OSCE Mission to Skopje supports free access to information

SKOPJE, 18 April 2012 – Facilitating timely and accurate dissemination of public information and raising awareness among citizens of the work of local authorities is the aim of an OSCE-supported project for civil servants in multiethnic municipalities launched in Skopje today.

Under the project, members of local public administration, representatives of civil society and media will receive comprehensive training on matters related to free access to public information.

The one-year project, supported by the OSCE Mission to Skopje will be implemented in partnership with the National Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information.

“Unrestricted access of citizens to information of significant public interest is a prerequisite for a democratic society,” said the Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Ralf Breth. “Public institutions have a responsibility to support and sustain the free flow and exchange of information thereby asserting the rights of citizens to public information regardless of their age, cultural identity, religion, gender, language or social or political views.”

The President of the Commission Pece Tasevski, said: “The co-operation between our Commission and the OSCE Mission to Skopje is well-established; it resulted in the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding aimed at raising awareness among the citizens of the work of multiethnic municipalities, as well as matters related to free access to information, thereby rendering their work more transparent.”