Panel VIII – Palaissaal – 24 June 2025, 9:15
“Access to Information for Vulnerable Groups”
Moderation
Cibelle Brasil, Director of Monitoring and Oversight of Access to Information, Office of the Comptroller General, Brazil
Short Biography
Cibelle Brasil serves as the Director of Monitoring and Oversight of Access to Information within the Brazilian Federal Executive Branch.
With 17 years of experience in the field, she has been actively engaged in promoting public transparency and implementing Brazil’s Access to Information Law since it entered into force.
Panelists
Joara Marchezini, Project Manager at Nupef Institute and Elected Representative of the Public for the Escazú Agreement
Short Biography
Joara Marchezini holds a Master's degree in International Humanitarian Action from the University of Deusto, Spain. Her postgraduate degrees are in Human Rights and Democracy and Human Rights and Diversity and Violence. She has a degree in International Relations.
She is currently the Nupef Institute's Project Coordinator and expert in access to information and transparency, with more than 12 years of experience.
She is an elected Representative of the Public for the Escazú Agreement, actively participating in negotiation meetings since 2013.
Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, Commissioner, RTI Commission of Sri Lanka
Short Biography
RTI Commissioner Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena is a constitutional lawyer who serves on Sri Lanka's Right to Information Commission as a nominee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. Engaged in long time advocacy around access to information in South Asia, she legally represented Sri Lanka’s editors on the independent committee that drafted the Right to Information Act.
She also contributes a critical legal column for the Sunday Times, Colombo. Previously to sitting on the RTI Commission, Ms Pinto-Jayawardena combined constitutional litigation with domestic and international rights advocacy challenging the Sri Lankan State on multiple legal fronts.
The 2013 Distinguished Visitor, Australian National University Canberra, she has been a Visiting Delegate of the Bellagio Rockefeller Foundation and a Salzburg Fellow. She has led research initiatives for the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, the International Commission of Jurists, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Asian Development Bank, the European Union and the World Bank.
Her books include Rule of Law in Decline (Copenhagen, 2009), Still Seeking Justice (Geneva/Bangkok, 2010); Embattled Media (London, 2015); Reflections on Sri Lanka's RTI Regime (Colombo, 2019) and A Practitioner’s Guide to Sri Lanka’s RTI Act (Colombo, 2023).
María del Rosario Mejía Ayala, Commissioner, Institute for Transparency, Access to Public Information and Protection of Personal Data of the State of Mexico Municipalities (Infoem)
Short Biography
A graduate and Master in Law from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, she initially practiced her profession through strategic litigation within the civil and family branches. Her interest and experience in the field of human rights led her to be appointed by the Legislature of the State of Mexico as Counselor of the Codhem.
In 2013, she was appointed General Secretary of the Human Rights Commission of the State of Mexico, a position she held until July 2021, where she stood out for her coordinated work with the different levels of government in order to ensure that the needs of society, especially of groups in vulnerable situations, are met in accordance with the international treaties of which the Mexican State is a party, such as the establishment of specialized care areas for girls, boys and adolescents, people with disabilities, the elderly and people in homeless situations, among others; In addition to the above, it is necessary to mention her great work in the area of equal treatment and opportunities between women and men, as well as prevention and attention to gender violence.
She was appointed by the LX Legislature of the State of Mexico as Commissioner of the Institute for Transparency, Access to Public Information and Protection of Personal Data (Infoem) on August 13, 2021. Beginning her duties with the firm conviction that only through coordinated work, the rights of access to information and protection of personal data; fundamental for the full development of a democratic and transparent society, and a vital exercise for accountability; will be guaranteed. For this reason, work has been done on the central axes in the protection of Human Rights such as professionalization, socialization and platforms for their promotion and guarantee.