Program Reports: The Rule of Law

October 2024
Election Law Training Manual — Georgia Edition (PDF)
The Election Law Training Manual (ELTM) is designed to equip the legal community—ranging from seasoned professionals to law students—with a foundational understanding of elections, electoral law and processes, and other related issues. By fostering understanding of elections, the ELTM aims to empower legal professionals to uphold the integrity of our democratic system and engage meaningfully in their communities in Georgia as informed "citizen lawyers."

October 2024
Election Law Training Manual Georgia Edition — Supplementary Materials (PDF)
This collection of supplementary materials complements the ELTM - Georgia Edition, as a reference guide by providing additional detail on the methods and approaches lawyers can use to support, protect, and enhance our elections.

October 2024
Election Law Training Manual — Facilitator's Guide (PDF)
This guide accompanies the ELTM - Georgia Edition and offers the structure of a two-day training tailored to the content of each module in the manual. Its ready-made lesson plans can be used or adapted to train legal professionals on specific portions of the manual or individual modules, making it easy to provide election-related trainings.

June 2020
Findings for Selected Public Authorities in Bermuda (PDF)
The right of access to information is a powerful tool in the fight against corruption and in achieving good governance and development. It serves both government and its citizens by increasing confidence through enhanced transparency and accountability. This report covers the Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) findings for Bermuda.

Sept. 19, 2019
Advancing Women’s Right of Access to Information in Bangladesh: Successes and Lessons Learned (PDF)
With the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in August 2016, The Carter Center began The Advancing Women’s Right of Access to Information in Bangladesh program to ensure that women in Bangladesh may more meaningfully exercise the right of access to information and transform their lives.

May 8, 2017
Pilot Findings from Select Agencies: Guatemala (Spanish) (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) pilot phase findings report for Guatemala.

April 17, 2017
Pilot Findings from Select Agencies: Jordan (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) pilot phase findings report for Jordan.

Dec. 20, 2016
Pilot Findings from Select Agencies: Mexico (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) pilot phase findings report for Mexico.

Dec. 20, 2016
Pilot Findings from Select Agencies: Guatemala (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) pilot phase findings report for Guatemala.

Oct. 19, 2016
Women and the Right of Access to Information in Bangladesh – Executive Summary (PDF)
This Bangla-language executive summary outlines the findings of a mixed-methods study conducted by The Carter Center's Global Access to Information Program and Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), with support from the Information Commission, in six districts in Bangladesh between April and December, 2015. The full study is part of a multi-country project to assess the main obstacles facing women in accessing information and inform efforts to overcome those obstacles.

Sept. 28, 2016
The System for Tracking and Monitoring Freedom of Information Requests in Liberia (PDF)
The Carter Center, in coordination with partners LMC and LFIC, developed a system for tracking and monitoring requests under the Liberian Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, which was established in September 2010. The following report provides an overview of the methodology used to collect and analyze data; summarizes the findings from one year’s worth of STAM-FOI data collection; recognizes the limitations of this work; reviews lessons learned; and provides a number of recommendations for moving forward.

Sept. 20, 2016
Women and the Right of Access to Information in Bangladesh – Full Report (PDF)
This mixed-methods study, conducted by the Carter Center's Global Access to Information Program and Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), with support from the Information Commission, Bangladesh, is part of a multi-country project to assess the main obstacles facing women in accessing information and inform efforts to overcome those obstacles. Conducted in six districts in Bangladesh between April and December 2015, the study demonstrates a gender inequity in the exercise of the right of access to information for women in Bangladesh and identifies the greatest perceived obstacles to equal access to information.

Aug. 8, 2016
Findings from Select Agencies: Liberia (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) findings report for Liberia.

May 30, 2016
Women and the Right of Access to Information in Bangladesh – Executive Summary (PDF)
This executive summary outlines the findings of a mixed-methods study conducted by The Carter Center's Global Access to Information Program and Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), with support from the Information Commission, in six districts in Bangladesh between April and December, 2015. The full study is part of a multi-country project to assess the main obstacles facing women in accessing information and inform efforts to overcome those obstacles.

May 30, 2016
Women and the Right of Access to Information in Bangladesh Recommendations for Action (PDF)
On May 30, 2016, the Carter Center and Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), with the support of the Information Commission, Bangladesh, organized a joint stakeholder meeting to generate creative solutions to address inequities faced by women in the exercise of the fundamental right of access to information.

May 13, 2016
Pilot Findings from Select Agencies: Bangladesh (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) pilot phase findings report for Bangladesh.

April 1, 2016
Findings from Select Agencies: Uganda (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) findings report for Uganda.

April 1, 2016
Findings from Select Agencies: Nigeria (PDF)
The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Legislation Implementation Assessment Tool (IAT) findings report for Nigeria.

Feb. 18, 2015
Women and Access to Information in Guatemala Recommendations for Action (PDF) (En español) 
On February 18th, the Carter Center, Accion Ciudadana, the Institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Presidential Secretariat for Women, the Office of the Ombudsman for Indigenous Women, and UN Women organized a joint stakeholder meeting to generate creative solutions to address inequities faced by women in the exercise of the fundamental right of access to information.

Feb. 1, 2015
Informe | Mujeres y el Derecho de Acceso a la Información en Guatemala (PDF)
La investigación y el presente informe sobre Mujeres y el Derecho de Acceso a la Información en Guatemala fueron posibles gracias al trabajo y compromiso de diversas personas. Laura Neuman, directora de la Iniciativa Global de Acceso a la Información del Centro Carter, inspiró este esfuerzo enfocado en examinar las asimetrías que enfrentan las mujeres en el ejercicio del derecho de acceso a la información y fomentar proyectos creativos para superar estas desigualdades. Junto con la profesora Suzanne Piotrowski, desarrolló la metodología del estudio. La Sra. Neuman asumió la responsabilidad del diseño del proyecto, la capacitación de investigadores, el trabajo con interlocutores locales y la edición de este informe.

Nov. 1, 2014
Executive Summary | Women and the Right of Access to Information in Guatemala (PDF) (En español) 
This document presents a draft version of the preliminary findings of a mixed methods study conducted by The Carter Center and Accion Ciudadana in six departments of Guatemala between July and September of 2014. The study was made possible by the generous financial support of Irish Aid. Please do not cite. 

July 10, 2014
Women and Access to Information in Liberia Recommendations for Action (PDF)
The Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, and the Ministry of Gender and Development, in collaboration with the Women’s NGO Secretariat and the Carter Center’s Access to Information project in Liberia organized a joint stakeholder meeting. On July 10, 2014, 47 government representatives, traditional community leaders, and civil society champions working to advance transparency, accountability, freedom of information, and women’s right met to discuss the findings of the recent Carter Center study “Women and the Right of Access to Information in Liberia.” 

July 7, 2014
Executive Summary | Women and the Right of Access to Information in Liberia (PDF)
For over 15 years, The Carter Center has served as a leader in advancing passage, implementation, and enforcement of access to information regimes and in raising the international profile of the value of the right to information. Through this work, the Center’s Global Access to Information Program has identified a potential inequity facing women in the exercise of the right to information.

July 7, 2014
Women and the Right of Access to Information in Liberia (PDF)
The following report outlines a study conducted by The Carter Center's Global Access to Information Initiative and the Women's NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), with support from the Ministry of Gender, in Liberia over a period of six months from December 2013 to May 2014. The study is part of a multi-country project to assess the main obstacles facing women in accessing information, and to identify potential solutions.

Feb. 7, 2013
Government Transparency and Innovations: Conference Summary (PDF)
Conference summary issued by the Center for Public Participation Studies and Supports at Peking University's Law School and The Carter Center, who together hosted a December 2012 conference in Beijing, China, on "Government Transparency and Innovations: Achievements, Challenges, and the Way Forward." Participants created a list of the most urgent next steps in advancing open government information that can serve as a roadmap for China, promoting the implementation of existing transparency laws and regulations and providing guidance for a long-term path toward greater transparency in China.

March 4, 2010
African Regional Findings and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information (PDF)
Findings and plan of action issued by 130 participants from 20 countries throughout Africa, representing governments, civil society organizations, international and regional bodies and financial institutions, donor agencies and foundations, the private sector, media outlets and scholars, gathered in Accra, Ghana from February 7-9, 2010, under the auspices of The Carter Center, in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, the Media Foundation for West Africa, and Open Democracy Advice Centre, to advance the right of access to information.

April 28, 2009
Americas Regional Findings and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information (PDF)
Plan of action issued by 115 participants from 18 countries in the Americas, representing governments, civil society organizations, international and regional bodies and financial institutions, donor agencies and foundations, the private sector, media outlets and scholars, gathered in Lima, Peru from April 28-30, 2009, under the auspices of The Carter Center, in collaboration with the Organization of American States, the Andean Commission of Jurists and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, to advance the right of access to information in the region.

March 26, 2008
Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action For the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information (PDF)
Declaration and plan of action issued by more than 125 representatives of government, civil society, media, private sector, international financial institutions, donors, and academics from 40 countries who participated in the Feb.27-29, 2008, global conference on the right of access to public information held at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga.

June 1, 2006
Access to Information: Jamaica (PDF)
Access to Information: Building a Culture of Transparency (Jamaica), June 2006, Atlanta, Ga..

April 1, 2006
El Camino Hacia el Derecho de Acceso a la Información Bolivia (PDF)
El Camino Hacia el Derecho de Acceso a la Información, Bolivia, El Programa de las Américas.

May 1, 2004
La Promocion de la Democracia a Traves del Acceso a la Informacion: Bolivia (PDF)
Acceso a la Informacion: Bolivia. (The Carter Center, May 2004.)

May 1, 2004
The Promotion of Democracy Through Access to Information: Bolivia (PDF)
A Carter Center publication. The Promotion of Democracy Through Access to Information.

Nov. 1, 2002
Access To Information: A Key To Democracy (PDF)
Overview of the role of access to information in strengthening democracy and combatting corruption including case studies.

Nov. 1, 2002
Acceso A La Informacion: La Llave Para La Democracia (PDF)
Los tiempos han cambiado. La conciencia publica sobre la corrupcion y sus efectos corrosivos ha incrementado de manera sustancial desde que en 1977 aprobe como ley el Acta de Practicas Corruptas en el Extranjero do los Estados Unidos, la cual prohibe el soborno a empleados de gobiernos extranjeros. Actualmente, muchos paises estan pasando leyes que combaten la corrupcion y aumentan la confianza publica en el gobierno. El acceso a la informacion es un elemento crucial del esfuerzo dirigido, a reducir la corrupcion, acrecentar la responsabilidad gubernamental ante el publico, y fortalecer la confianza entre el gobierno y los ciudadanos.

May 1, 1999
The Carter Center's Transparency Project
The Carter Center's Transparency Project by Dr. Shelley McConnell, associate director, Carter Center Americas Program.

May 1, 1999
Transparency in the Americas (PDF)
Report on the Latin American and Caribbean Program's "Transparency for Growth in the Americas" conference. Topics include: corruption, transparency, implementing international accords, civil society, and the role of the media.