Côte d’Ivoire presented its experience in strengthening access to public information at the 17th International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC 2026), held from Sept. 28 to 30 in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Anne-Marie Konan Payne, president of Côte d’Ivoire’s Commission for Access to Information of Public Interest and Public Documents (CAIDP), took part in the conference, which was held jointly with the UNESCO Global Conference marking the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI 2026).
The three-day event, held under the theme “Upholding Information Integrity in the Digital Age: The Role of Access to Information in Addressing Information Disorder,” brought together representatives from 23 countries. The conference was officially opened by Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh.
Konan Payne took part in two panels, including a plenary session focused on the challenges of information disorder in Africa and the future of information integrity on the continent.
She presented several lessons from Côte d’Ivoire’s experience, including the professionalisation of information officers, capacity-building for public institutions, proactive disclosure of information, the development of partnerships and a systemic approach to making the right of access to information effective.
The approach reflects Côte d’Ivoire’s efforts to move beyond the formal recognition of the right to information and strengthen the practical conditions needed for citizens to exercise that right. The country has been working on areas including the identification of public documents, the organisation and accessibility of information, capacity-building for information officers, information maturity assessment, and the opening and reuse of public data.
Konan Payne argued that public information should increasingly be viewed as a resource for knowledge, public action and development.
In the face of growing disinformation, she called for efforts to focus not only on what needs to be fought, but also on what needs to be built: reliable, accessible and useful information.
“Above disinformation, there is information,” she said.
Her intervention came as the Freetown conference examined how timely and reliable official information can strengthen the information environment and help counter information disorder.
Beyond the conference panels, the Freetown meeting also provided an opportunity for African information authorities to strengthen regional cooperation.
On Sept. 30, a technical meeting of West African information commissions, initiated by Sierra Leone’s Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, led to the creation of the West Africa Network of Information Commissions.
The new network aims to strengthen cooperation among information commissions across West Africa and promote greater coordination and harmonisation of approaches and solutions relating to access to public information, particularly within the ECOWAS and WAEMU areas.
The network’s executive bureau includes Ibrahim Seaga Shaw of Sierra Leone as president, Anne-Marie Konan Payne of Côte d’Ivoire as secretary-general, Joash T. Hodges of Liberia as treasurer, and Shirley Arthey of Ghana as adviser.
As secretary-general, Konan Payne is expected to help mobilise French-speaking West African countries and strengthen their participation in the regional cooperation initiative, as well as Africa’s wider contribution to the ICIC.
Côte d’Ivoire’s participation in Freetown followed the 2026 edition of the Journées du Droit d’Accès à l’Information Publique (JDAIP), held in Abidjan on Sept. 24, 25 and 28.
The Abidjan meetings focused on moving from the recognition of the right to information toward its effective implementation and on making public information a strategic resource for development.
For the CAIDP, the Freetown conference therefore extended the momentum generated in Abidjan by allowing Côte d’Ivoire to share its experience, compare it with approaches from other African countries, strengthen regional cooperation and contribute to solutions adapted to the institutional realities of West Africa.
The ICIC-IDUAI conference itself concluded with the adoption of the Freetown Declaration on access to information as a pillar of information integrity, setting out a collective position on strengthening information integrity and access to reliable public information.