Guidelines have been formulated to simplify the articles under the Right to Information Act. The Information Commission disclosed that the guidelines were drafted with the assistance of international expert in the field, Dr. Joan Barata.
The guidelines were drafted by the Information Commissioner's Office, under the Strengthening Maldives Communication Governance Project by the Aliena International. The project was funded by the British government.
Works to draft the guidelines initially commenced in 2022. Four guidelines elaborating the articles under the act were formulated. The four areas in which the guidelines were drafted are national security information, interpretation of information, commercial scope, information on trade secrets and information which are not considered as personal information.
The closing ceremony held to mark the end of the workshop to draft the guidelines was graced by the presence of Deputy Commissioner of the British High Commission Kazi Dinsmore.
Speaking at the ceremony, Information Commissioner Ahidh Rasheed revealed that the translation of the new guidelines will make it easier for individuals to comprehend the articles under the Act. He said this will be a convenience for several individuals and various government agencies.
In addition to preparing the guidelines, specialised training programmes were conducted, targetting the ICOM staff, information officers of government bodies, civil society organisations and Right to Information activists. A total of 104 individuals participated in the training programmes.