Courses, seminars, & workshops
Global: Free online training on Freedom of Information
Fahamu and ARTICLE 19
2007-02-13, Issue 291
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/39743
Printer friendly version
Fahamu, the pan African social justice organization, and the freedom of expression organization ARTICLE 19, have announced the release of a free, online training material on how to campaign effectively for freedom of information.
Fahamu, the pan African social justice organization, and the freedom of expression organization ARTICLE 19, today announced the release of a free, online training material on how to campaign effectively for freedom of information. Combining the freedom of information campaigning expertise of ARTICLE 19 with the extensive distance learning experience of Fahamu, this course outlines why access to information is important, what an access to information law should contain, and how to set about campaigning for one.
The training materials were originally developed as a distance learning course to support the growing movement for freedom of information in African countries.
“We have long wanted to make all our training materials available for free online,” said Fahamu’s director, Dr Firoze Manji, “This is the third course we have launched as a free resource. We are particularly pleased to be able offer this course as part of the OpenCourseWare Consortium (http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html) involving more than a hundred universities and learning institutions worldwide, including MIT, who are making their course materials available free online.” At a time when many countries of Africa are consolidating democratic gains, “we envision the free on-line course as a handy tool for broadening civil action for access to information as a vital resource,” says John Barker, ARTICLE19 Africa Programme Director.
The course materials are made freely available to the public at http://rightstraining.fahamu.org/ocw/learning-for-change/campaigning-for-access-to-information alongside ‘An Introduction to Human Rights’, a course jointly developed by Fahamu and the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford.
Background
ARTICLE 19 is a human rights organisation with a specific mandate and focus on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of information worldwide.
We believe that all people have the right to freedom of expression and access to information, and that the full enjoyment of this right is the most potent force to achieve individual freedoms, strengthen democracy, and pre-empt repression, conflict, war and genocide. For more information contact ARTICLE 19 (www.article19.org).
Fahamu (www.fahamu.org) supports the struggle for human rights and social justice in Africa by: supporting social justice advocacy through the innovative use of information and communication technologies; stimulating debate, discussion and analysis; distributing news and information; developing training materials and running distance-learning courses. Fahamu focuses primarily on Africa, although it also work with others to support the global movement for human rights and social justice.
Fahamu has developed a wide range of distance learning materials for human rights organizations in cooperation with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and others. The course materials have won international prizes including Silicon Valley’s Tech Museum Award for the ‘best of the best technologists whose innovations benefit humanity’.
Fahamu also publishes the prize-winning electronic newsletter ‘Pambazuka News’ (www.pambazuka.org).
The word Fahamu means ‘understanding’ or ‘consciousness’ in Kiswahili.
About the Access to Information course:
The course focuses in particular on the state and status of freedom of information in Africa. While several countries in southern Africa have draft laws to access to information in place, South Africa is the only country in the region that has a proper access to information law. The material illustrates how even when a law or a draft law is in place, it is important to ensure it includes the best provisions, and that the law is implemented properly.
For further information:
Firoze Manji,
Fahamu
51 Cornmarket Street, Oxford OX1 3HA Tel: 01865-727006 www.fahamu.org
info@fahamu.org
http://rightstraining.fahamu.org/