Ramallah – 15 December 2011: The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) and the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) held a workshop for journalists on the right of access to information at the Palace Hotel in the city of Nablus, on Wednesday 14 December 2011

The workshop began with the project coordinator Alaa Mataria discussing MADA’s work, mission and goals. The Deputy Director of the Geneva Centre in Ramallah Nicolas Mason then talked about the Geneva Cente, its activities and the concept of a holistic and broad of security sector

Legal expert Bilal Barghouti facilitated the workshop and discussed a number of issues such as the concept the right of access to information, local legislation ensuring this right - particularly Palestinian draft law - in addition to other topics.

The Project’s Coordinator at the Geneva Centre, Fatima Ettawi, made a presentation about international standards and best practices regarding the right of access to information and the most important international initiatives in this area.

The workshop concluded with attending journalists speaking about their experiences in accessing information and discussed the potential problems they face in their quest for information and debated the ways in which to overcome these obstacles. 

This workshop comes as part of a series of workshops to be conducted by the two centers in a joint project on the right to access to information, which aims to discuss Palestinian draft law, compile the experiences of journalists and present a series of recommendations to decision makers in this field.