NEWSletter

Centr

e f

or

Peace

and D

evelo

pm

ent

Initia

tives

Website Develop-

ment Training

RTI Law Awareness

Campaign

RTI Winter Camp

Our Money Our

Responsibility

Pakvoters web

Portal

Media Coverage

Points of Interest:

Issue # 02 January 2014

Words from Executive Director

Editorial

I f 2013 was a watershed year for right to information movement in the country as

robust and progressive right to information laws were enacted, in the shape of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 on October 31, 2013 followed

by Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013 on December12,

2013, 2014 offers challenges, firstly, in terms of implementation of these laws, sec-

ondly, in getting civil society efforts directed towards the repeal of Freedom of Infor-

mation Ordinance 2002 and its replicas in Sindh and Balochistan.

This will be quite a challenge for civil society groups both in terms of maintaining

proper balance for implementation of Punjab and KP right to information laws and at

the same time maintaining a watch on the developments pertaining to right to informa-

tion law for the federal public bodies. It is extremely important to set the process of

submitting information requests under Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa right to infor-

mation laws in motion by involving common citizens so that there is popular owner-

ship of these laws. However, equally important is to preempt shenanigans of bu-

reaucracy and the political elite so that interests of the common man hinged on an

effective right to information law are not sacrificed on the altar of vested interests

hinged on weak and ineffective right to information law on the lines of Freedom of In-

formation Ordinance 2002.

In a nutshell, 2013 has been a watershed year in terms of having effective laws on

paper and 2014 will only be a watershed year if civil society groups are able to take

up the challenges of ensuring the enactment of a robust law for federal public bodies

and at the same time are imaginative and enterprising enough to popularize Punjab

and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa right to information laws as right to information activists go

into the relatively unchartered waters of getting otherwise effective laws implemented

on the ground both for personal benefits for the common people and for public good.

Happy Reading...

Zahid Abdullah

Project Manager RTI

Training of District Officials on Website Development

C entre for Peace and Development

Initiatives, (CPDI) conducted two

days training of System Network

Administrators on Web Develop-

ment on December 13-14, 2013 in Lahore. Sen-

ior Officials of District Lodhran, Jhelum and Ra-

him Yar Khan participated in the training ses-

sion to gain the knowledge about the web de-

velopment and management for their districts.

Mr. Syed Kausar Abbas, Program Manager and Mr. Amjad Iqbal Niazi, Web Develop-

ment Manager conducted the two days training of district officials. CPDI signed a

Memorandum of Understanding with four districts to support the district governments

for website development and management for

one year. The purpose to support the district

governments for web-based management is to

initiate the process of transparency in the dis-

tricts by sharing the public record on website.

The District Governments committed to share

Budget Documents on Websites after its

launching. The websites of four districts will be

launched soon.

Strengthening Transparency and Accountability Mechanism in KPK

Two days Training with CSOs/Journalists: A two days training with CSOs & journal-ists was held in Peshawar. The target par-ticipants were from NGOs, INGOs, and journalists of the newspaper and activists of the local area. In the training aware-ness raising was created on RTI law. The main purpose of the training was to ex-plain the meaning and value of the RTI law. Besides, participants were educated on KP Right to Information Act 2013 for Investigative Reporting and Attainment of Fundamental Rights. The silent features of the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Infor-mation Act 2013 were also explained. A part from these areas, process to submit Information request was shared.

Training Session on RTI with Youth: In the month of December four awareness raising training sessions on RTI law were held with the students of different colleges and Universities of Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad & Mansehra. In these training sessions students were educated on KP RTI law. Besides, importance of KP Right to Information Act 2013 was highlighted. It was emphasized on that as youth is the vital part of our society and it can be help-ful to reduce the corruption by the proper implementation of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information law. And youth can take a lead role in the promulgation of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 in so far areas.

Stakeholder Dialogue; Stakeholder Dialogues were held in Pe-shawar, Mardan, Abbottabad & Manse-hra. In the event people from different walks e.g politicians, lawyers, journalists and member of NGOs & INGOs were in-vited. The main purpose of the activity was to educate the people about Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 and explained the worth of this emerging law. Besides, politicians also shared their role to combat the evil of cor-ruption.

Essay writing, Declamation & Painting Contests In the month of December different com-petitions were arranged among the stu-dents of different colleges & Universities of Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad & Man-sehra. The purpose of the competitions was to inculcate the issues of corruption which are being faced by common citi-zens in their daily life. Youth has revealed different faces and channels of corruption. Students shared the best of their knowl-edge to get rid of the prevailing trend of bribery and corruption. Position holders awarded with smart prizes.

Right To Information This Month

Five seminars on proactive disclosure of Information under Punjab Transparency and RTI Law 2013 and Implementation of Punjab Transparency and RTI Law 2013 were held in five districts of Punjab i.e Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Lahore, Khushab and Jhang. Salient features of the RTI law and need of proper implementation of law was dis-cussed in detail during Seminars. Analysis of Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Law 2013 was generated. It contained salient features of the law. Key features of preamble of law, Information Request filing procedure, exempted information, Functions of Information Commis-sion, fine and penalty and Information exempted from Proactive Disclosure were dis-cussed in detail. Participated in TV talk show on open government which was recorded in Karachi and was aired on December 20, 2013.

Participated as a Panelist in Seminar on ‘Right to Information and Journalism’ on De-cember 17, 2013 in Lahore.

Winter Camp for Young RTI Champions

L ast month CPDI District Coordinators hold Sessions in Academic Institutions to identify YOUNG RTI Champions via Essay Competition. Based on their performance in the essay writing competition, 18 students, three each from one district, were selected for Young RTI Champions Winter Camp for four

days intensive training on different aspects of Right to Information which was held from December 24 to 27, 2013 in Murree. After Intensive training of 4 day Young Champions designed campaigns for their respective district to aware masses about RTI Law and its importance and usage.

Our Money Our Responsibility

O ur Money Our Responsibility (OMOR) is a civil society initiative to study

allocation of funds and expenditures in the education sector. Public ex-

penditure tracking survey (PETS) is being used to study the flow of funds

from down to the schools and the expenditure of these funds at the

school level. The project includes regular sharing of comprehensive report with stake-

holders based on findings of PETS in the two districts of Punjab; namely Jhang and

Toba Tek Singh. Additionally, it’s another important fact is to call upon citizen and civil

society organizations for Advocacy initiative on recommendation for improvements.

OMOR has launched its first set of PETS report having comprehensive analysis of the

budgetary allocations and expenditure in both the districts; the report has also given

concrete recommendations for improvements in the education sector, especially

budget allocations and spending. Strong advocacy campaign has been launched in

support of the recommendations of the reports. Both the districts witnessed a series of

events in the last month including individual meetings with high ranking official in Edu-

cation department, media briefings, Public Interface meetings with the Executive Dis-

trict Officers and the District Officers, Education. The team has also completed sec-

ond PETS in the project districts and is working on compilation of the research report.

Content Development and Management of

Pakistan Election Information Web Portal (PEIWP)

C PDI started the project of de-

velopment and management of

Pakistan Election Information

Web Portal (PEIWP) in April

2013. The purpose of this project is to

develop and disseminate civic and voter

education to different stakeholders in

Pakistan. PEIWP is one-stop resource for

variety of stakeholders including voters,

politician, researchers, teachers, parents

and marginalized groups like women and

people with disabilities. Under this pro-

ject, a comprehensive web portal such as

www.Pakvoter.org is developed and

launched to cater the needs of multiple

stakeholders in Pakistan. During the

month of December, a video of public

oversight regarding the policy of govern-

ment about unemployment and another

video of youth participation in local gov-

ernment elections were made. Further,

comprehensive materials about Local

government elections have been devel-

oped. The quiz section about electoral

knowledge and monthly newsletter called

‘Democracy Vibes’ have been updated.

Media Coverage Web Stats

Secret no more

KP bureaucrats thwart info rights

law, refuse to respond

CRTI demands extension of RTI to

FATA residents

KP’s right to information law fails to

produce results yet

PFDP’s Statement: CSO’s Con-

cerns on Anti-Terrorism laws in

Pakistan

C P D I o f f i c i a l w e b s i t e C PD I -Pakistan.Org this month hit the spec-tacular number of 1,497 plus visitors. Each visitor stayed for more than 3.5 minutes on average that indicates the strong interactive interface and the con-tent of the website to keep a strong bond with the visitors. According to the statistics of the most reliable source, Google Analytics, around 85% of the traffic is visiting from Pakistan and re-maining from United States, United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

Long Term Election Observation and Oversight in Pakistan, (LTEOOP)

Strengthening Transparency and Accountability Mechanism in KPK

Promoting Public Accountability through Right to Information in Pakistan

Strengthening RTI Movement by Building National RTI Coalition

RTI Campaign – Federal Access to Information Network (FATIN)

World Learning Legislative Fellowship

Content Development and Management for Pakistan Elections Information Web Portal (PEIWP)

Strengthening Civil Society to Improve Accountability

Our Money Our Responsibility

Civil Society and Police Reform in South Asia

Supporting Transparency, Accountability and Electoral Process in Pakistan

CPDI’s Underway Projects

Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI-Pakistan) is an independent, non-partisan and a not-for-profit civil society organization working exclusively on issues of peace and development in Pakistan. It was established in 2003 to inform and influence public poli-cies and civil society projects through research-based advocacy and capacity-building, with the goal of promoting peace and achieving sustainable development. CPDI specializes in five sectors of development: 1. Promotion of Peace and Tolerance, 2. Rule of Law, 3. Trans-parency and Right to Information, 4. Budget Watch, 5. Legislative Watch and Democratic Development.

Contact Us: 409-B Main Nazim-Ud-Din Road, F-11/1, Islamabad, www.cpdi-pakistan.org Ph:+92-51-2108287 +92-51-2112315 +92-51-4319430 Fax:+92-51-2101594

Editor:

Yasir Abbasi

Contributors:

Amer Ejaz

Zahid Abdullah

Kausar Abbas

Raja Shoaib

Shahid Jatoi

Bilal Saeed

Zil-E-Humma

CPDI Initiates Countrywide Research on Community Policing

C ommunity policing is a philosophy that focuses on the development of a

collaborative partnership between community and the police to proactively

curb crimes and disorders from taking place in the society. Recognizing the

effectiveness of community policing in countries around the world, CPDI,

with the support of Friedrich Naumann Foundation - South Asia, is currently undertak-

ing a research study to assess the state of community policing in Pakistan. The re-

search relies on information gathered on the knowledge, attitude and practices of Dis-

trict Police Officers (DPOs) across the country and would shed light upon various fac-

tors that promote or hinder community policing

in Pakistan. Along with the information gath-

ered from DPOs, the research banks upon ex-

tensive interviews with officials from different

police departments, including; Islamabad Capi-

tal Territory Police, Islamabad Traffic Police

and National Highway and Motorway police as

well as civil society representatives to generate

a deeper understanding of the subject. The

research aims to analyze the state of commu-

nity policing in a holistic manner so that recom-

mendations can be drafted for the necessary

steps required to be taken by police in Paki-

stan to avail benefits of this approach, consid-

ered vital in the current times.

Interviewing Mr. Sultan Azam Temuri AIG operations,

Islamabad

Dr. Abdul Basit Chancellor, Preston University receiving token of appreciation for his contribution to promote RTI among Students

Greetings from Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives-CPDI

& Happy New Year

T he free flow of information is essential for any democratic soci-

ety because it helps the society to grow and to retain an eternal

exchange of ideas and discussion among the folks. However

the access to information held by a public authority was not attainable

till the right to information gets proper legal status in constitution. Be-

fore that people did not have any right to know about the general public

policies and expenditures.

With the enactment of Punjab Transparency and Right to Information

Act 2013, millions of residents of Punjab for the first time now have a

right to seek information from public bodies. The Punjab RTI Act 2013

aims to provide transparency and freedom of information to ensure that

citizens have improved access to public information and to make the

government more accountable to citizens and to enforce the fundamen-

tal right of access to information in all matters of public importance.

Amer Ejaz

Executive Director