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The right of access to information is of relevance and importance to the OAS and it has been developed through the Summits process and has also been placed on the agenda for the Committee of Political and Juridical affairs, under several General Assembly Resolutions. Pursuant to operative paragraphs 8.a and 13.a of General Assembly Resolution [AG/RES. 2288 (XXXVII-O/07)] the Department of International Law coordinated a working group instructed to produce a study providing detailed information on the right to access to information, as well as policy and legislative recommendations. The result of this effort is the Joint Document Recommendations on Access to Information, document CP/CAJP-2599/08.

Most recently, pursuant to operative paragraph 9 of General Assembly Resolution AG/RES.  2514 (XXXIX-O/09), the Department of International Law was instructed to draft, in cooperation with the Inter-American Juridical Committee, the Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Department of State Modernization and Good Governance, and with the cooperation of the member states and civil society, a Model Law on Access to Public Information and a guide for its implementation, in keeping with international standards in this field.  To accomplish this task, the Department of International Law has assembled a working group to draft and edit the model law and implementation guide.

Member States of the OAS have recognized that Access to information is a fundamental tool for citizen participation in the democratic system. In addition, access to information is an essential component for maintaining accountability and transparency of public administration, which in turn leads to development and improved life conditions.
Furthermore, the OAS and its Member States acknowledge that empowering people with information contributes to greater development objectives; allows the disadvantaged to become involved in initiatives that affect them; empowers individuals to seek information on a number of issues that affect their living conditions including accessibility of basic services, education, medical care, and voting rights in it all results in governments that better manage funds, which in turn has the potential to create confidence on behalf of foreign investors.

This website has been created as a first step to facilitate the access of the public to information and it contains:
1) a summary of the background on the efforts of the OAS towards the creation of a declaration on Access to Public Information;
2) an explanation of the contents of the study on Recommendations on Access to Information, which in turn analyzes the recognition of the Access to Information as a Human Right, a Democratic Right and a tool to improve governance, and also a series of Policy and Legislative recommendations on Access to Information;
3) information on the special sessions on access to information conducted by the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council of the OAS on April 28th, 2006, and December 15th, 2008.
4) a presentation of the Complementary Report to the document [CP/CAJP-2599/08] called Report on the Questionnaire on Legislation and Best Practices about Access to Public Information, document CP/CAJP-2608/08, produced by the Trust for the Americas.