All Afghans Have Right to Access Information

Monitoring Commission on Access to Information says every Afghan people has the right to have access to information and the government is obliged to seriously implement it.

Access to information means that citizens have the right to get information concerning civil, political, economic, social and cultural matters from the public administration.

The commission has declared that any government institutions that do not provide information to media outlets will be facing a serious reaction of this commission.

Monitoring Commission on Access to Information was formed in the month of June 2015.

“All measures of the commission will be processed according to the law and anyone who does not pay attention to the decisions of the commission will face a serious reaction,” said Sayed Akram Afzali, chairman of Monitoring Commission on Access to Information.

In the meantime, members of this commission call on media outlets to cooperate in promoting the culture of access to information.

“We urge all media outlets to cooperate in promoting the culture of access to information; otherwise achievements would not be remarkable,” said Danish Karokhail, member of Monitoring Commission on Access to Information.

There is, however, still quite some way to go. Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and having a great law on paper does not mean much if it is not implemented in practice.

Implementation of the law is one of the biggest challenges. A joint working force was developed between presidential office and civil society to monitor the implementation of the law.