Since FY 2011/12 has been providing over 300 million Uganda shillings for access to facilitate awareness raising among public agencies to create knowledge on citizens’ right to information. This complements over 2 billion Uganda shillings allocated annually to facilitate government’s pro-active disclosure of budget information through barazas (public fora). In 2011 Government through the Ministry of Information and National Guidance in partnership with civil society trained over 160 public information officers on citizen’s right to information and the Access to Information Act. The training has had some positive impact with a number of agencies e.g. Masaka District Local Government and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development taking practical measures to implement the ensure citizens enjoy their right to Information. Government of Uganda and civil society has worked with the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights through its Special Mechanism on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information to contribute to the development of Access to Information Model for African Union, the African Platform on Access to Information Declaration as well as the Global Principles on National Security and Access to Information. Government is discussing with civil society processes to propose amendments of the Access to Information Act to align it with regional and international standards. This is expected to result in strengthening the implementation of the Access to Information Act and oversight. To strengthen engagement with civil society Government is studying possibility of joining the Open Government Partnership which provides a framework for collaborative engagement to promote the right of access to information, fiscal transparency, citizen participation and information, communication technology. Uganda enjoys one of the most vibrant electronic and print media in Africa. As of July 2010 Uganda had up to 244 licensed radio and TV stations (see Annex 1 for the list) The 9th Parliament (elected in May 2011) amended their rules of procedure to allow live televised coverage of their sessions. We can therefore say that today, the public is privy to all Parliamentary proceedings. The Public is also allowed to sit in and watch live the deliberations at the Parliamentary public gallery. Government intends to continue reviewing and amending laws that may still be inconsistent with media freedoms and also to strengthen internal accountability mechanisms in the event of human rights violations against the media by government operatives like the Interception of communication Act 2010 which regulates information dissemination. ARTICLE 10: The Right to Freedom of Association under the Law. Legislative: Article 29 (1) (e) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides that every person shall have the right to freedom of association or unions, including trade unions and political and other civic organizations. Uganda continues to abide by these constitutional provisions. Other measures: Every Ugandan is free to register or join a political party of their choice. As of 2010 Uganda had up to 38 registered political parties some of which fielded candidates for various posts in the May 2011 general elections. 19