At the start of December, we are pleased to announce that to date over 450 organisations have signed the Lyon Declaration. Such a robust base of support actively helps our work to ensure access to information is sufficiently reflected in the UN post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

About 3/4 of the signatories are from the broader library community and we are very happy to see such a wide and enthusiastic uptake. The remaining 1/4 are from outside the library sector which shows how broad the support for equitable access to information can be.

Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development

What are the next steps?

IFLA and all other organisations and member states involved in the UN post-2015 Development Agenda are currently waiting for the synthesis report of the UN Secretary General. This report will outline the priorities and main goals of the Development Agenda.

Once published, IFLA will provide an analysis of the report, mapping it against our goals across the Development Agenda (these include: access to information, culture, education and ICTs). Some IFLA Sections have already provided us with useful briefs which outline the need of the goals of the Lyon Declaration for the profession. These briefs will help us better respond to the synthesis report and to promote access to information; we encourage more IFLA Sections to jump in.

Get involved

  • sign the Lyon Declaration and add your voice to the call at the United Nations;
  • organise meetings with policy makers in your country and use the Toolkit created by IFLA in order to make the voice of the library community heard on a national level;
  • translate the Lyon Declaration into your language and share it with colleagues in your own country;
  • encourage others in the library and development sectors to sign the Lyon Declaration;
  • promote the principles of the Lyon Declaration throughout your network and ensure that the message gets spread as widely as possible.

Background

The Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development calls upon United Nations Member States to make an international commitment through the post-2015 UN development agenda.  This agenda proposes to ensure that everyone has access to, and is able to understand, use and share the information that is necessary to promote sustainable development and democratic societies. It was prepared by IFLA and a number of strategic partners in the library and development communities.