Advocacy letter: UN Secretary General must recognise the 'Right to Know' in his Post-2015 report

His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General of the United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NY 10017
CC: Amina J. Mohammed, Assistant Secretary General

Dear Mr. Secretary General,

We write to you as a coalition of civil society organisations committed to sustainable development, to urge you to highlight the importance of the right to information, free media, and the protection of civil society organisations’ ability to organise and engage in your upcoming stocktaking report on the Sustainable Development Goals to the General Assembly.

We welcome your recent announcement on the creation of an Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. However, as experts and practitioners in the field, we feel strongly that the data revolution cannot succeed without substantial improvement in the openness of governments to their people and an improved and enabling environment for civic space that allow individuals, civil society and communities to know, speak, engage and operate freely. To achieve this, the rights to freedom of information, free media, freedom of association, and freedom of peaceful assembly must be fully recognised and enabled.

The importance of these rights has been recognised in the Millennium Declaration, the Rio+ 20 declaration and numerous UN papers. These rights are also highlighted in the report of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons and in the recommendations of the Open Working Group, both of which recommended that access to information and the protection of fundamental freedoms be included as targets. However, even with the crucial role these rights play in development, they are largely unincorporated in currently agreed development mechanisms and were conspicuous by their absence in the Millennium Development Goals.

As you acknowledged in your “Freedom Lecture” speech last year at the University of Leiden, civil society is under increasing pressure: journalists and human rights defenders are imprisoned; internet and media outlets are shut down; and peaceful protests are banned. These issues need to be addressed as part of the SDGs or they will continue to hinder development progress and the data revolution will be restricted to the status quo of limited and unreliable information by the few, for the few, instead of access to information by everyone, for everyone, and the ability to act upon it.

Mr. Secretary General, today is globally recognised as “Right to Know Day”. Governments and civil society organisations around the world will celebrate the progress made so far to ensure everyone is empowered to have greater control over their lives by better knowing how governments operate. Please take the time today to ensure these rights are not forgotten in the SDGs.

Thank you for your consideration.  If your office wishes to discuss this further, please contact us.

Yours sincerely,

1. ARTICLE 19
2. Access Info Europe
3. Accun pour la Culture Numérique
4. Action 2015 National team-Sri Lanka
5. Active Remedy Ltd
6. Adevarul (The Truth)
7. Africa Freedom of Information Centre
8. Albanian Media Institute
9. Amnesty International
10. Arlan
11. Asociación Gestión Salud Población
12. Association Al Bawsala
13. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression
14. Association I Watch - Tunisia
15. Association Nigérienne des Femmes Diplômées
16. Association of Caribbean Media Workers
17. Association of Private Nature Reserves of Minas Gerais State
18. Association TANSA
19. Association Tunisienne de Soutien Aux Minorités
20. Association Tunisienne des Contrôleurs Publics
21. Association Vigilance pour la Démocratie et l'Etat Civique
22. Associazione Museo Energia
23. Bahrain Center for Human Rights
24. BBC Media Action
25. Belarusian Association of Journalists
26. CAFSO-WRAG for Development
27. Cambodian Center for Human Rights
28. Campaign2015+ International
29. Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
30. Caribbean Policy Development Centre
31. CEEweb for Biodiversity
32. Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
33. Centre for Human Rights and Climate Change Research
34. Centre for Independent Journalism - Malaysia
35. Centre for Law and Democracy
36. Centre for Sustainable Development and Education in Africa
37. Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala - CERIGUA
38. CF Sange Research Center
39. CIDAC
40. Civil Society Partnership for Development Effectiveness
41. COLLECTIF 24
42. Comité por la Libre Expresión - C-Libre
43. Comité Sénégalais des Droits de l'Homme
44. Corruption Watch UK
45. EDW ENERGIA
46. Federation of SUNFO Global Youth Forum
47. FEMNET - The African Women's Development and Communication Network
48. Finnish NGDO platform to the EU
49. Finnish NGO Platform KEPA
50. Fondation Mohamed Belmufti Pour La Justice et Les Libertés
51. Foro de Periodismo Argentino
52. Foundation for Press Freedom - FLIP
53. Freedom Forum
54. Freedom House
55. Fundamedios - Andean Foundation for Media Observation and Study
56. GCAP Sri Lanka
57. Groupe  AGORA pour les Droits de l'enfant  et la paix (GRA-REDP)
58. Hong Kong Journalists Association
59. IMove 2015 Campaign Sri Lanka
60. Initiative for Freedom of Expression - Turkey
61. Institut panafricain pour la Citoyenneté, les Consommateurs et le Développement
62. Institute for Economic Research on Innovation
63. Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information
64. Instituto de Estudos de Direito e Cidadania
65. Instituto Internacional de Derecho y Medio Ambiente
66. Instituto o Direito por um Planeta Verde
67. Instituto Prensa y Sociedad de Venezuela
68. International Federation of Journalists, Asia Pacific
69. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
70. International Publishers Association
71. Interregional Union of Life Help for Mentally Handicapped Persons "Sail of Hope"
72. Journaliste en danger
73. Kikandwa Environmental Association
74. La Ligue Tunisienne des droits de l'Homme
75. Laboratório de Educação e Política Ambiental - OCA USP
76. Le Labo Démocratique
77. Ligue Africaine des blogueurs et activistes pour la démocratie
78. Ligue Sénégalaise des Droits de l'Homme
79. Maharat Foundation
80. Media Institute of Southern Africa
81. Media Watch
82. Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
83. MediaLink
84. Metamorphosis, Foundation for Internet and Society
85. Mujer y Sociedad
86. Mujeres Mundi
87. National Union of Somali Journalists
88. NGO Federation of Nepal
89. Observatoire Tunisien de l'Indépendance de la Magistrature
90. Organisation nationale des droits l'homme
91. Pacific Islands News Association
92. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
93. Pakistan Press Foundation
94. Palestinian Center for Development and Media freedoms (MADA)
95. PEN American Center
96. PraveenLata Sansthan
97. PRESSAFRIK
98. Pro Media
99. Public Association "Journalists"
100. Publish What You Fund
101. Ramfa "Rehomfa" Welfare Org
102. Rede Latinoamericana do Ministério Público Ambiental
103. Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO)
104. Reporters Without Borders
105. Request Initiative
106. Réseau des Organisations Féminines d'Afrique Francophone
107. Restless Development
108. Right to Information Coalition Ghana
109. RightsWay International
110. Second Chance foundation
111. Section Sénégalaise de la Société Internationale pour les Droits Humains
112. Southeast Asian Press Alliance
113. Southern Minas Gerais Institute for Nature Studies and Conservation
114. Southwest Freedom of Information Act Network
115. Sri Lanka United Nations Friendship Organization
116. Stichting Bakens Verzet (NGO Another Way)
117. Sunlight Foundation
118. Terra-1530
119. The Climate Reality Project Canada
120. Tobacco Free Association of Zambia
121. Tunisian Association for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation
122. Union des Radios Associatives et Communautaires, Senegal
123. Union des Tunisiens Indépendants pour la Liberté
124. Unión Nacional de Instituciones para el Trabajo de Acción Social-UNITAS
125. Voice
126. West African Journalists Association
127. Whistleblower-Network Germany
128. World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters - AMARC
129. Zambia Heart and Stroke Foundation
130. Zo Indigenous Forum