By Toby McIntosh
Less than half of United Nations agencies have access to information policies, according to a survey by Eye on Global Transparency.
Setting a poor example, the UN Secretariat still lacks an access to information policy.
Of 27 UN bodies surveyed, 13 have access policies.
So 14 UN agencies lack access policies.
EYE’s summary chart contains links to the policies and provides information on where to send requests. (EYE 2023 Survey on Access Policies)
Two UN institutions created access policies in 2021. One was the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The other was the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Ironically, UNIDO’s policy was not to be found on the agency’s website. But after an inquiry from EYE, a copy of the “Information Disclosure Policy” was provided. (DGB-2021-17_UNIDO_Information_Disclosure_Policy.)
UN Women is developing a policy, according to a spokesperson.
Otherwise, the UN bodies without access policies show no signs of planning to create one, including at the Secretariat level.
For agencies with policies, EYE was been able to locate nine e-mail address dedicated to receiving requests. However, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNIDO don’t provide any single place to make requests, making requests harder to do. And other agencies suggest the general “contact” address. (UN Access Policies 2023 EYE Survey)
Access policies establish the procedures for requesting information and the standards for what will and won’t be provided.
An abbreviated version of this article appeared July 17 on Inter Press Service.
Follow EYE on Twitter @tobyjmcintosh. For sure notification of new postings sign up here in the right column. Or follow Eye on Global Transparency via LinkedIn.
Despite Hint, No Action by the UN Secretariat
In 2018, there was a hint of a possible pro-transparency move at the UN Secretariat, but nothing developed.
The top UN communications official at the time, Alison Smale, told EYE that the Secretariat would like to create a “rigorous” access to information policy. She said work was underway to resolve an internal debate about which department should be the custodian of UN records. (See EYE article.)
However, a year later, the Secretariat said in a statement that it had no plans to create an access policy. (See EYE article.) Smale is no longer at the UN, and did not reply to a request for comment. The UN press office also was contacted, but did not respond.
Lack of UN Access Policies Called `Intolerable’
Access to information is considered an integral part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression, as recognized in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It states that the right of freedom of expression encompasses the freedom “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The fact that the UN Secretariat and other UN bodies don’t apply this standard to themselves prompted a rebuke from a UN Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights in a 2017 report.
“The United Nations does not have an access-to-information policy that applies to every department and specialized agency; it does not even have ad hoc standards to provide a response to access-to-information requests,” the report said, continuing, “For the central global political institution, one that serves the public interest across a range of subject matters, this is intolerable.”
UN agencies were encouraged to create access policies in a 2018 UN Human Rights Council resolution that “[U]rges States and strongly encourages international and regional organizations to adopt and implement robust policies on access to information, in compliance with relevant international law.”
A 2020 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) overstated the number of UN entities with access policies and excused the gaps as caused by “capacity constraints.” (See EYE article.) Still, the report generally supported the adoption of access policies by UN agencies.
It stated (paragraph 62) that “[I]n relation to intergovernmental processes and bodies, States and international and regional organizations, in particular the United Nations, should: … [P]ut in place publicly available policies that spell out clear, impartial and non-discriminatory rules for civil society participation in programmatic processes and access to information, based on international human rights law ….”
Getting information from agencies without policies can be problematical, as a nongovernmental organization in Nigeria learned when it asked International Organization for Migration (IMO) about a program to help returning migrants. (See EYE article.)
Outside pressure for more transparency at UN agencies is minimal. But the situation does prompt periodic criticisms.
Earlier this year, veteran UN journalist Thalif Deen, writing for Inter Press Service, called the UN “one of most opaque institutions, where transparency is never the norm.”
UNESCO Urged to Do More at UN Level
The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the UN’s designated advocate for transparency, supporting creation of access laws at the national level. But UNESCO but does not encourage UN agencies to adopt access policies, despite calls for it to do so.
UNESCO was urged to move in this direction by The Right to Know declaration 2021, signed by many nongovernmental organizations. One recommendation is for UNESCO “to increase transparency of inter-governmental organisations by fostering and supporting initiatives to develop rules for accessing information from international and inter-governmental organisations.”
All international agencies were urged “[T]o recognise that the fundamental right of access to information should apply to all public authorities, including to international and inter-governmental organisations, and so to adopt rules and regulations that deliver strong proactive publication and provide a right to request and receive information that they hold, with only limited exceptions, in line with international standards.”
UNESCO member states were advised “[T]o advocate and support efforts to bring greater access to information to international and regional intergovernmental organizations.” And civil society organizations were asked in the declaration “[T]o support transparency at all levels of governance, in particular by supporting the adoption of rules on access to information from international and inter-governmental organisations.”
Similarly, The Tashkent Declaration on Universal Access to Information, adopted by participants at a UNESCO-sponsored International Day for Universal Access to Information meeting held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in September of 2022, called on UNESCO and other intergovernmental bodies to take a variety of actions, including:
- To recognise that the right of access to information should apply to all public authorities, including inter-governmental and international organisations
- To adopt and implement their own access to information policies based on best practices that both deliver strong proactive publication of information and establish a right to request and receive the information that they hold, with only limited internationally accepted exceptions
There has been no indications that UNESCO is taking a leadership role on access policies at UN agencies. Rather, its focus is on national laws. National adoption and implementation of access laws is one of the UN‘s Sustainable Development Goals, and UNESCO is the UN agency monitoring progress on that goal, 16.10.2. There are now 135 national governments with access policies, also known as freedom of information (FOI) or right to information (RTI) policies.
UNESCO Amended Own Access Policy in Secret
Setting a less-than-stellar example itself, UNESCO recently amended its own access to information policy without announcing its intentions or inviting public comment. (See EYE article.)
Nor did UNESCO follow some of its own substantive advice on national access policies. UNESCO strongly encourages national governments to create independent oversight bodies that also handle appeals when requests for information are denied. But when UNESCO amended its policy it did not take the opportunity to create an external review panel to handle appeals.
Independent appeals panels are uncommon at UN agencies. Most, like UNESCO, handle appeals with internal review panels. By contrast, the existence of independent appeals panel is more frequent at international financial institutions (IFIs), almost all of which have access polices. (See list in EYE 2023 story on IFI access policies.)
(EYE has a pending appeal with the UN Environment Programme. The appeal was submitted on March 8, four months ago. UNEP has not met its goal of issuing decisions within 60 working days.)
UNIDO Discloses Nonpublic Access Policy
The UNIDO website doesn’t indicate the presence of an access policies, but EYE contacted the Ethics Office, to check whether one existed.
UNIDO replied affirmatively: “UNIDO indeed has an Information Disclosure Policy promulgated on 17 December 2021 and which is not available to the public at large at the moment. We are currently verifying whether we can share the said policy with you. We will get back to you on the matter.”
A week later the one-and-a-half year old policy was sent to EYE. (DGB-2021-17_UNIDO_Information_Disclosure_Policy.)
The UNIDO policy, like most other access polices, begins with strong commitments to openness (“maximum access”) and then moves on to “limited” exemptions.
While most of the language in UNIDO’s policy is familiar, several elements are unusual.
After saying (Paragraph 14) that UNIDO may disclose certain information which is not otherwise publicly available the policy continues: “Limitations may apply with regard to the types of requestors to whom such information will be disclosed.”
This stands out because access policies typically do not restrict who may apply, although some national policies forbid applications from non-citizens. The UNIDO policy doesn’t elaborate on the restriction.
Also rare is a UNIDO requirement that requesters must pay in advance to cover the estimated cost of handling their request.
“The fee will be based on the estimated costs of retrieving and supplying the information requested, which will be communicated to the requestor and must be paid in advance,” the policy states (Paragraph 24). It continues: “UNIDO will refund the fee if the information requested is not provided. UNIDO reserves the right to charge an additional fee in complex cases.”
Two annexes to the UNIDO policy describe material that will be made public and what will be confidential. Many of the exemptions to disclosure are standard, such for the protection of personnel information. Other clauses are common for international organizations, such as confidential treatment for documents submitted by governments and third parties.
Also off-limits, according to the policy, are “[R]ecords of internal meetings and of meetings with third parties;” and “[I]nternal policies, guidelines, and standard operating procedures classified as confidential or restricted.”
The seven “deliberative process” exemptions in Annex II are broadly drafted and protective, although at one point, the policy says that disclosure is prohibited “if disclosure may undermine the decision-making process,” a point which requesters might debate.
In a final proviso, UNIDO states: “Disclaimer: This list is not exhaustive. Other types of information may be added to or removed from the category of confidential information.”
The other body to adopt an access policy in 2021 was the International Maritime Organization. (See EYE article.) The parallel UN agency that handles aviation matters, the International Civil Aviation Organization, does not have an access to information policy.
EYE 2020 Survey on Other Elements of UN Transparency
In a 2020 article, EYE reported on a variety of other elements of transparency at UN agencies. Among other things, it found that about half of UN agencies hold closed meetings of their key decision-making bodies.
On the other hand, virtually all UN agencies performed positively on “proactive disclosure,” revealing agendas and documents in advance of meetings and issuing minutes and documents after meetings.
In 2018 survey, EYE reported that of 34 UN agencies examined, 14 had access policies.
While there is no official model for access policies at international governmental organizations, a Transparency Charter for International Financial Institutions spells out guiding principles in greater details. It was created by the Global Transparency Initiative (2005-2013), a consortium of nongovernmental organizations that effectively pushed international financial institutions toward greater transparency. The Charter lays out basic standards for proactive and reactive disclosure of information and was used to create comments on proposed policies at IFIs, including a model policy for the World Bank.
Follow EYE on Twitter @tobyjmcintosh. For sure notification of new postings sign up here in the right column. Or follow Eye on Global Transparency via LinkedIn.
