Freedom of Information (FOI) & Women's Rights in Africa

Download PDF

---

Based on the interviews conducted and data collected in five African countries namely; Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia very few women organisation have engaged in lobbying for the Freedom of Information Bill. In Cameroon there is no women's Organisation that has ever lobbied for the FOI. Except for a community radio station that has in a way tried to provide information to women, though not directly linked to the FOI. The main activities and programmes

for many women organisations in Cameroon are concentrated on other thematic sectors that also contribute to improving the wellbeing through promoting women's rights, provision of vital information on health, education, including poverty alleviation. Even though the FOI law is basically not a major concern for women's organisations in Cameroon, all the respondents feel that, if adopted, such a law will definitely bring positive changes in the lives of Cameroonian women. In Ghana Coalition of organisations and individuals working towards the passage of the FOI in Ghana is called the Right To Information (RTI) Campaign Coalition. This coalition was established in 2003. Data gathered in Ghana revealed that most organisations interviewed were not members or involved in the FOI process because of other work loads they had and themes they were working on. They saw working with the RTI on the FOI as an additional work which would be too much workload for them to carry. Some women's rights organisations felt the networks and coalitions who

often represent the women's movement should be the ones working on the FOI so as to present the common front for women in Ghana.

---

Detail Information

Publication Information

: ., 2009

Number of Pages

-

ISBN

-

Language

English

ISSN

-

Subject(s)

Poverty
Women
organisations
coalition
Changes
workload

Description

-

Citation

-

Other Information

Type

Article

Part Of Series

-

DOI Identifier

-

Related Publications

Comments

Leave Your Comments on this Publication

---