisdictions in Canada."

Around the world, news and access organizations are marking International Right to Know Day on Sept. 28 with reports, seminars and events, and awards lauding openness and condemning unnecessary secrecy.

International Right to Know Day was launched in 2002 at the founding of the Freedom of Information Advocates Network, a worldwide coalition dedicated to facilitating adoption and implementation of FOI laws. More information can be found on the FOIA Net Web site.