Workshop held to move forward on a Toolkit on transparency and access to parliamentary information
On September 23 and 24, a workshop was organized to develop a Toolkit aimed at strengthening transparency and access to parliamentary information. The initiative was sponsored by EUROsociAL+, a program for cooperation between the European Union and Latin America, and was supported by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica and ParlAmericas. Participants at the event included officials from the legislative branches of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Spain, institutional representatives of the Network on Transparency and Access to Information (Red de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información, RTA), as well as subject matter specialists, and Costa Rican parliamentary and civil society representatives.
Recognizing that transparency and access to information are a fundamental requirement for making progress towards legislative openness in the region, the RTA, EUROsociAL+, and ParlAmericas proposed working together on a joint project that would culminate with the publication of a Toolkit to be launched next year. The workshop represents a continuation of this project, based on what was previously discussed at a first meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in May of this year.
During the two-day workshop, participants discussed and exchanged views with the objective of building tools that address active transparency, access to information requests, open data, policies on document management, communication and accessibility, and a model for gender and transparency within the legislative branches of government.
