Madrid, 13 December 2013 – Access Info Europe has welcomed the progress made on beneficial ownership transparency and access to information mechanisms during the recent conference of governments which are signatories to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), held on 25-29 November in Panama. Access Info Europe has been engaged in advocacy for stronger transparency mechanisms under the UNCAC as part of the UNCAC Coalition of civil society organisations. The agreement to promote transparency of the real owners of businesses followed significant advocacy work by civil society as well as an impassioned conference speech by former UN Secretary General Kofi

Madrid, 23 August 2013 – NGOs today urged parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to take action to promote adoption of access to information laws and to increase the availability of information on beneficial ownership of private companies. A letter sent today to members of the UNCAC Working Group on Prevention, by Access Info Europe and Global Financial Integrity together with the civil society UNCAC Coalition, urged priority action on transparency measures essential in the fight against corruption. “Access to information is vital for civil society organisations and members of the public to be able to fulfil their

Vienna, 29 May 2013 – Access Info Europe today called on States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to make strong mechanisms for access to information a priority issue. The right of access to information is a key tool for the prevention of corruption, yet there is no mention of it in the work plan of the UNCAC’s Working Group on Corruption Prevention. Speaking at the UN Convention against Corruption Briefing for NGOs today, Lydia Medland of Access Info said, "To fight corruption, citizens and civil society organisations need effective access to information laws which not only oblige

Madrid, 1 August 2012 - At the first ever civil society briefing with States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) which took place in Vienna this June, access to information and participation remained top on the agenda for both civil society advocates and government officials. Civil society representatives, one after another emphasised the need to be involved in the process of reviewing what states had done to implement UNCAC anti-corruption obligations. At the same time, a vast majority of state representatives also welcomed civil society participation in the UNCAC process, citing numerous examples of positive cooperation with NGOs.

Marrakesh, 28 October 2011 – Transparency International Spain and Access Info Europe have joined civil society organisations from around the world in calling on governments signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption to show greater commitment to fighting corruption and to be more open in what they are doing to tackle it. The 154 countries which have committed to United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) are currently meeting at the 4th Conference of States Parties, making it the world’s largest forum for adopting measures to combat corruption and to evaluate advances in reducing it. “Even though many counties have demonstrated

Marrakesh, 27 October 2011 – Access Info Europe, participating in the Marrakesh negotiations of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), today made a formal intervention in the plenary session calling on States Parties to end discussions behind closed doors about how the treaty is implemented. The UNCAC is the strongest international anti-corruption convention and its comprehensive and transparent implementation is vital to the fight against corruption. States Parties will meet tonight (27 October) between 9pm and midnight to discuss opening these meetings to civil society and therefore bringing necessary transparency to the implementation

Practical guide released with full results from monitoring in Croatia Marrakesh, 25 October 2011 – A new guide on how to test levels of transparency in areas of government prone to corruption was released by Access Info Europe today, together with the results of the first large-scale monitoring conducted using the methodology in Croatia, conducted by Transparency International Croatia. The "Anti-Corruption Transparency Monitoring Methodology" was presented today at the UN Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption currently taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco. The data from Croatia, where 200 answers were received to 560 questions (35%

Tell Us What You’ve Done Initiative Global study finds minimal transparency on anti-corruption efforts 25 October 2011: The first global study to test access to information about the implementation of anti-corruption treaties has found that half of the questions put to governments (50%) met with administrative silence. The research, carried out by Access Info Europe and Transparency International and partners around the world, also found that only around one quarter of questions (just 26%) submitted in twenty countries plus the European Union resulted in information – either complete or incomplete information – being provided to the civil society requesters.

4 October 2011, Ottawa – The largest global monitoring of the right of access to information in practice, the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign has found widespread violations of the right to information with only 1 in 4 requests resulting in provision of full information. 480 requests for budget information were submitted in 80 countries by a global network of civil society organisations. No information at all was provided in response to over half of the requests and 38% of the requests elicited no response from the government body to which the request was sent (mute refusals). The poor