Participation Report: Workshop on How media and access to information and fundamental freedoms (16.10) can enable the achievement of other sustainable development goals? 20 September 2016, Jakarta Indonesia

International workshop on How media and access to information and fundamental freedoms (16.10) can enable the achievement of other sustainable development goals? for national champions was held in Jakarta, Indonesia. This international workshop is the commencing workshop of the UNESCO in collaboration with Global Forum for Media Development. For the first time, a provision to ensure access to information and the protection of fundamental freedoms has been included in the global development goals that 193 countries have signed on to. But how the media and media development community, work with the broader development community, civil society actors, as well as donors and decision makers to ensure that Goal 16.10 is realized and placed at the core of efforts to achieve the other sustainable development goals? Should media itself play a role in pushing for the SDGs and Goal 16.10? A panel of experts representing the UN, CSO sector, media practitioners and donor community provide their perspectives on the role of media and access to information and specifically Goal 16.10 as an enabler of the other goals. Speaker and moderator names and affiliation: Moderator: Jesper Højberg, Executive Director, International Media Support Speakers: Emmy Hafild, Human Rights and Climate Change Advocate David Holmertz, Counsellor, Embassy of Sweden Section Office in Yangon Phil Matsheza, Regional Cluster Leader, Governance and Peacebuilding (UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub) Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, President Director, Antara

What are the most relevant points made during the session? Speakers reiterated the relationship between a free, pluralistic, and independent media and the goals set by SDG 16.10, which was described as an „enormous victory‟ for the media. • Kenya and Argentina have just joined the global community of 108 nations with Freedom of Information laws, a measure of the influence of the idea of access to information. • 86% of the world‟s population live in countries with access to information laws and policies and 90 states have commitments to it in their constitutions. The media has failed somewhat in making SDG understandable, failed to present it in a narrative that is easily acceptable to the general public, said Meidyatama Suryodiningrat. • Journalists can often get caught up in technicalities. It is important not to focus on the process alone and forget the end result – not dependent on “scorecards and rankings”. An Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDGs (IAEG-SDGs) developed a global framework of indicators which, at the time of writing in July 2016, had been by the Coordination and Management Committee of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) The next step would involve the UN General Assembly adopting the framework of indicators. Of particular concern to UNESCO is Goal 16 and its associated Target 10 and Indicator 16.10.2. Against this background, this note seeks to clarify the conceptual, methodological and operational aspects of Indicator 16.10.2. Specifically, it: Analyses the key features of Target 16.10; Operationalizes Indicator 16.10.2 in light of the totality of Target 16.10, including highlighting key implications for implementation; and Proposes possible data partnerships and modalities to facilitate UNESCO‟s role as a custodian agency responsible for global reporting to the UN on Indicator 16.10.2. The advantage of treating public access to information as a matter of human rights reinforces the aspect of protecting fundamental freedoms, which concerns the second part of Target 16.10. Target 16.10, as a whole, has a dual purpose, namely (i) ensuring public access to information, and (ii) protecting fundamental freedoms. In this regard, a key connective tissue between ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms is the existence of free, independent and pluralistic media, which can foster vibrant investigative journalism to hold the UN Member States accountable for their commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is important to emphasise the possible role of independent journalism in generating well-researched information that could be used by the people to hold their governments accountable on SDGs and by governments to assess their policy responses to SDGs. Therefore, in addition to environmental protection and human rights, free, independent and pluralistic media can, under situations of robust FOI regimes, help unlock access to different other classes of information, including: -

Institutional information (e.g. internal regulations, etc.). Organizational information.

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Operational information (e.g. strategy and plans, policies, activities, procedures, reports, and evaluations). Decisions and acts.

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Public services information (e.g. descriptions of services offered to the public, guidance, booklets and leaflets, etc.).

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Budget information (e.g. audit reports, salaries of public officials, government revenues, procurement and natural resource concessions, etc.).

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Open meetings information (e.g. which meetings are open, procedures for attending them, etc.).

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Decision-making and public participation.

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Subsidies information (e.g. information on the beneficiaries of subsidies, the objectives, amounts, etc.).

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Public procurement information (e.g. public procurement processes, criteria, outcomes, etc.).

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Lists, registers, databases (e.g. information on the lists, registers, and databases held by the public body, online/offline, and how accessible they are, etc.).

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Information about information held.

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Publications information.

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Information about the right to information (e.g. how to request information, including contact information for the responsible person in each public body). 16

What brings controversy or consensus? Freedom of Information law & policy expert Toby Mendel, commenting from the audience, suggested there was a gap between the expectations of UN mandated SDGs and the UN‟s own performance in access to information matters. • There was no “one-size-fits-all” response, replied UNDP‟s Phil Matsheza – each step to address the SDGs would be reflective of the national context. Only at the international level was the response generalised by global consensus. He called for a „SDG accelerator‟ that would take action from – from global to national stages, then from national to sub-national level, the national regions where need was greatest. • Fackson Banda of UNESCO commented that the agency not only handled the mandate for freedom of expression within the UN system, but was also taking a lead in using the SDG process as a means to bringing the wider UN family into line with these standards.

What are the takeaways from the workshop? The MDGs were much wider in scope. They were universal and interconnected. The media development community should “step out of our silos” and acknowledge this. • What was new, and introduced by SDGs, was the recognition of their implementation as an enabler of rights. Transparency is essential but transparency alone does not create action. • The media were not a tool to be „used‟, but an ally in the cause. • The media have a role in communicating issues, in a way that the public can engage with. Key quotes or tweets There was always room for improvement, adaptability, and a reinterpretation of challenges noted Emmy Hafild. Indonesia might not have a hunger problem today, but it did have a „nutrition issue‟ – a „time bomb‟ she said, especially in rural communities, where processed foods had replaced traditionally nutritious staples like rice and yam. The response, to a lack information and press freedom needed to be more multifaceted and holistic, said David Holmertz, but also address the media‟s legal/regulatory environment, its professional capacity, and economic sustainability. I would like to thank the BNNRC Board of Trust that allowed me to join the meeting. and share knowledge about community cooperative internet for rural Bangladesh. Finally I would like to thank the Information Commission, Bangladesh for selecting me to How media and access to information and fundamental freedoms (16.10) can enable the achievement of other sustainable development goals? Jakarta, Indonesia.