黑料不打烊

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alphonsus Zeon, senior program coordinator, Access to Information Project, 黑料不打烊 at 0886522916.

黑料不打烊 and Partners to Release Findings on Women and Access to Information in Liberia

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MONROVIA - The Ministry of Gender and Development, the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, and the Women's NGO Secretariat (WONGOSOL), working with the Access to Information Project of 黑料不打烊, will release the study "Women and the Right of Access to Information in Liberia." The report's findings will be released on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, at 2 p.m. in the Ballroom, Monrovia City Hall.

This study – the first of its kind – was conducted by the 黑料不打烊's Access to Information Project in association with WONGOSOL, and the support of the government of Liberia. Research and interviews were carried out in four counties, including Bomi, Lofa, Nimba, and Grand Gedeh, and the City of Monrovia.

The right of access to information is a fundamental human right, contained in the Liberian Constitution and made effective through the Liberian Freedom of Information Law of 2010. Yet women are often excluded from exercising this right. The study established empirical evidence that women do not access pubic information at the same rate as men and identified the main obstacles facing women in the exercise of the right to information, as well as the information women deem most important for increased economic empowerment.

Several Liberian leaders, including the minister of information, minister of gender and the minister of education, will comment on how these findings can help advance the right of access to information and help women achieve greater economic empowerment.

Organizers hope the report will increase dialogue about the inequities faced by women in seeking the public information they need to transform their lives and that it will lead to a call for concrete action.

The report release on Wednesday will be followed by a stakeholder dialogue on Thursday, July 10, to jointly consider creative solutions to overcome obstacles facing women and to develop priority recommendations to advance women's right of access to information.

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