The Office of the Ombudsman of Solomon Islands (OOSI) is represented by the Ombudsman and his senior Executive Officers at the virtual informative session on the Right To Information (RTI) at the UNDP Office, Solomon Islands.
The RTI informative session is organized by the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC), a United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) join project, and experts from New Zealand, Australia and Vanuatu in collaboration with the Solomon Islands Office of the Prime Minister and other local integrity institutions.
The virtual discussion session on RTI provides opportunity for the exchange of ideas and views on RTI experiences and practices in various jurisdictions within the region and abroad. Participants were provided the opportunity to learn from these various jurisdictions on how RTI works in promoting transparency, accountability and good governance.
In a post-session interview, the Solomon Islands Ombudsman Mr Fred Fakarii highlighted that “RTI is fundamental to democracy, and in the case of Solomon Islands, the success of the roles of integrity institutions depends on RTI in many aspects. While other Act like the Whistlelowers Act 2018 protects whistle blowers, RTI provides for people to have access to accurate information.”
Mr Fakarii adds that “it is pleasing to see the government of the day prioritizing the roles of integrity institutions in its re-direction policy and is hopeful that efforts will be put to ensure the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill gets to parliament for its approval as soon as it is practically possible.”
“At the moment there is a lot of discussion on unreliable information going out to the public and people finds it really hard to get reliable information. The FOI Bill will enable individuals and groups to access to accurate and reliable information,” stated the Ombudsman.
Mr Fakarii further stated that the responsibility to advance the FOI Bill is placed under the OOSI but the manpower (actual personnel) to do the task is still lacking, hence it is incumbent on the government to support the office to carry out this very important task.
“It is very welcoming to see the overwhelming support of the government and its external partners to progress this agenda forward”, Mr Fakarii said.
“UNDP actively supports and welcomes the Government’s effort to transform the public sector by increasing efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, access to information and public services, and citizen participation,” stated Vardon Hoca, Transparency and Accountability for the People of Solomon Islands Project Manager, UNDP.
Right to Information is an important component to the fight against corruption.
The End.