CRTI Right to Information Champions Award 2023 (Pakistan)

Deadline: 15 September 2023

The Coalition on Right to Information (CRTI) has launched Annual RTI Champions Award to protect and promote citizens’ right to information held by public bodies.

The award ceremony is executed every year on the International Day for Access to Information on September 28th. The International Day for Access to Information is celebrated worldwide to raise awareness about People’s Right to Access Information while promoting Freedom of Information as essential to democracy, good governance and sustainable development.

Each year, a citizen, a journalist and an NGO will be given RTI Champion Award who will use any of the following laws to have access to information held by public bodies.

Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013
Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013
Balochistan Freedom of Information Act 2005
Sindh Freedom of Information Act 2006.

Categories

RTI Champions Award will be given in the following categories:
- Citizen
  - Citizens use information requests both for personal benefits and for public bodies.
- Journalist
  - Journalists can use RTI legislation as a tool for investigative reporting.
- Civil Society Groups
  - Civil society groups can strengthen their work pertaining to realization of citizen’s rights by having access to certified information held by public bodies.

Criteria

Citizens Category
- One Annual RTI Champion Award will be given to a citizen under the following evaluation criteria:
  - Consistently filing of information requests to public bodies/government departments by using RTI laws.
  - Persistent use RTI Laws to attain basic rights or for holding public bodies accountable follows all procedures of complaint etc. under the RTI laws.
  - Public impact of disclosing information.
Journalists Category:
- One Annual RTI Champion Award will be given to a journalist under the following evaluation criteria:
  - Frequent use of RTI laws for investigative journalism, access to information being the focus of the story.
  - Is the subject of the story/report/publication of particular public importance?
  - Has the RTI laws been used for the unveiling or confirmation of any facts?
  - Professional quality.
  - Impact of the story/report/publication.
Civil Society Groups Category
- The evaluation criteria for civil society group’s category will be as under:
  - The award will be given to that civil society group which will use RTI legislation for access to information held by public bodies and use the information thus sought in its publications and reports.
  - Apart from these awards, an anti-award will also be given to dishonor bad practices to a funny or absurd decision made by a public official on information request filed under right to information laws.