African Commission calls for comments

The draft African Guidelines on Access to Data have been officially released by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Besides for English, there are also French and Portuguese versions available.

The Commission’s announcement explains that the draft has been developed under the leadership of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa.

It adds that the Rapporteur, Commissioner Ourveena Geereesha Topsy Sonoo, “invites all stakeholders, including State actors, non-State actors, National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organizations, in addition to the Commission’s partners, to forward their inputs on the draft Guidelines, to the Commission by close of business on 14 July 2026.”

Contributions should be sent to the Secretariat of the Commission on the following email addresses: [email protected] ; [email protected].

The Alliance sees this as another major milestone in the work to unlock public and private data for public interest across Africa.