Unidad de Acceso a la Información Pública

Informe Anual 2021 en inglés

Informes anuales

1. Introduction

The Access to Public Information Unit (hereinafter, "UAIP" for its acronym in Spanish), is the control body created by the Law on Access to Public Information No. 18,381 of October 17, 2008 (hereinafter, "LAIP" for its acronym in Spanish), to ensure compliance with the obligations it imposes on public bodies.

During the year 2021, the Unit continued its functions by carrying out several activities in order to advance in the consolidation of a culture of transparency in the public administration, as well as to guarantee the effective exercise of the right of access to public information in our country.

By virtue of the duties set forth in Section 21 of the Law, it is responsible for preparing and submitting to the Executive Branch an annual report on the status of this right. Through this report the UAIP also disseminates and accounts for everything done during the year 2021.

The report is made in April (information processed as of April 7, 2022), at the end of the term granted by Section 7 of LAIP for regulated entities to submit their annual compliance report.

2. Main activities carried out

Awareness-raising and training activities

Several awareness-raising activities were carried out, both nationally and regionally, many of them in coordination with the Transparency and Access Network (RTA, for its acronym in Spanish). One of the highlights was the 20th Meeting of the RTA, held in Uruguay on May 14, where the topic of "Access to environmental information: importance of the entry into force of the Escazú Agreement" was discussed.

Strengthening of the system's capacities (SAIP)

Activities were carried out at the national level to strengthen the capacities of public bodies, especially considering that progress was made in the implementation and development of the new single window system (SAIP), which to date provides support to 32 bodies that receive and manage requests for access through this system and enables them to comply with the obligations imposed by law regarding the UAIP.

An estimated 90 participants from the bodies that use the system took part in 5 training sessions via zoom, and individual coordination and advisory meetings were held with each body.

Training in Archives and Document Management

In this area of work, to celebrate May 20, a training course was held on access to archives on human rights violations, in which around 40 people participated.

A course entitled "Archives and Human Rights" was also given jointly with the Latin American Association of Archives (ALA, for its acronym in Spanish), which consisted of three sessions and was attended by more than 90 participants.

9th International Seminar

Another noteworthy activity was the 9th International Seminar on Access to Public Information, held on October 27 and 28, entitled "Advancing in modern and efficient public management". Uruguayan speakers and speakers from different countries of the region participated in the event, which was attended by more than 255 people.

Oversight and Control

Regarding oversight and control, the first edition of the National Transparency and Access to Information Index (INTAI, for its acronym in Spanish) was launched in 2021, aiming to reach 100% of the regulated parties subject to Law No. 18,381.

With this objective, the UAIP made available to the bodies, a digital questionnaire that allowed measuring their degree of compliance in the aspects included in the Index.

All public bodies, state or not, had to complete the questionnaire before the deadline established for this purpose. The responses received are being audited and reviewed by the Unit and the final results will be disseminated and published during the first quarter of 2022.

Contribution to the culture of Open Government

The UAIP worked actively in the preparation of the 5th National Action Plan 2021-2024, thus ratifying the role assumed by the country to promote the values of open government as transversal principles in public management.

Uruguay assumed 29 commitments from 23 state institutions. The UAIP presented a commitment related to strengthening oversight and accountability of compliance with the Law on Access to Public Information. It also shares responsibility with other agencies in the commitments related to the creation of an Observatory for the use of Artificial Intelligence in the State and the Accessibility of information and digital services of the State.

International Relations

It should be noted that the UAIP continued to hold the Presidency of the Transparency and Access to Information Network (RTA) until May 2021. In that month, UAIP organized the 20th International Meeting of the Network, which took place on the 12th, 13th and 14th, where the Presidency was handed over to the INAI of Mexico by election of the members. It is worth mentioning that UAIP has also been elected to be part of the Board of Directors of the NETWORK.

The UAIP also continued to participate in the different working groups of the RTA on topics with regional scope related to the creation of Indicators, Documentary Management, Municipal Transparency, Transparency and Gender, Jurisprudence, Training and Dissemination, Parliamentary Transparency and Access and Vulnerable Groups, among others.

Series of Transparent Dialogues

In order to continue interacting with people, academia, civil societies and with the aim of continuing to disseminate the right of access to public information, the series of talks called "Transparent Dialogues" was created, which in the 2021 edition referred to "Trends and Innovation in Public Information".

The cycle consisted of three talks, all of which focused on technology as a facilitator of access to public information.

The first talk was called "State websites, artificial intelligence and active transparency" and had 85 people registered, the second was called "Transparency by design in Access to Information" with 52 people registered and the last talk was on "Transparency of algorithms: exchange of ideas from different points of view" with 61 people registered.

Municipal Transparency Pilot

The pilot of the Municipal Transparency Project was launched with a zoom session held on December 20 with the participation of the Chairman of the Executive Committee, Dr. Gabriel Delpiazzo, and representatives of the municipalities that will participate in the pilot, with whom a Cooperation Agreement was signed. The Cooperation Advisor of the European Union Delegation in Uruguay also participated.

After the launching, training was provided by the UAIP team and the Consultant Team.

This project involves 12 municipalities corresponding to the departments of Canelones, Cerro Largo and Rivera, and aims to solve the main gaps identified in the municipal sector and take advantage of international good practices.

Action Plan for Access to Information with a Gender Perspective

The UAIP's Gender and DAIP Action Plan is a management tool that aims to introduce the gender perspective in key aspects of Uruguay's public information access system.

During 2021, the UAIP's website will be adapted and information on the Action Plan will be published, as well as links to the first version of the Active Transparency Manual (AT) Gender Perspective and all the information on the inputs obtained at the Open Government Dialogue Round Table held on November 26, 2020, thus complying with the goals set out in the Action Plan: 3.2. and 3.4.

A survey of the situation of women was also conducted through data collected in the Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Digital Citizenship (CAP, for its acronym in Spanish) 2020, Survey of Uses of Information and Communication Technologies (EUTIC, for its acronym in Spanish) 2019, and qualitative research using the technique of focus groups on barriers and facilitators for the adoption of digital channels, conducted in 2020.

Finally, through the application of Artificial Intelligence, the analysis of all complaints processed by the UAIP period 2010-set. 2021 with a gender perspective and the referred data were published as open data on the website.

3. Management indicators 2021

4. Control indicators 2021

The last business day of March of each year is the deadline to submit the annual report on the status of compliance with the obligations of access to public information that the Law imposes on the regulated parties.

The following is a summary of the information obtained on such compliance.

Clarification: The information corresponds to the data submitted by the regulated parties through the submission of the aforementioned reports.

In 2021, the regulated parties processed 5,230 requests for information, of which 4,678 were answered:

Of the requests responded to, the vast majority provided full access to the information requested, while a smaller proportion had multiple responses and only 150 were denied:

Requests answered

• Total number of requests for which full access was granted: 4936
• Total requests denied: 821
• Total requests with multiple responses: 150

In terms of response time, a large majority of the requests were responded to within 20 days:

In relation to the reasons for denial, the vast majority were because the information was not available:

Denial reasons:

• Confidentiality: 26 
• Secrecy: 7 
• Privacy: 22
• Nonexistence: 112

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