{"id":29541,"date":"2019-09-27T19:16:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T19:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?p=29541"},"modified":"2025-12-06T06:14:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T06:14:26","slug":"equal-access-to-information-for-all-once-and-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/equal-access-to-information-for-all-once-and-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Equal access to information for all – once and for all"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the 28 September, the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), Humanium reflects on the importance of being informed, and renews its hope for the realisation of equity in access to information and education for each and every citizen of the planet.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes access to information so important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Information\nis a pivotal aspect of life. It is interlaced into all knowledge, understanding\nand decisions that we undertake throughout our time on earth. Our identities,\nopinions, occupations, relationships, realities and more, are constructed\naround a scaffolding of the information we accumulate throughout our lives and\nthe manner in which it is understood. This plays into a ream of factors which\ninfluence inequalities and barriers<\/strong> in our societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access to\ninformation therefore, is of monumental importance. Access to information can\ndon many forms, including that of education and schooling, of healthcare and of\naccess to a free and diverse press. Our ability to inform ourselves – about\nourselves – and about the world we live in is something crucial which, at\nHumanium, we respect with all sincerity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npromotion of a fair, equal and quality access to information<\/strong> for people\nfacing the greatest barriers and factors of vulnerability is thus an essential\nstepping-stone on the path to a better future<\/strong>. There is much work to be\ndone towards this for each and every one of us, and at Humanium we continue our\nproject work to\nimprove access to education for disadvantaged at risk\nchildren living in Madhya Pradesh, India<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some primary challenges to information access?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Challenges\nimpeding countless people\u2019s access to information and the services that\ndisseminate this, include continued implementation of censorship of the\npress<\/strong>, reading materials in libraries and online, and censorship of social\nmedia and websites. Furthermore, limited access to public services,<\/strong> or\nlimited provision of said services and their respective level of quality\nprevents many people from acquiring information regarding their health, safety,\neducation, employment, rights and opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lack of\ninstitutional and political transparency<\/strong> is another barrier which,\ntogether, we can work to break down and overcome. Freedom of Information Laws\nand accountability regulations are measures thus increasingly being adopted by\ncountries across the globe under democratic pressure <\/strong>with the view to\nimprove information access (Freedom Info, 2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is Humanium celebrating IDUAI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Humanium\nexists to promote the rights of children, and was itself conceived as a conduit\nof information as a website on children\u2019s rights. Universal Access to\nInformation is thus a topic which lies at the heart of Humanium\u2019s values<\/strong>.\nChildren, like all citizens of the world, have binding rights to information\nenshrined in the widely ratified international laws: <\/p>\n\n\n\n