2022 International Day for Universal Access to Information to reaffirm commitment towards the right to information in the digital era

Sustainable Development Goal 16, Target 10 calls on us to ensure "public access to information and fundamental freedoms". As the United Nations custodian agency for SDG 16.10.2, UNESCO continues to report on the progress of the state of public access to information worldwide. With eight years remaining before the 2030 SDG deadline, this global event will be a major occasion to reaffirm UNESCO Member States' commitment to ensure public access to information and to protect fundamental freedoms.

The high-level roundtable will look at how to use digital governance and artificial intelligence for the public good, in favour of developing resilient societies and open environment for access to information. The conclusions of the discussions will be summarized in the Tashkent Declaration that will be adopted at the end of the conference.

To assist Member States to deal with these challenges, an updated version of UNESCO's "Policy Guidelines for the Development and Promotion of Governmental Public Domain Information" and its Open Data Guidelines in support of transparency, innovation and e-governance will be presented.