23 January 2017
Representatives from member organization of CEPS have today come together to draft a white paper on the right to Information Bill. The proposals from CEPS will be sent to the Department of Information as part of this national exercise.
In December last year, the Vice-President accompanied by Principal Secretary of the Department of Information, Mr. Denis Rose led discussion on the bill and presented its contents to members of a large number of civil society organizations. Following the discussions, members have come together to bring proposed amendments and new ideas forward in order to refine the bill.
The discussion covered various sections of the bill. Members of the group brought a number of knowledge and experience to the discussions, which have permitted CEPS to have divergent views on the bill. Participants used their knowledge and experience from education, governance, law, human resources to human rights, to scrutinize the bill. These enabled the group to look at the bill from various angles while focused on its application.
Mrs. Anita Gardner, Chairperson of the Association for People with Hearing Impairment made various proposals which were aimed at facilitating the process for persons with disabilities when accessing information. She pointed out that Seychelles has signed international conventions and in line with these agreements the country has to align all its laws and services to guarantee equality.
After two hours of discussions, the meeting came to a close and those present agreed that the draft be circulated for other members to make a final input before it gets sent to the Department of Information.
