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Back Row (From Left) Mr Ericino de Salema (Programme Director-AICE/IBIS, Mozambique), Mr Maxwell Kadiri ( Legal Officer-Open Society Justice Initiatives, Nigeria), Ms Wilhemina Mensah (Africa Regional Coordinator-CHRI, Ghana), Mr Gram Matenga (Senior Programme Officer-International IDEA, Ethiopia), Mr Jeggan Grey-Johnson (Advocacy and Communications Officer-AFRO-OSF, South Africa)

Front Row (From Left) Mr Abiy Ashenafi (Researcher-Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria), Ms Pansy Tlakula (Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa-ACHPR), Ms Olufunto Akinduro ( Head of Elections-EISA, South Africa), Ms Hanifa Gutu (Programme Assistant/Researcher: FOE & ATI- Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria),  Ms Eva Heza (Secretariat- ACHPR, Gambia).

 

The Centre for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa Commissioner Pansy Tlakula, recently held a focus group meeting on the development of Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections.

The meeting took place at the Aviator Hotel O.R. Tambo, Johannesburg, from 17 to 18 August. The focus group comprised of 12 representatives from civil society organizations and other stakeholders working on Elections, the Media or Access to Information.

The meeting was a follow-up to a meeting held in May in Kameeldrift, Pretoria, where more than 25 experts gathered to discuss the development of two sets of guidelines- one on Access to Information and Elections; the other on Access to Information and Record-keeping. The 14 representatives who met in Johannesburg last week were nominated to form the focus group for the development of Access to Information and Elections at this initial meeting.

The focus group of the development of guidelines on Elections and Recordkeeping is yet to hold its first meeting. The focus group meeting on Access to Information and Elections was held pursuant to Resolution (ACHPR/Res. 307 (EXT.OS/XVIII) 2015, which was adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) during its Extra-Ordinary Session held in Nairobi, Kenya from 29 July to 7 August in 2015. Expressing concern about the absence of a regional standard on the role of access to information in the electoral process to safeguard the credibility of elections in Member States and the strengthening of democratic governance in Africa, the Resolution authorized the Special Rapporteur to develop guidelines on access to information and elections for Africa.