UPDATED TENTATIVE PROGRAMME

Theme: Upholding Information Integrity in the Digital Age: The Role of Access to Information in Addressing Information Disorder

Conference Date: 28 to 30 September 2026 – Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Venue: Freetown International Conference Centre, Aberdeen, Freetown.

Programme: Please click here to download this file

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Sunday 27th Sept, 2026.

18:00 - 21.00

WELCOME COCKTAIL HOSTED BY THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND CIVIC EDUCATION AT THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY (NATCA) TOWER.

DAY 1. 28th Sept 2026

08:30 - 09:00

Registration of participants and welcome tea

09:10 - 09:15

Handover ceremony: Dr Ibrahim Seaga SHAW (Chairman/information Commissioner, Sierra Leone and organizers of IDUAI 2025 and ICIC 2025

09:15 - 09:30

Welcome Statements: Mr Besnik Dervishi, ICIC Chairman and Information Commissioner, Albania, Hon Chernor Bah, Minister of Information and Civic Education, Sierra Leone Mr Khaled el-Anani, Director General of UNESCO (TBC),

09:30 - 09:50

Official Opening: HE Dr Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone and Chairman of ECOWAS (confirmed),

09:50 -10:05

Official Photo opportunity

10:05 -10:15

Keynote address by Stuart Russell, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Centre for Human-Compatible AI, University of California, Berkley (confirmed)

10:15 -11:15

High-Level Plenary Panel: Serafina Wakana, UN Resident Coordinator, Sierra Leone (tbc), Mariya Gabriel, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information (UNESCO) (confirmed), Information Minister of one ECOWAS country, Ms Geereeshatopsy Sonoo African Union Rapporteur on Freedom of Information and Access to Information (confirmed) ); Rodrigo Fontenelle de Araújo Miranda, General Comptroller of the State of Sao Paolo, Brazil (confirmed)

11: 15 -11.30

Tea/Coffee Break

Moderator, Mr Gilbert Sendugwa, Africa Freedom of Information Network (confirmed)

11:30 -12:30

Plenary Panel 1: How timely, reliable official information can strengthen the information environment and counter information disorder (UNESCO). Speakers: Caroline Maynard, Information Commissioner, Canada (confirmed); Dorothy Jemator, Information Commissioner, Kenya (confirmed); Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Chief Information Commissioner, Pakistan (TBC) ; Maxwell Kadiri, Open Society Foundation (confirmed);

12:30 -13:30

Plenary Session: 2: From Transparency to Proactive Disclosure: Towards a New International Standard (session organized together with the OGP, OECD, and the Government of the Netherlands:

Aidan Eyakuze (OGP, CEO), Tanzania (confirmed)
Emily O'Reilly (OGP Ambassador / Former European Ombudsman): (confirmed)
Elsa Pilichowski (OECD, Director for Public Governance) (confirmed)
Representative of the Government of the Netherlands (confirmed)
Alessandro Bellantoni, Director, Policy and Partnerships · Open Government Partnership (confirmed)

13.30 - 14:30

Lunch

14:30 - 15:15

Plenary Panel 3: Stress Test on Freedom of Information Moderated by Guilliamme Canela, UNESCO , and Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy, Canada (all confirmed)

15:15 - 16:15

Parallel Sessions:

Parallel Session 1: Technological advancements in support of good record-keeping practices and proactive disclosure as enablers of credible information access. Speakers.

Hon Salamatu Monorma Bah, Minister of Comumunication, Technology and Innovation, Sierra Leone (confirmed); Marie Whellan, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (confirmed); Wattanapong Khumdee, Director - Office of the Official Information Commission, Thailand (confirmed); Valmir Gomes Dias, General Ombudsman of the State of São Paul (confirmed) Dr Dr. Attila Péterfalvi, Information Commissioner, Hungary (TBC)

Parallel Session 2: Youth Leadership and Digital Community Spaces in Promoting Information Integrity—Speakers

Ms Krenare Sogojeva Dërmaku, Information Commissioner of Kosovo (confirmed); Amrita Jhori, Right to Information Activist, India (confirmed); Khairil Yusof, Coordinator - Sinar Project, Malaysia; Ms. Concepción Campos Acuña. President Information Commission, Spain(TBC); Dave M Gomez, President, Freedom of Information Programme, The Philippines (Confirmed).

Parallel session 3: Panel Proposer and Moderator: Elvis Michel Kenmoe, UNESCO, Dakar, Senegal -- Access to Information, Public Interest Data, and Information Integrity in West Africa: One Year After Praia-Speakers:

Director, Media Rights Agenda (Nigeria) Information Commissioner Neneh McDougal Gaye (Gambia) CSO (Burkina Faso) Information Commissioner Genevieve Shirley Lartey (Ghana) Expert (Côte d’Ivoire.)

Parallel Session 4: Credible Data as a Catalyst for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers

Ms Kenyeh Barlay, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Sierra Leone (confirmed); Frederick Ampiah, UNDP Country Representative, Sierra Leone (TBC); Anne Marie Konan, Information Commissioner, Cote D’Ivoire (TBC); Sabrina Aliyeva, Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman), Azerbajan (TBC)

16:15 - 16:35

Tea Break

16:35 - 16:50

Plenary Session 4: feedback on parallel sessions

16:50 - 18:00

Plenary Session 5: New initiatives to strengthen ATI: Pretoria’s Proposition for Action and AU African Guidelines for Access to Data. Moderator: Marius Lukosiunas, Head of Section, Access to Information, UNESCO (confirmed)

Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Information Regulator (South Africa). (Confirmed)
Geereeshafirst name Topsy, The AU Special Rapporteur - (confirmed)
Mame Nadiack Wane, CNRA (Senegal) – (confirmed)
Pria Chetty, member of the I4T Knowledge Network and CEO of RIA, South Africa – (confirmed)
data coalition representative TBC

19:00 - 21:00

Dinner to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the UNESCO Information for All Programmme (IFAP) and inscription into UNESCO Memory of the World International list the Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance of 1766: The world’s first legislation guaranteeing free communication of information. Dinner will be open with the official ceremony of signing the MOU between UNESCO and ICIC

Day 2 - 29 Sept. 2026

08:45 - 09:15

Registration of participants and welcome tea

09.15 - 09:45

Key Note Speaker : Professor David Cuillier, University of Florida, USA

09:45 -11.00

Plenary Panel 1: Global Best Practices for ensuring that access to information can contribute to upholding and safeguarding information integrity.

Moderator: Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy, Canada

Mr Besnik Dervishi, Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Albania (confirmed); Ahmed Ahid Rasheed, Information Commissioner - Information Commissioner's Office - Maldives(confirmed; Sarrah Article 19 East Africa, Nairobi (TBC); Dr Francis Sowa, Media Reform Coordinating Group, SL (confirmed)

11:00 - 1:30

Tea/Coffee Break

11:30 -13:00

Plenary panel 2: Access to credible data for open government and public sector reform. Moderator: Marie Whellan, Policy Advisor, OECD, Paris (confirmed)

Jeanette Van Den Bulk, Deputy Information and Privacy Commissioner, British Columbia (confirmed); Swati Mehta, Asia-Pacific Regional Lead - Open Government Partnership(confirmed); Elizabeth Tyd, information commissioner, Australia (confirmed); Tarik Nesh-Mash, Open Government Partnership Africa Regional Lead (confirmed)

13:00 -14:00

Lunch

14:00 -15:15

Plenary Session 3 - The Challenges of Information Disorder in Africa: Wither Information Integrity? Panel hosted by African Network of Information Commissions (ANIC) in partnership with African Commission on Human and People’s rights –

Moderator Chance Kalololeksya, Human Rights Commission, Malawi (confirmed).

Speakers: Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson, ANIC/Information Regulator, South Africa(confirmed); Ms Geereeshatopsy Sonoo, African Union Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (confirmed). Omar Seghrouchni, President of Data Protection and Access to Information Morocco. Professor Guy Berger, Researcher at ICT Africa (TBC); Endale Hail Ombudsman, Ethiopia (TBC)

15:15-16:00

Parallel Panels:

Parallel session 1: Gender, Youth, and disability: How inequitable access fuels information disorder (speakers :Dr Isata Mahoi, Gender and Children’s Minister, Sierra Leone (confirmed); Laura Newman, Senior Advisor, Office of the Vice-President for Peace Programs, Carter Centre for Democracy, USA)(confirmed); Mr Joash T. Hodges, Information Commissioner, Liberia (confirmed); Jagath Liyanarach, ATI Commissioner, Sri Lanka (TBC)
Parallel Panel 2: MIL as Enabler of the Right of Access to Information in Latin America and beyond – Speakers to be proposed and invited by Marius of UNESCO

Parallel Panel 3: Balancing right to information and right to privacy/data protection in the context of beneficial ownership transparency. Panel Proposer and Moderator: Adam Foldes of Transparency International, Germany, Speakers: (tbc) a member of the Access Info Group - Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (tbc) a representative of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (confirmed) a right to information NGO (The Asia-Pacific Region proposed Ms Anjali Bhardwaj Sharma, Co-Convenor - National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), India); (tbc) representative of an Information Commission of an African Union country that has beneficial ownership register (Ghana, Nigeria or Kenya).

Parallel Panel 4: Access to Credible Environmental Data for Climate Resilience and Humanitarian Response. Moderator: Mr Edward Koroma, Transparency International, Siera Leone; Speakers: Hon Princess Dugba, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources; Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider(tbc), Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Germany; Donny Yoesgiantoro, Chairman and Commissioner - Central Information Commission Indonesia(TBC);Dr. Godfred Ameyaw Asiedu, Fisheries Transparency Initiative, West Africa (TBC);;

16:00 -16:30

Plenary Session 3: feedback from parallel sessions Moderator: Dr Emmanual
Gaima, Principal Adviser to the President and Head of Public Sector Reform

16:30 -16.50

Tea/Coffee Break

16.50 -17.30

Session 5 –Parallel Regional Meetings

Parallel session 1: African Network
Parallel session 2: Asian Network
Parallel session 3: European Network/ENTRI
Parallel session 4: Ibero - American Transparency and Access to Information Network
Parallel session 5: North American Network
Parallel session 6: Oceania – Australia Network

17.30 - 18.00

Session 6 - Plenary:
Moderators: Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw (RAIC-SL) and Mr Marius Lukosuinas (UNESCO
Paris)-Adoption of the Freetown ICIC/IDUAI Joint Declaration on access to
information as a pillar of Information Integrity and Closing Remarks by ICIC Chair Mr
Besnic Dervishi

19:00 - 20:30

Dinner and cultural gala hosted by RAIC-SL

DAY 3. - 30 Sept. 2026

09.30 - 13.00

Closed ICIC Administrative Meeting (more planning information to follow)

09:30 - 13:00

Closed NGO/CSO Meeting (in parallel) (more planning information to follow)

13:00 - 14:30

Lunch

Excursions to three touristic sites –Bunce Island, Tagocama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, and Peace Museum

Tentative Programme

UPDATED TENTATIVE PROGRAMME

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