Information Disclosure Policy: A Toolkit for Pacific Governments (July 2006)
### GETTING STARTED IN PRACTICE The Model IDP recognises that Pacific countries often have to work with very scarce resources. However, by streamlining current information activities and developing innovative strategies to maximise existing resources, better information disclosure can be achieved. The benefits of information disclosure - economically, politically and socially - far outweigh the initial investment of time and resources needed to bed down new systems and inculcate a new culture of openness. To move forward with this work in a practical, organised way, the following activities could be pursued: Nationally Task the Attorney General or responsible Ministry with taking a lead on developing a National Information Disclosure Policy and developing necessary background papers to take the issue to Cabinet; Get Cabinet endorsement for the development of a National IDP; Bring together key stakeholders – from civil society, the media, government, regionally – to develop a Plan of Action for progressing the development of a National IDP; Develop a draft National IDP and open it for public comment – translated into local languages – for at least 3 months, as well as tabling the draft in Parliament and consider referring it to a parliamentary committee for consideration and comments; Revise the draft National IDP taking into account public and parliamentary comments, and then circulate it for final comments; Submit the final National IDP to Cabinet for approval and get Cabinet agreement for an appropriate budget for implementation; Establish an IDP Implementation Unit to develop a Plan of Action for implementation, including developing implementation materials for departments to use, systems to assist with implementing proactive disclosure and processing requests, training modules, public awareness materials, and monitoring and reporting systems; Regionally Prioritise the finalisation of the Forum Secretariat’s IDP; Include promoting information disclosure on the agenda of the next Pacific Leaders Meeting or Law Ministers Meeting, to encourage discussion of regional approaches to implementation – to maximise scarce resources – and to get Leaders to make a statement prioritising information disclosure and tasking the Forum Secretariat with follow up; Set up a Regional Information Disclosure Group, which would include officials from throughout the region who are responsible for implementing information disclosure domestically and regional and international experts on information disclosure, to share best practice and lessons learned; Support regional training initiatives, for leaders, officials and civil society groups; By Donors Promote more information disclosure by donors themselves; Incorporate information disclosure as a priority in existing development assistance programmes/projects/activities; Support civil society and the media to engage with the development of National IDPs.
Commissioned by the Pacific Media and Communications Facility, an Australian Government, AusAID initiative managed by MDI International in association with MC Media & Associates