U.S. Consulate in SP promotes seminar on access to information act

São Paulo | December 6, 2011

Audience at Access to Information Act seminar in SP

Speakers at Access to Information Act Seminar in SP

As the debate over the proposed Brazilian Access to Information Act was heating up earlier in 2011, U.S. Consulate General in Sao Paulo approached the ANJ to sponsor an international seminar on the issue.  The original concept was to bring Brazilian and international experts to discuss the importance of such laws in fostering transparency in government.  When the bill was actually signed into law in November, the seminar retained its focus on how the laws could be used by the public and media, the tenor had changed from anticipatory to congratulatory.  

Thus, on December 5, seventy-five journalists, students and representatives of NGOs and civil society groups from all over the State gathered at ESPM to discuss the Brazilian government plans to implement the law, which will enter into force in May, and how the public can use the best practices of the laws based on the experience articulated by the visiting experts from the United States, Scotland and Mexico also contributed best practices and lessons learned as Brazil moves forward.

Partnering with the National Association of Journalists (ANJ), Brazil’s Government Accountability office (CGU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),  the U.S. Consulate hosted speakers including Vânia Vieira, Director of the Corruption Prevention Office at CGU; Jane Kirtley, Professor at the University of Minnesota in the U.S.,  Gabriela Segovia, Director of the Federal Institute of Access to Information (IFAI) in Mexico, Kevin Dunion,  Commissioner of Information in Scotland, Cláudio Abramo, Executive Director of the NGO “Transparency Brazil” and Thomas Blanton, Director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University in the U.S.  

The event also received support from the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television outlets (ABERT), the National Association of Magazine Publishers (ANER), the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI), the British Embassy in Brazil, and ESPM University.  

For more information, please visit: http://portuguese.saopaulo.usconsulate.gov/acesso.html