TAI Background: Relevant International Commitments

1992178 governments sign the Rio

Declaration. Principle 10 mandated appropriate access to information, encouragement of public participation, and effective access to judicial proceedings.

2002 WSSD Plan of Implementation

calls on governments to implement Principle 10.

The Access Initiative’s goal…

…is to promote the accelerated and

enhanced implementation of Principle 10 at the

national level.

The Access Initiative’s strategy is to…• Develop and continuously

refine an indicator-based tool to assess government performance

• Support civil society teams in an increasing number of countries to conduct assessments

• Utilize the Partnership for Principle 10 to urge governments to act on assessment results

What does TAI attempt to assess?

• Access to information• Public participation• Access to justice• Capacity building

Law and practice related to:

The Access Initiative

A global civil society coalition promoting access to information, participation, and justice in national decision-making that affects the environment.

6 organizations jointly lead The Access Initiative

The Access Initiative Countries – Pilot Phase 2001-2002

Chile

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Mexico

South Africa

Thailand

Uganda

United States

Expanding the Network: 2003 - 2007Europe: Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Portugal, UK, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Germany, Ireland

Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia

Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela

Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Philippines, China

Repeat assessments: Hungary, India, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, US, Indonesia

With what results?

Enhanced credibility for civil society critiques

Platforms for constructive government-civil society dialogue and collaboration

Explicit commitments from all participants to improve law, practice, and capacity

The 10 TAI assessment steps1. Learn about TAI and the access principles2. Build a coalition of TAI researchers and reviewers3. Choose case studies and sectors for assessment4. Prepare for research and divide up the workload5. Conduct research6. Use the TAI CD-ROM to record and analyze your research7. Review your results and write your country report8. Publish and publicize your results9. Put your results into action – publications, meetings10. Get involved as an active member of TAI and its related

coalition, the Partnership for Principle 10.

TAI and PP10: Strategies

TAI

• National constituencies

• Common tools to monitor implementation of Principle 10

• National indicators and a global database

PP10

• Shared commitments to promote assessment and to implement Principle 10 and WSSD Plan Article 128

• Action-oriented specific commitments by each partner

• An accountability, matchmaking, and learning mechanism

TAI and PP10: Differences

TAI

• Coalitions of NGOs

• Tracking of progress in implementing Principle 10

PP10

• Partnership of governments, NGOs, and international organizations

• Implementation of Principle 10 and Article 128