FROM 2015 TO THE END OF 2016 Transparency International Vanuatu (TIV) was heavily involved in the Right To Information (RTI) Bill nationwide community consultation.
Working in partnership with the Governments Right To Information Unit and the Media Association of Vanuatu the consultation process on the Right To Information Bill reached over 15,000 people throughout the 15 main islands of Vanuatu and including some of the smaller islands with 400 to 1,000 people.
The consultation process did not only visit the main centers on the islands but ventured further into villages that have never been part of any consultation process.
A lot of people raised concerns that the current laws in Vanuatu that directly affect people at the grassroots level could put a lot of confused people in prison, because by not being part of the consultation process and with no opportunity to learn and educate themselves of the laws that govern Vanuatu we are creating a vulnerable generation that will have to learn from mistakes rather than be informed to avoid mistakes.
The Right To Information Bill was unanimously passed by Parliament in November of 2016, and it officially became the Right To Information Law on the 6th of February 2017. Regarded as the ‘Peoples Law’ it is important out to reach out to the people who had been part of the consultation process, and to inform them of the becoming of the Right To Information Law and how it will be implemented.
It is also important to inform other people that had not been part of the consultation process because they also have the right to know.
So from the 15th to the 17th of March 2017 a TIV Team conducted and distributed RTI Law information throughout the island of Tongoa. And on the same month from the 19th to the 25th the same program was conducted around the island of Tanna.
This newsletter highlights the activities that were carried on these two islands including photos and links.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW AND DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE NEWSLETTER.
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