His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General of the United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NY 10017
CC: Amina J. Mohammed, Assistant Secretary General
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
We write to you as a coalition of civil society organisations committed to sustainable development, to urge you to highlight the importance of the right to information, free media, and the protection of civil society organisations’ ability to organise and engage in your upcoming stocktaking report on the Sustainable Development Goals to the General Assembly.
We welcome your recent announcement on the creation of an Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. However, as experts and practitioners in the field, we feel strongly that the data revolution cannot succeed without substantial improvement in the openness of governments to their people and an improved and enabling environment for civic space that allow individuals, civil society and communities to know, speak, engage and operate freely. To achieve this, the rights to freedom of information, free media, freedom of association, and freedom of peaceful assembly must be fully recognised and enabled.
The importance of these rights has been recognised in the Millennium Declaration, the Rio+ 20 declaration and numerous UN papers. These rights are also highlighted in the report of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons and in the recommendations of the Open Working Group, both of which recommended that access to information and the protection of fundamental freedoms be included as targets. However, even with the crucial role these rights play in development, they are largely unincorporated in currently agreed development mechanisms and were conspicuous by their absence in the Millennium Development Goals.
As you acknowledged in your “Freedom Lecture” speech last year at the University of Leiden, civil society is under increasing pressure: journalists and human rights defenders are imprisoned; internet and media outlets are shut down; and peaceful protests are banned. These issues need to be addressed as part of the SDGs or they will continue to hinder development progress and the data revolution will be restricted to the status quo of limited and unreliable information by the few, for the few, instead of access to information by everyone, for everyone, and the ability to act upon it.
Mr. Secretary General, today is globally recognised as “Right to Know Day”. Governments and civil society organisations around the world will celebrate the progress made so far to ensure everyone is empowered to have greater control over their lives by better knowing how governments operate. Please take the time today to ensure these rights are not forgotten in the SDGs.
Thank you for your consideration. If your office wishes to discuss this further, please contact us.
Yours sincerely,
- ARTICLE 19
- Access Info Europe
- Accun pour la Culture Numérique
- Action 2015 National team-Sri Lanka
- Active Remedy Ltd
- Adevarul (The Truth)
- Africa Freedom of Information Centre
- Albanian Media Institute
- Amnesty International
- Arlan
- Asociación Gestión Salud Población
- Association Al Bawsala
- Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression
- Association I Watch – Tunisia
- Association Nigérienne des Femmes Diplômées
- Association of Caribbean Media Workers
- Association of Private Nature Reserves of Minas Gerais State
- Association TANSA
- Association Tunisienne de Soutien Aux Minorités
- Association Tunisienne des Contrôleurs Publics
- Association Vigilance pour la Démocratie et l’Etat Civique
- Associazione Museo Energia
- Bahrain Center for Human Rights
- BBC Media Action
- Belarusian Association of Journalists
- CAFSO-WRAG for Development
- Cambodian Center for Human Rights
- Campaign2015+ International
- Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
- Caribbean Policy Development Centre
- CEEweb for Biodiversity
- Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
- Centre for Human Rights and Climate Change Research
- Centre for Independent Journalism – Malaysia
- Centre for Law and Democracy
- Centre for Sustainable Development and Education in Africa
- Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala – CERIGUA
- CF Sange Research Center
- CIDAC
- Civil Society Partnership for Development Effectiveness
- COLLECTIF 24
- Comité por la Libre Expresión – C-Libre
- Comité Sénégalais des Droits de l’Homme
- Corruption Watch UK
- EDW ENERGIA
- Federation of SUNFO Global Youth Forum
- FEMNET – The African Women’s Development and Communication Network
- Finnish NGDO platform to the EU
- Finnish NGO Platform KEPA
- Fondation Mohamed Belmufti Pour La Justice et Les Libertés
- Foro de Periodismo Argentino
- Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP
- Freedom Forum
- Freedom House
- Fundamedios – Andean Foundation for Media Observation and Study
- GCAP Sri Lanka
- Groupe AGORA pour les Droits de l’enfant et la paix (GRA-REDP)
- Hong Kong Journalists Association
- IMove 2015 Campaign Sri Lanka
- Initiative for Freedom of Expression – Turkey
- Institut panafricain pour la Citoyenneté, les Consommateurs et le Développement
- Institute for Economic Research on Innovation
- Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information
- Instituto de Estudos de Direito e Cidadania
- Instituto Internacional de Derecho y Medio Ambiente
- Instituto o Direito por um Planeta Verde
- Instituto Prensa y Sociedad de Venezuela
- International Federation of Journalists, Asia Pacific
- International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
- International Publishers Association
- Interregional Union of Life Help for Mentally Handicapped Persons “Sail of Hope”
- Journaliste en danger
- Kikandwa Environmental Association
- La Ligue Tunisienne des droits de l’Homme
- Laboratório de Educação e Política Ambiental – OCA USP
- Le Labo Démocratique
- Ligue Africaine des blogueurs et activistes pour la démocratie
- Ligue Sénégalaise des Droits de l’Homme
- Maharat Foundation
- Media Institute of Southern Africa
- Media Watch
- Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
- MediaLink
- Metamorphosis, Foundation for Internet and Society
- Mujer y Sociedad
- Mujeres Mundi
- National Union of Somali Journalists
- NGO Federation of Nepal
- Observatoire Tunisien de l’Indépendance de la Magistrature
- Organisation nationale des droits l’homme
- Pacific Islands News Association
- Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
- Pakistan Press Foundation
- Palestinian Center for Development and Media freedoms (MADA)
- PEN American Center
- PraveenLata Sansthan
- PRESSAFRIK
- Pro Media
- Public Association “Journalists”
- Publish What You Fund
- Ramfa “Rehomfa” Welfare Org
- Rede Latinoamericana do Ministério Público Ambiental
- Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO)
- Reporters Without Borders
- Request Initiative
- Réseau des Organisations Féminines d’Afrique Francophone
- Restless Development
- Right to Information Coalition Ghana
- RightsWay International
- Second Chance foundation
- Section Sénégalaise de la Société Internationale pour les Droits Humains
- Southeast Asian Press Alliance
- Southern Minas Gerais Institute for Nature Studies and Conservation
- Southwest Freedom of Information Act Network
- Sri Lanka United Nations Friendship Organization
- Stichting Bakens Verzet (NGO Another Way)
- Sunlight Foundation
- Terra-1530
- The Climate Reality Project Canada
- Tobacco Free Association of Zambia
- Tunisian Association for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation
- Union des Radios Associatives et Communautaires, Senegal
- Union des Tunisiens Indépendants pour la Liberté
- Unión Nacional de Instituciones para el Trabajo de Acción Social-UNITAS
- Voice
- West African Journalists Association
- Whistleblower-Network Germany
- World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters – AMARC
- Zambia Heart and Stroke Foundation
- Zo Indigenous Forum
You can download our letter here in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Russian.