Free Access to Information in Iran, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development focuses on the access to and publishing of information. The sixteenth goal explicitly emphasizes promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Target 16 . 10 emphasizes ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.

The adoption of free access to information Act in Iran in 2009 ensures the achievement of the sixteenth goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This law ensures the citizens’ right to have access to information in five chapters and twenty three articles, and there is an institution called the "Commission for publishing and free access to information” in Iran to build the infrastructure and the platforms for implementing this law.

This article attempts to describe the process of the national information policy development in Iran, which leads to the adoption of free access to information Act, and explain the provisions of the law to describe the actions taken to implement it. In this regard, we will introduce the website for free access to information as an appropriate solution providing the Platform for the implementation of this law. We will also explain how such institutions and organizations work in this system and make the information accessibility to citizens.

The National Library and Archives of Iran acts as a government information service organization in this system, and we will describe its role in this national plan implementing the publishing and free access to information Act. This article discusses how the national information policy in Iran supports the sixteenth goal of sustainable development, which will pave the way for changes in societies and promote the role of organizations such as the National Library of Iran in this challenge.