INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RTI IN COLOMBO

From May 8 – 9, at the Institute of Policy Studies, Independence Avenue, Colombo 07

The international conference on the Right to Information, themed ‘Empowering Citizens with RTI – the first year’, will be held in Colombo from May 8 – 9, 2018. Organised by the Sri Lanka Press Institute in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the international conference is held in view of the first year anniversary of the implementation of the Right to Information Act in Sri Lanka and the World Press Freedom day.

The two day conference, which will be held at the Institute of Policy Studies, Independence Avenue, Colombo 07, will be covering a series of thematic sessions on risk and safety of information seekers, privacy data protection, the role of civil society and media, future of RTI law and technicalities in information disclosure. RTI experts from Norway, India, Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar, along with Sri Lankan experts from the RTI Commission, advocates from the civil society organisations, good governance promoters and leading journalists are scheduled to speak at the thematic sessions.

Representatives of ministries, civil society organisations, internationally and locally renowned RTI activists will attend the conference. This will create a platform for civil society organisations, the public sector and the media to interact in creating the way forward of RTI in Sri Lanka. Right to Information (RTI) Act was implemented in Sri Lanka on February 3rd, 2017 and the bill was passed by the Cabinet of Ministers in August, 2016.