92484
Increasing Access to Information in Mexico                                                            April 24, 2006
Background                                                   Financing
Mexico has shown strong commitment to enhancing              Total cost : US$477,000
transparency and accountability.  In June 2002, it
became one of the first countries in Latin America           IDF Grant: US$477,000
to pass a Freedom of Information Act:  the Federal
                                                             Implementation period: October 2004 -
Transparency and Access to Governmental Public               March 2008
Information Law.
                                                             Geographical area: The whole country
The law guarantees the rights of Mexican citizens
to access public information at the federal level,           Implementing agency: Instituto Federal
                                                             de Acceso a la Información (IFAI)
thus promoting higher levels of accountability
throughout society.  The law promotes public              
oversight of government budget allocation and
expenditure, and enforces disclosure of information       
on financial management, public services, and
                                                          
public procurement processes.  It also establishes
what information should be public and regulates           
how it should be disclosed.

In order to guarantee the full implementation of the
law and respond to the widespread demand for              
information, the Government created the Federal
Institute for Access to Information (Instituto Federal    
de Acceso a la Informacion – IFAI).  IFAI is a
                                                          
decentralized agency with operational, budgetary
and decision-making autonomy.  Its main                   
responsibilities include:
                                                          
       Overseeing implementation of the law and
       promoting access to information policies;          
       Issuing regulations on how to provide public
       information to citizens, and managing data
       and archives in federal agencies;
       Guaranteeing the right of access to
       governmental public information;
       Protecting personal data and information
       administrated by federal agencies;
       Resolving denials of information requests by
       federal agencies. 

Since its creation, IFAI has focused on archives
management for federal agencies and developing
an effective system to track citizens’ requests for
information from federal agencies.

The World Bank is supporting the work of IFAI
through a grant from the Institutional Development
Fund.

Project objective:

To strengthen the institutional capacities of IFAI
and extend the experience at the federal level to
decentralized levels of Mexico’s public sector. 

Project activities:

       Designing a strategy to organize federal
       agencies’ archives.  This will make the
       Access to Information System (AIS)
developed by IFAI and the Secretariat of
Public Administration more accurate,
effective, and operational.
Enabling state and municipal governments in
Mexico to adopt and adapt the AIS.