Promoting Transparency!

During the last month all participants from this Project have been receiving the information they requested as part of the practice they did during the workshop about the right to access public information.  Requests have been made to the Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Energy and Mining, Ministry of Culture and Municipalities, among others.  It was noticeable that many of the requests they made were about the budgets assigned to their communities and how the funds have been used.

Request made by Amalia to the Ministry of Finances, asking about the budget assigned for education in her community

In the community of San Carlos Sija there is a big concern about the environment and a couple of requests were addressed to the Ministry of Energy and Mining to find out about active licenses to exploit mines in their department, Quetzaltenango, and to know if any person or company is not acting legally.  For this and other reactions they will be using the blogs at the library.

Request made by Silvia to the Ministry of Energy and Mining, asking for the list of legal mining operations in her department

The biggest challenge for the libraries is still to provide free reliable internet to their communities and to update their computers so that more users can access to information and engage in civic participation through technology and social networks.

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  1. Pingback: Rising Voices » One Year Later: Xela Civic Libraries

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