Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has been monitoring access to public information in Georgia since 2010. IDFI systematic monitoring has made a significant contribution in identifying key trends and problems in access to public information, implementation of effective public control mechanisms, and development of public sector accountability and open governance.

In the year 2020, given the crisis situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the importance of access to public information became especially clear. Against the background of the pandemic, the risks of opaque and irrational management of budget funds increased significantly, which was due to the existing challenges related to access to information, significant increase in funding received from abroad, procurement without tender procedures, and more.

According to the results of the monitoring conducted by IDFI in 2020, the quality of access to public information in the country has decreased again compared to the previous year. The deteriorating trend of the past few years was further exacerbated by the crisis situation in the country that arose due to the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, for a number of agencies, the changing working conditions resulting from the pandemic (remote work mode, involvement in the fight against the pandemic, etc.) have been found to be an impediment to the proper provision of access to information. As a result, in 2020, the rate of unanswered requests, as well as responses in violation of the timeframes set by law, has increased significantly. For the first time since 2012, the cases of breaches of the 10-day deadline in 2020 exceeded the percentage of timely responses.