• Hon. Seu’ ula Ioane Tua’au, Minister for Education & Culture
• Dr Fanaafi Aiono-Le Tagalo, USP Campus Director
• Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
• Talofa lava! It is my pleasure to attend today’s launch event to
support the Beginning of the Right to Information in Samoa initiative I’d like to congratulate Professor Sharma and his team at the University of the South Pacific for their work so far in researching and developing specific tools to advance awareness of this important area of governance in Samoa and other Pacific Island countries.
• RTI is an important aspect of holding government accountable,
demonstrating transparency of governance and tackling corruption. It is these overarching principles, underpinned by a desire to support the set of shared values and similar democratic institutions our two countries share, that attracted my Government’s support for this project, by providing funding through the UN Development
Programme.
• In the UK Right to Information has become a central feature of our civil rights, and it’s woven not the fabric of our society. But it’s worth remembering that the legislation underpinning UK Freedom of Information Act is less than 20 years old, and only came into force in 2005. Together with the UK Data Protection Act 1998 and an agenda to modernise government, RTI has become a critical component in my government’s agenda to increase openness, transparency, trust and accountability in the public sector.
As you may be aware, under the UK law everybody has the right to obtain information held by public authorities, while the law also imposes duties and responsibilities on public authorities to give access to information. To achieve this, public authorities need to know what information they hold, manage and retrieve information effectively, and deal expeditiously (within 20 days) with information requests.
• I use the UK as an example of the benefits and consequences for all members of society of instituting formal RTI protocols. It is certainly not the intention of UK government to impose its own RTI solutions in Samoa. I hope that through this project to promote advocacy and awareness about the value of open data, transparency and accountability of public information for civil society, the private sector and individuals we are helping you to take the first steps on the path towards exploring how Samoan society as a whole – both citizens and government – can equally benefit from RTI.
• May I use this opportunity to encourage you to actively participate in shaping the innovative mobile technology and e-learning solutions USP is showcasing to ensure that the models adopted to raise awareness of RTI are innovative in design, relevant and appropriate in the context of Samoa’s social and economic development.
• I’ll finish by once again thanking USP for hosting the launch of RTI in Samoa and wish the initiative every success.
