The Power of Using the Right to Information Act in Bangladesh: Experiences from the Ground

This publication documents the experiences of NGOs working in the field and how the RTI Act has had an impact on individuals in Bangladesh. The result is fifteen stories of how citizens and communities have used the RTI Act to obtain information from the government in order to hold their local government bodies to accounts and improve their living conditions.

In general terms, the stories highlight the processes through which people requested, obtained and used information, as well as the immediate impact. Taken together, the cases are early testimony of how RTI has helped ordinary citizens to claim their dues, services, and entitlements that previously had been denied to them. Moreover, these stories from Bangladesh suggest that use of the RTI Act to claim entitlements and expose mismanagement and discrimination is fundamental to the practical realization of other rights, especially socio-economic rights.

Year Country Organisation Author Type
2011 Bangladesh D.Net, Intercooperation, Manusher Jonno Foundation, Nagorik Uddyog, Nijera Kori, Research Initiatives Bangladesh NGO practicioners case study/ies, story/stories
Theory of Change Keywords Download/link
Intermediate Outcome 1 access to information, impact stories, using RTI Act Download/link