VOA标准英语2011--International Right to Know Day Observed

International Right to Know Day Observed

September 28 is International Right to Know Day. Since 2003, advocates have marked the occasion by calling for greater access to government-held information.
Among those observing Right to Know Day is the London-based Article 19.
“Right to Know Day is an international celebration in about 40 to 50 countries celebrating people’s right to information, their ability to hold their governments accountable and the make them transparent,” said Dave Banisar is the group’s senior legal advisor¹.
The group gets its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.
“We’re mostly talking about information held by government bodies about their activities: what they spend their money on, how they made their decisions, what they plan to do next,” he said.
Declaration approved
Banisar said the lack of access to such information is widespread.
“The main problem is still that over a hundred countries around the world do not have a right to information incorporated in their national laws. So, people don’t have the ability to even demand from their governments basic information about how money is being spent in their neighborhoods for their schools or for their hospitals,” he said.
On September 19th, in Cape² Town, South Africa, the Pan African Conference on Access to Information adopted the African Platform on Access to Information Declaration.
“The African platform is an effort by African groups focusing on freedom of expression and information to promote the right to information in Africa. So it focuses on very Africa specific issues, such as health and aid transparency and gender³ equality, areas where there are unique problems that need to be addressed,” said Banisar.
Heart of democracy
Henry Maina, Article 19’s East Africa Director, said access to information is at the heart of any democracy in Africa.
“I think it’s been easy previously⁴ for people to think about democracy [meaning] holding successive elections. But I think access to information would begin to show that democracy is more than just holding elections. It means people being able to participate directly into making decisions about issues that affect them – and holding those that they’ve elected, in between elections, accountable,” he said.
Ten African countries have freedom of information laws. However, Maina said access to government-held information is still not as open as it should be.
“It’s still seen as an elite⁵ kind of right that the locals do not feel sufficiently⁶ empowered to challenge those who hold power. Because sometimes it’s seen in Africa that asking questions is like challenging those who hold power. It’s not seen as a right that you’re only seeking to get information,” he said.
Maina said adoption⁷ of the African platform is only the beginning. The real work, he said, must begin now to secure access across the continent. That could take some time. For example, it took Nigeria 15 years to approve its freedom of information law.
Right to Know Day advocates said access to information is good for governments themselves, improving efficiency and reducing corruption⁸.

1 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。