The outstanding speakers of the Conference included PM Edi Rama, who emphasized in his remarks that “the right to information is not merely a democratic instrument, but a prerequisite for the health and development of functioning democracies, in order not to be afraid of the light, but to embrace the light and to work much more closely with institutions like the Commissioner’s Office, like the Ombudsman, to ensure that everyone starting from the government understands that the exposure to information and using it to bring everything to light is an exercise, a very healthy process, and a very effective tool against misinformation and disinformation.”

At the Opening Ceremony of the activity, Adrain Alcalá Méndez, President of the Board of Commissioners of INAI, Mexico and at the same time, Chairman of the Executive Committee of ICIC, in the welcome speech, assessed that “the evolution of Albania towards a more open, democratic and more representative society is proof of the transformative power of access to information and transparency.”

The attendees were greeted, via a video message, by Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director General for Communication and Information at UNESCO, according to whom “this Conference is an important testimony to Albania’s sustainable commitment to respecting the right for information, transparency and inclusiveness in the increasingly interconnected world we live in.”
In his address, Giuseppe Busia, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Authority of Italy, emphasized that “participation in this Conference is an indicator of the common commitment to revisit the important role of access to information in the framework of transparency, inclusiveness and accountability at the global level.”
With the participation of over 200 representatives of ICIC member states/jurisdictions or observers from all continents, of international organizations such as the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the World Bank and OECD, from the academia, civil society or media, local and foreign, in the course of the two days of the Open Session, 5 main panels were held. The discussions revolved around granting the exercise of this right in the context of vulnerable groups, as well as the interaction between regulatory authorities in the field with civil society and the media to make access to information and transparency as effective as possible.

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