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Ensuring the informed involvement of the public

24 Oct 2022

Today (24) has been declared World Development Information Day, while the Global Media and Information Literacy Week also begins today, making this week a significant one to advocate for better communication and dissemination of information. According to the United Nations (UN), an essential part of the work on development consists of mobilisation of public opinion in both developing and developed countries in support of set objectives and policies. It said that the developed countries must continue and intensify their endeavours to deepen public understanding of the interdependent nature of development efforts and the need to assist developing countries in accelerating their economic and social progress, while developing countries must make people at all levels aware of benefits and sacrifices involved, and to enlist their full participation in achieving the development goals and objectives. Sri Lanka is at a crucial juncture where it is experiencing a plethora of historic changes, particularly due to the prevailing economic crisis. A number of stakeholders are directly engaged in this process; while the economy is handled mainly by the Government and the public sector, their efforts are based on and are strengthened by the private sector and the people. As the UN has stressed, to strengthen communication and dissemination of information in commemoration of the said events, there is a pressing need to ensure dissemination of factual, timely, targeted, clear, accessible, multilingual, and science-based information, and thereby keep the people empowered. The people are at the centre of the ongoing and expected economic developments. On the one hand, they are the main contributors to the country’s economic revival, and on other hand, the Government and the authorities are answerable to them, as they are the most important stakeholder in a democracy. However, at this time of great economic upheaval, efforts by the Government and the authorities to keep the people informed appear to be inadequate. Even though certain efforts are being made towards this end, those efforts seem to have been limited to mere announcements of the Government’s decisions, and not aimed at making the people a part of the decision-making process.  In some cases, there are meagre Government-led dialogues about crucial matters such as the new tax reforms, fuel pricing formula, and debt restructuring, despite the fact that they have a massive, direct impact on the people. At the same time, the foremost mechanism aimed at giving the people the opportunity to obtain information, i.e. the Right To Information (RTI) Act and the RTI Commission, need to be strengthened, as certain public institutions are yet to adhere to this law and act in a transparent manner. As the UN has stressed, merely informing people of facts does not constitute effective information and communication; it also has to be timely, targeted, clear, accessible, and science-based. If the people do not have an understanding about their role in economic revival and the confidence that their contribution is put to good use, their contribution is likely to fall short. One crucial attitudinal change that is yet to take place in Sri Lanka is bringing the Government/the authorities and the people to a place where both parties acknowledge that economic revival requires collective effort, and that such effort should be based on informed decisions, not forced adherence to laws or policies. To do that, the Government and the authorities need to adopt more transparent communication mechanisms that could build confidence among the people.


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