Freedom of Information (FOI) or right to information is defined as the universal right to access information held by public bodies.

FOI laws reflect the fundamental premise that all information held by governments and governmental institutions is in principle public and may only be withheld if there are legitimate reasons, such as privacy or security, for not disclosing it.

Over the past 10 years, the right to FOI has been recognized by an increasing number of countries, including developing ones, through the adoption of a wave of right to information laws. In 1990 only 13 countries had adopted national right to information laws, whereas there are currently more than 70 such laws adopted across the world with a further 20-30 of them under consideration in other countries.

Freedom of information: a comparative legal survey

UNESCO publication by Toby Mendel: Second edition revised and updated The importance of the right to information is an increasingly constant refrain in the mouths of development practitioners, civil society, academics, the media and governments. What is this right, is it really a right and how have governments sought to give effect to it? >> More

Freedom of information and sustainable development

Experts meeting: UNESCO Headquarters, 17-18 March 2008 The meeting brings together a panel of approximately 30 experts from all regions to debate issues related to the right to access to information held by public bodies and its impact on sustainable development worldwide. >> More

25-05-2011 (Paris) 

Freedom of Connection, Freedom of Expression: UNESCO launches new publication

17-05-2011 (Geneva) 

UNESCO hosts High Level Debate on Right to Communication at WSIS Forum 2011

22-12-2010 (Beirut) 

Iraqi representatives attend conference on right to information in Beirut

10-12-2010 (Rabat) 

Right to Access Information: The Way forward in Morocco