Www.pravodaznam.ba launched – the first portal for free access to information in BiH!

Today, www.pravodaznam.ba was promoted in Sarajevo – the first automated portal for assistance with requests for free access to information. The portal was realized by UG “Why Not” in cooperation with Transparency International, and the Information Program of the Open Society Foundation, MySociety from Great Britain and Access Info from Spain.

Through this portal, BiH citizens will be able to easily send requests for free access to information to all public institutions, institutions and companies in BiH and ask them for the information they want. Also, the “Right to Know” portal contains a database of institutions in BiH with contact information that can be easily expanded, and will contain a database of all requests that will be sent through the portal, as well as the responses of those to whom requests are sent.

In addition to citizens, the portal can be used by representatives of civil society organizations, journalists and media representatives, as well as all other interested populations. The portal has automated procedures for monitoring the status of requests, the response status of institutions, as well as tools for searching requests, users and institutions. In this way, the practice of limiting the institutions’ responses to the senders only and not to the other interested public will be avoided.

Boris Brkan from UG Why did not emphasize that the institutions will benefit from the portal, and especially the persons in charge of answering requests, since by using the portal they will avoid answering the same queries several times. Also, the functionalities of the portal include various mechanisms for protection against its misuse, as well as the possibility for users to become more actively involved in the administration and work of the portal. ”

Srđan Blagovčanin from Transparency International added that given the numerous problems in the implementation of the law on freedom of access to information, the portal will contribute to easier and faster communication between citizens and institutions and easier application of the law.

“In any case, over time, this portal will significantly influence the understanding of the concept of free access to information by representatives of institutions and citizens, and of course raise the level of transparency of institutions and society as a whole.” – concluded Darko Brkan from UG Why no.

Team UG Why not
Transparency International