Cumuleo

Description

Cumuleo is an independent Belgian initiative, run by Christophe Van Gheluwe. It publishes rigorous, public-interest data on the mandates, functions and professions held by elected public officials and senior civil servants in Belgium. Its purpose is to give citizens, journalists and politicians a persistent, independent source of documented information. They can consult it at any time to inform their thinking on the accumulation of public mandates and related conflicts of interest.

Cumuleo positions itself as an actor for transparency and for promoting integrity in the management of society. It works from the belief that transparency is a barometer of democracy. The more transparent a society’s governance, the stronger its democracy and development. Cumuleo envisions a world in which transparency is the norm and secrecy the narrow exception, with citizens at the centre of public decision-making because they have access to the information they seek.

The organisation states independence, rigour, thoroughness and permanence as its core values. It publishes facts rather than opinions, so that visitors remain free to form their own views. Cumuleo grounds its work in freedom of expression and information as protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights case law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Cumuleo is based in Blaimont, Belgium.