Why is it so important to know about International Day for Universal Access to Information?
The 28th of September, Internationally recognized as the “Universal access to information” day. You must have been wondering what is the point of this day. This day is extremely crucial as it preserves and celebrates our right to gather, disseminate and receive any information that we wish to. This day is directly linked with the right to freedom of expression of an individual.
“Artificial Intelligence, e-Governance and Access to Information” is the topic for the Global conference in 2022. The venue for the global conference has been Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The conference will include an interministerial round table and a high level of Access to Information and Artificial Intelligence with international experts.
History Of the International Day for Universal Access to Information
The UNESCO ( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on the 15th of November 2015, decided to consider the 28th of September as the International Day for Universal Access to Information. Gradually the United Nations General Assembly adopted the same and started considering the same date as the International Day for Universal Access to Information.
Why Recognise International Day for Universal Access to Information?
If the citizens will not be well informed about what is going on around the world, they will not able to question the government. Questioning the government is extremely important otherwise the policies can be used in an unjust manner.
A citizen that is not informed can not be attentive and therefore it can be direct exploitation of the democratic conditioning of the country. So to keep the people aware of what is happening around, the right to information and the freedom to express is extremely important, and hence the recognition of this day is important.
With the recent developments in civilization access to information has been easily accessible. With SDG 16, the target (16.10) to promote access to information is also anchored in the 2030 Agenda.
Access to information
As we read above, the importance of access to information for the citizens of every country. This is exactly the reason why the Universal body of the United Nations found it necessary to recognize this very day of the Omnipresent Access to information.
If we look at the demerits of the denied access to information, the government of the countries will be given infinite powers to rule the people and eventually the demolition of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism.
Significance of the day
Why is this day so influential? this day is a huge manifestation of the preservation of human rights that people sometimes fail to understand. This day plays a role as a reminder to the public that they have “universal access to information”.
The day might not sound that significant to a lot of people, and people might say that “why is it necessary to count such a day” but let us face it, a lot of zones in the world do not have that easy access to democracy and freedom of speech and expression. So this minor celebration is not that “minor” after all.
This day also helps in spreading awareness regarding the need to create and execute the laws in a way that preserves human rights in the best possible way.
Conclusion
As discussed above this International day of Universal Access to information was proclaimed on the 28th of September at the 74th United Nations General Assembly with the sole purpose of spreading awareness and protecting the rights of people. If people will be informed then only they will be able to question the authorities.
If the authorities are left unquestioned, they come into huge powers leaving the citizens with no power. So these rights help in questioning and being aware. Thus, democracy is retained in the hands of the general public. From here we can see how important it is to recognize such small days and spread awareness via them.
Even today, most of us might be unaware of the presence of this day. Let us all be aware and further spread awareness about the right of the citizens, not just being aware but also taking a stand if they are not sufficiently enjoyed. Moreover, it is important to Be yourself, Love yourself!
