The right to information plays a crucial role in promoting a range of important social values. Information has been described as the oxygen of democracy. It is a key underpinning of meaningful participation, an important tool in combating corruption and central to democratic accountability. A free two-way flow of information provides a foundation for healthy policy development, decision-making and project delivery.
Key elements of a rights-based approach are a true presumption of disclosure, generous automatic disclosure rules, a clear framework for processing requests for information, limited exceptions and a right to appeal refusals to disclose to an independent body. This Charter elaborates the standards upon which the access to information policies of international financial institutions should be based. The Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) calls on all international financial institutions to amend their information disclosure policies to bring them into line with this Charter.