Informed citizens can take advantage of opportunities, access services, negotiate better deals for themselves vis à vis government and the private sector, exercise their rights, and hold state and nonstate actors accountable. Disclosure of information about performance of institutions promotes transparency in government, public services, and the private sector. Rules on information disclosure must be institutionalized with the help of laws concerning rights to information and a free press. Dissemination of this and other information in a timely manner, presented in forms that are appropriate and easily understood, provides the basis for the emergence of informed civic participation.
Many investment and institutional reform projects underestimate and underinvest in information disclosure and dissemination; yet important and innovative efforts are taking place in this field. This note highlights initiatives in the following areas:
- The Freedom of Information Act in Romania;
- The Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating in Indonesia;
- The public performance audit in Manila's Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System;
- Information disclosure and dissemination practices in the Kecamatan Development Program in Indonesia;
- Private sector information disclosure: the case of Nike in Vietnam.
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