On the International Day for the Universal Access to Information:

Ramallah- 09/29/2021. On the twenty-eighth of September of each year the world celebrates the International Day for the Universal Access to Information. Given the importance of this right and its close linkages to freedom of access to information, and therefore the validity and accuracy of access and transmission of information, the celebration of this day comes within the framework of international efforts aimed at promoting openness and transparency, which enables citizens to Obtaining information related to public affairs, in order to reduce widespread rumors due to the absence of information and facts.

Based on MADA Center’s belief of the importance of this right, it has worked to strengthen it in Palestine through the Center’s tireless work in defending freedom of media and expression, by demanding the adoption of the right to information law, considering access to information is one of the human rights, which still absent from Legislation or a legal framework that protects, allows and regulates this right in Palestine.

The whole world, including Palestine, celebrates this day in devotion to the right to Access to Information, to recall the importance of the right to information for the media and for the Palestinian people as a whole, which is one of the pillars of enhancing accountability and transparency, strengthening legitimacy and combating corruption.

The number of countries that passed right to information laws is more than one hundred countries, the first of which was the Kingdom of Sweden in 1766. And now it’s the time for the Palestinian people to join those countries, as they who seek freedom, independence, and to build their state, need such a law, perhaps more than other countries, given the complexities of their political situation, especially in the absence of the Legislative Council since the last elections in 2006, and In the lack of any positive signs to end the division that has left its bad effects on the Palestinian people and their just cause.

On this day, MADA Center calls for completing the effort to adopt the right to information law, which has gone a long way towards its approval, as MADA had a leading role in completing the draft of this law, which was discussed extensively with journalists, civil society institutions and government institutions. MADA Center calls for the speedy adoption of the law, which will enable the citizen to participate effectively in public life, enhance integrity, combat corruption, and help the government willing to reform and open up to the people.

In this regard, MADA Center will continue its efforts to create a sound legal environment for the freedom of work of the Palestinian media, which is in dire need of providing all appropriate conditions to enable it to perform its duties, and to enable media professionals and media institutions to work in a sound media and legal environment.