Who we are
Harmony African Center for Information Rights is a Civil Society, membership-based, Pan-African advocacy network that promotes access to information, transparency, accountable, corruption free leadership, awake to the fact that Climate Change and environment destructive practices injure humanity and hampers economic and social progression.
Our Vision
“An Africa where every individual enjoys equitable access to information, digital freedom, and the power to speak, know, and participate fully in democratic life.”
Our Mission
“To promote and protect the right to access information, freedom of expression, and digital rights across Africa through advocacy, research, capacity building, and strategic partnerships.”
Our Values
- Transparency
- Equity and Inclusion
- Freedom of Expression
- Empowerment
- Collaboration
- Integrity
- Innovation
Reasons for our Advocacy for Access to Information
Access to Information empowers citizens, fosters transparency and accountability in governance, drives economic development, facilitates collective problem-solving, and underpins individual rights and informed decision-making for better lives and societies.
It drives the sentiment to hold leaders accountable, understand complex issues like health and environment, and is a fundamental pillar for inclusive knowledge societies and sustainable development.
Access to information also streamlines processes and helps organizations and governments improve how they work, saving time and resources, and directly supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are enablers for poverty reduction, health, and peace, according to UNESCO.
Since we are a pan-African Organisation, we are cognizant of the many legal frameworks that push for access to information, starting with African Union’s Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter): This treaty, in Article 9(1), guarantees the right of every individual to receive information.
We are also supportive of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, which was adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in 2019.
We also support and advocate for the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa, which was adopted by the ACHPR in 2013, and offers guidance for Member States developing national access to information laws.
Harmony African Center for Information Rights is also supportive of UN legal instruments and resolutions that emphasize access to information, starting with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 19, which includes the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
We also advocate for full adoption of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by all African countries. Article 19 of this law recognizes the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers.