For a few days every year since 2001, dozens of people marching through the towns and villages of the arid Brazilian North East. These are the people who are speaking out against corruption in Brazil, taking part in the March against Corruption organised by the “Popular Force-Task” (in Portuguese: Força-Tarefa Popular), a group who coordinate society to take action against corruption. More than a hundred people take part in the walk, which can be up to 350km in distance and the size and length of the March demonstrates how passionate the anti-corruption movement in Brazil is. 

The marches, organised “against corruption and for life”, take various routes with various participants each year, picking up followers along the way and receiving donations of food and shelter from local people. In 2005, the crowd made their way down to the Conference against Corruption organized by the Brazilian government in Brasilia to voice their concerns.

Now there are more reasons and more opportunities than ever for the public in Brazil to come together and speak out against corruption in their country. Preparation for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 presents many corruption challenges for the country.

Last month, for example, the government coalition deputies in Brazil approved a bill that would keep the preparation for these events, including massiveinfrastructure budgets, secret, and therefore away from the public scrutiny that would identify dodgy deals. They had until 1 July to come back on this much criticised move. In the end, the deputies took a “diplomatic” decision because of critics made by the opposition in the Congress.

The decision, however, is still being discussed on the political mainstream: the Senate said that could reject it and, in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), some ministries have commented that this is bill does not comply with the Brazilian constitution.

Josmar Verillo, President of Brazilian section of TI, AMARRIBO, recently warned in an interview about the corruption temptations that these events will create: “The amount of money being deployed and the need for quick decisions on contracting has generated a lot of concern about corruption”.

That is why the UN Global Compact, AMARRIBO and the Ethos Institute have launched the “Clean Games Initiative”. Read more about it here.

Brazilian society, not only those who have participated in the March Against Corruption can use this opportunity to ensure corruption prevention is high on the agenda, not only in terms of ‘clean games’ (Jogos Limpos) but in Brazilian business and politics in general.

There are obstacles to effective anti-corruption in Brazil, as in many countries. According to Verillo, anti-corruption efforts are an “educational issue… Brazilian society must understand that corruption is bad”. He also comments on the problems of engaging companies in corruption prevention as “they do not want to be exposed”. There are signs, however that views towards corruption in Brazil are shifting.

In November 2012 the Brazilian Government,Transparency International, AMARRIBO and the Ethos Institute will host the 15^th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), giving public and private sector, civil society, academics, journalists and anyone interested in the prevention of corruption the chance to discuss issues around corruption and forge solutions. With the resignation of Brazil’s Cabinet Chief following an ethics scandal, it is certainly an interesting time to be discussing corruption in Brazil.

In a republic with 235 million inhabitants, 17,508 islands, 742 different languages and dialects, about 300 ethnic groups and approximately as many people under the age of 15 as the entire population of France, Transparency International (TI) Indonesia are rapidly reinvigorating the fight against corruption by empowering Indonesia’s youth to take their issue to scale.

Under the motto, MY DREAM, MY WAY, MY ACTION, SPEAK is a series of social venture workshops that serve as places to go for 15-24 year olds who are fed up with the knock on effects of corruption. The approach is brilliant in its simplicity: its aim is to get young people to speak up and do something to stop corruption. Through sharing ideas, thoughts and experiences and having fun, the participants are equipped with a taste for transparency, and with the knowledge and support they need to tackle the typical apathetic approach to tolerating corruption in their country.

With over a thousand followers, SPEAK also has a core group called SPEAK Active, whose team recently started learning to become facilitators in a workshop developed by TI Indonesia and Ashoka Indonesia. Among the core objectives of ClubSpeak are; teaching the teams about the laws projecting citizens and the role of law enforcement agencies to take action against corruption, such as the Corruption Eradication Commission, also known as the KPK. Workshop participants are often high school students and not only those who take an interest in the anti-corruption movement. SPEAK is also very active in engaging its supporters and new agents of change using social media tools such as twitter and their Facebook fanpage, which consists of more than 2200 active users and rising. ClubSPEAK has followers beyond boarders such as the youth network from Towards Transparency Vietnam.

Since it was founded about 12 months ago, SPEAK has been reaching out to the wider society in Jakarta and surrounding areas – breaking down barriers between class, race and religion. Through a series of workshops, videos and documentaries, bi-weekly discussions, concerts and a range of competitions to promote values, honesty and optimism, SPEAK has rolled out several public campaigns about the importance of youth being critical of the government in terms of transparency and justice.

If you’d like to learn more about SPEAK activities or get involved, contact Retha Dungga, Youth Program Manager, Transparency International Indonesia

In the next 5 years Brazil is set to play host to the World Cup, the Olympics and the Rio+20 Summit, and most importantly, of course, the 15th IACC. Just 30 years ago Brazil was under military rule and had its fair share of economic problems. The transition between these two phases and the way the evolution took place has been remarkable. We take a look at what has happened between now and then and how much or how little the BRICS label has had to do with the shift.

Few would have predicted 30 years ago that Brazil would be labelled one of the five most promising markets in the world or that it would play host to some of the world’s most well known and important events of the decade, such as the World Cup, Olympics, the Rio+20 summit and the 15th edition of the IACC. As Brazil gears up for these events, we look at the interesting journey from nation burdened by hyper inflation and crippling debt to prominent actor on the world stage.

Subject to twenty years of military rule up until 1985, Brazil’s economy was weak. After a return to democracy, a variety of plans were drawn up in an attempt to combat the country’s economic woes but all met with little success. It is generally believed that the change in Brazil’s economic fortune began with the implementation of Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s Real Plan in 1994, which consisted of the introduction of a new currency (the real); the deindexation of the economy; an initial freeze of public sector prices and the tightening of monetary policy. The result was a solution to the inflation problem that had plagued Brazil for years.

With the election of a new president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in 2002 and inflation under control, economic policy began to concentrate on investing in infrastructure with the Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC). The PAC (now with a follow up policy – the PAC2) was characterised by heavy investment in infrastructure, social issues and energy projects with the aims of reducing poverty and stimulating the economy. Of course neither the Real Plan nor the PAC were without their problems or critics but both have quite clearly played their parts in the evolution of Brazil as an emerging market.

A testament to the Brazilian economy’s new found robustness is how it has weathered the current global recession reasonably well, especially when compared to most developed nations. India and China are also generally thought to have been less affected by the crisis than other countries so is this an indication of shared characteristics that justify the BRICS exclusive grouping? Are there in fact any shared characteristics that make the BRICS countries elite or should investors look to other emerging economies as well?

In terms of the global recession, it is not only BRICS countries that have fared relatively well, nor have all of these countries escaped unscathed. Alongside Brazil, India and China, countries such as Australia, Poland and Canada have only experienced mild effects from the recession whereas BRICS countries Russia and South Africa have been less fortunate. This indicates that strength and unity of the BRICS grouping may be overrated by some. New acronym-laden groupings such as CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa), MAVINS (Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa) and even another originating from Goldman Sachs- MIKT (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea and Turkey) are popping up everywhere. The question is whether these are useful in identifying markets with similar properties or whether they are just superficial marketing techniques.

There are some clear similarities between the BRICS countries; all have huge populations, are rich in natural resources and have enormous growth potential but there are also many differences and disparities that make five very different economic environments. There is no doubt that being labeled a BRICS country has also contributed to Brazil’s new found prominence on the world stage but it is estimated that there are 150 emerging markets around the globe so the importance of such groupings can be questioned.

Brazil may be making its impact on the world stage thanks to a variety of factors but whether the prospects and challenges of the BRICS countries are any different to other emerging markets is a matter of great debate. We’re really keen to hear what you think; should we look to the BRICS for the future or should we place as much importance on other emerging markets? – have your say below!

The 15th International Anti-Corruption Conference is being held in Brazil next year and there is much that makes Brazil an exciting host country. Its vibrancy and diversity, its position as host of the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 and its growing influence in global issues demonstrate the qualities that have secured Brazil its BRICS status. Most people have heard of the term BRICS and know that it involves emerging economies, but what does being a BRICS actually involve, why is Brazil included in this group and what are the international implications?

The term ‘BRIC’ was first used by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in his 2001 paper “Building Better Global Economic BRICs” to describe Brazil, Russia, India and China (now including South Africa) because of their similar economic characteristics. He argued that the growing economic influence of these four emerging market economies would have a significant impact on the global financial system and that their representation in world policymaking forums should be adjusted accordingly.

The BRICS countries are an informal group, having only held three summits together but share some similar interests in relation to the rest of the world. Some predict that with the growing economic power of member countries, there will come demands for greater political influence in international matters. Indeed Brazil and India have submitted request for permanent UN Security Council seats, where they would join their BRICS partners China and Russia. With greater stability in Brazil and a drop in poverty from 20% in 2004 to 7% in 2009 , Brazil, as one of the largest economies, is in a strong position to play a leading role on the international stage.

Brazil is a resource rich country, which has played a big part in its position amongst the BRICS. Export from Brazil to the rest of the world has been growing and trading between the BRICS countries has grown even more rapidly with exports from Brazil to China growing in 2009 to 10 times the amount in 2001 , further fuelling the growth of these countries. As mentioned above, since April 2011, South Africa has joined Brazil, Russia, India and China in the BRICS group, strengthening the group as a whole and Brazil’s individual influence within the group.

With an economy that has been gaining in global influence since Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s Real Plan and as a BRICS country, Brazil is an important actor in dealing with the global challenges that the world does and will face.

Golden Bricks and PIIGS, What’s in a name?: Jim O’Neill used the acronym BRICS to represent (constructive) building blocks of the global economy. The term has been interpreted differently in different countries and languages- for example some draw comparison with Pinochet’s manifesto of rampant privatisation, The Brick whilst others refer to it optimistically as The Golden Bric. If you thought the term BRIC was loaded term, spare a thought for those labelled as a PIIGS country, mainly Southern European countries, grouped together because of their sovereign debt status. Tell us what the term BRICS means in your country, or anything else you’d like to share. We look forward to reading your comments!

How do you think the technologically-literate people empower the fight against corruption? You may think they’ll use the most advanced gizmos to track or spy on the corrupters. Or at least, developing high-tech methods to catch the grafters red-handed.

But just like how the smartest guys are the ones who can simplify things for people, so are the techies. They make technology easier to be used by everyone, even with their limited access to the wired world, people can participate in ensuring social accountability.

Simple things like monitoring and preventing corruption by sending Short Message Service (SMS). No need for having Facebook or Twitter accounts (although those can be used as well, of course). Who doesn’t own a cellphone nowadays anyway?

“Only about ten percent of the world’s population,” Philip Thigo said in the 2nd Global Youth Anti-Corruption Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, April 27th 2011. The activist of civil organization SODNet spoke in front of more than a hundred young corruption fighters in the three-day forum held by the World Bank Institute.

The data from International Telecommunication Union meant that 90 percent of the six billion human beings on earth in 2010 — about 5,3 billion people — do have the access toward cellphones. Even better, 80 percent of those six billion people live in rural areas.

SODNet works with Ushahidi, an organization founded by information technology experts in Africa, to develop a system that can map corruption allegations, report the implementation of public policies, as well as to monitor elections. One of the platforms that has been launched is Ushahidi, which means “testimony” in Swahili.

At first, Ushahidi was used to map reports of violence in Kenya after the general election of 2008, which claimed the lives of up to 800 people. The system was then used for a series of things in different countries, ranging from monitoring the use of the state budget in Kenya; monitoring Kenya’s largest slum, Kibera; monitoring elections in Tanzania, Uganda, Tunisia; disaster management in Haiti, Australia, Japan; and monitoring cities in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Thigo said short message is not the only way for people to give a report to the system, but it’s the method used the most. “For example, during the general elections in Uganda, about 40 thousand SMSes flooded our servers,” he said. “Sending short messages is very easy and cheap, everyone can do it.”

In addition, the public can also report through the web site, e-mail, and Twitter. Most of the technology users now are youths.

The system will filter out and put the report on the map on the website. The geo-mapping makes it easier for users to see which areas have the most problems, and what had happened there as well. A dedicated team will verify the reports to ensure the accuracy, and then affix the label “verified” if those inputs are correct.

Thigo believes the use of technology is very relevant for the anti-corruption movement, because the reporters can be anonymous. The identity of the complainers are deliberately made difficult to track, so their safety is pretty much guaranteed. Setting up the system is also made to be easy, so it can be done in a matter of hours.

Moreover, public input comes quickly and transparently, so it can be seen by everyone, including journalists. He pointed out, a report on one website that uses the Ushahidi system had been used as a news peg which triggered an investigation of corruption in Kenya’s Ministry of Irrigation.

Thigo and his friends now are developing a new system called Huduma (“service” in Swahili). This system allows the authorities to immediately respond to complaints. How cool is that? The system will enable the public to know which institutions are slow, and which are responsive and deserve some praises.

The use of technology, particularly SMSes, is also used by many institutions in Africa, although with different systems. Among those are the UN humanitarian agency for children, UNICEF, which uses SMS in geo-mapping to monitor delivery of medical supplies in Uganda. There’s also MCHANJO, of which its system recorded the birth of children and then automatically send short messages for the mothers to remind them to take the children for immunization.

In the Philippines, they have Check My School, which uses a similar system to monitor the condition of schools in the provinces. Via SMS and web site, citizens can report deficiencies, excess, complaints, and praise for their schools. Teams of volunteers are also deployed to verify the report.

Jecel Censoro, an activist of Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific in charge of the program Check My School, reminds the forum’s participants that one of the important element is the involvement of the authorities in social accountability projects. Because, without follow-up from the government, the public report may only end as statistics. “That’s why we make a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education, to make sure they follow up on the reports,” she said.

Thigo added, we should never forget the importance of campaigning the instruction of using the existing technology, along with setting it up. “Because technology alone can not solve all problems. It is the human resources who determines the success of the efforts,” he said.

Retha Dungga from Transparency International Indonesia, said she had shown Check My School to friends in KPK, Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency. They were amazed and said never heard of it before. “It sounds crazy that they didn’t know. I really want to see similar programs exists in Indonesia, but it means that we have to work with government,” said the originator of clubSPEAK.

Because usually persuading the government is a complicated job, keeping in mind that Indonesia is a way bigger archipelago than the Philippines, she’s still brainstorming on how to modify the project in a smaller scale but still easy to use for youths.

By the way, in the field of social accountability in my own country, I was surprised when I find www.klikjkt.or.id, which invites citizens to monitor the governance of Jakarta.

The website, also uses the Ushahidi, was initiated by Rujak Center for Urban Studies (founded by a famous Indonesian architect Marco Kusumawijaya) and Tim Air Putih, supported by the Green Radio and the Goethe Institute Jakarta. Jakarta residents can give inputs about nine categories, ranging from public facilities, urban development, flood, garbage, disaster, to the arts and culture.

In the forum in Nairobi, many sessions were allocated for the use of technology. After the forum, Jayeesh Balla Singh, an expert on information technology in Kenya, expressed his hope that the young activists would be encouraged to use it. “At the beginning of the forum, I saw hesitations to use technology. I hope it does not exist any more,” he said.

On the sidelines, the participants who joined the mapping for social accountability group in the forum decided to form a support group. Therefore, they can work together in helping each other to create a map through sharing of resources, experiences, tools and techniques applicable to the particular area of focus.

Thanks for technology, its experts, and its users, we are now a hundred steps closer to the world where corruption is curbed.
—-

This is a rewrite of my previous blog, first written in Bahasa Indonesia.

It wasn’t until I witnessed the crippling consequences of corruption firsthand that I realized that those who suffer most from corruption are those who have the least.

On a scorching afternoon in May of 2010, I accompanied a team of social workers, advocates, Indian government officials as they conducted a rescue operation on a brick-making facility in south India which was known to be employing bonded labor—a form of debt slavery that ensnares as many as 27 million people worldwide. Conditions in the kiln were appalling, with children as young as 6 years old—who, according to Indian law should have been in school—molding bricks and carting them around the sprawling facility in ramshackle wheelbarrows. 77 lower-caste migrant workers who had been trafficked from a neighboring state left the facility with us that day, carrying only their scant belongings and copious evidence of their illegal bondage.

However, upon reaching the government office in which an inquiry was to be conducted, it became clear that the government official in charge of issuing release certificates to these destitute victims had something more on his mind than justice. As affluent members of the local brick kiln owners’ association gathered at the entrance, they yelled caste-related slurs at their former captives and threats of violence at our team. Despite abundant evidence to establish the truth of the victims’ claims—wage books, injuries and harrowing stories of abuse—the official’s decision was announced, “Not bonded.” It was obvious that the weight of the owners’ influence on that day, in that region, was far greater than the gravity of the government officials’ duty to uphold the ideals of justice for all of the citizens under his jurisdiction—even the most impoverished.

As I watched 77 destitute victims of modern-day slavery board a train for their native villages without the legal protection or rehabilitation funds to which the victims are legally entitled, the insidious and profound effect of corruption on the poorest of the poor became painfully clear.

Laws to protect and empower the poor exist, but corruption renders them completely ineffective. Let us not tire in our efforts to bring complete transparency to corporations and governments, and in so doing, extend the rule of law to all those under its authority.

Last November, the 14^th International Anti-Corruption Conference took place in Bangkok. It brought together civil society, the private and public sectors, academics and about 130 journalists from 123 countries to discuss the challenges facing the world today.

If you were not able to get to Bangkok, you do not have to wait for the next IACC (Brazil 2012). You can relive the sessions that took place at the 14^th IACC with the reports, presentations and papers from opening speeches to specialised workshops on climate policy, social damage or aid transparency.

One of my favourite features of the 14^th IACC in Bangkok was the dynamic People’s Empowerment Initiative sessions. Civil society activists shared ideas about boosting popular participation in public life, grass roots campaigns, aspirations for new media, and investigative journalism.

Amongst the most pungent features of the reports from the IACC sessions is their action-orientated approach, which manifests itself through an array of case studies on creating change.

The best thing about these sessions is that they break away from the typical workshop format – which can often lack space for creativity (one was called “quit playing dumb“). The sessions kicked off with a TED-like inspirational speech to set the tone, following by a series of breakout groups to share ideas, strategies and best practices.

One of my favourite case studies is an approach to non-violent conflict: a ‘five-step social audit’ developed to pressure legislators to confront corruption and the mismanagement of funds.

This not only involves project inspections and public hearings, but also engages youth through street theatrical performances, dancing, chanting and local processions. It’s an example of a civic engagement at its best.

Paula O’ Malley is a programme coordinator in the IACC team at TI-Secretariat in Berlin

An update from the International Anti-Corruption Conference.

At the start of the international climate conference in Cancun, the international anti-corruption movement is weighing into the debate on how to shape a new global treaty and deliver effective climate financing to developing countries.

Issues of transparency and accountability have long been a source of contention, and a barrier to progress, in the UN-led climate negotiations. Disagreement between developed and developing countries over how to make actions and policies taken by countries robust and comparable has undermined the trust essential for effective global cooperation to halt rising temperatures. More recently, the issue of climate financing has become a bone of contention, with developing countries questioning whether the money pledged by industrialized countries is new, or simply diverted development aid.

Last month in Bangkok, Transparency International organized the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), which focused in part on the the transparency and corruption challenges associated with climate policy, climate finance for mitigation and adaptation, and carbon markets. WRI prepared the IACC background document on climate change and corruption and has been advising Transparency International on the 2010 Global Corruption Report, which also take climate change and corruption as its theme.

In a plenary presentation, WRI’s executive vice-president, Manish Bapna, focused on transparency in adaptation. He highlighted the “significant corruption and governance risks at each stage of funding for climate adaptation – how it is generated, how it is managed, and how it is spent.” Bapna highlighted the following specific questions and issues for policymakers to grapple with:

Transparency and accountability in the generation of adaptation finance.

• With $30 billion pledged for climate finance for 2010-2012 and about $100 billion annually by 2020 (a figure comparable to total Official Development Assistance (ODA) today), making sure that these flows are corruption-free will be a massive challenge. Greater transparency on whether these funds are “new and additional” and a “balanced” amount is being allocated to adaptation will be crucial to creating trust between rich and poor countries.

Corruption and governance risks related to who should manage adaptation finance

• Should adaptation financing be entrusted to multilateral and bilateral aid agencies such as the World Bank (what rich countries want) or should national institutions in developing countries have direct access to these funds? Rich countries argue that many of the new institutions created in developing countries lack the fiduciary controls and safeguards that, however flawed, have been tried and tested in the multilateral banks. Poor countries argue that adaptation finance is fundamentally different from development aid and should not be channeled in the same way.

New corruption risks related to how adaptation funding is spent

• Sectors that will receive significant adaptation money include water, infrastructure and disaster relief. Yet all these have typically been characterized by high levels of corruption.
• Corruption pressures are likely to pull funding to projects that are large and concrete-heavy (such as new infrastructure). This is the opposite of the small, local and flexible solutions often needed to deal with climate impacts.

Bapna concluded by calling for collaboration between the anti-corruption and environmental communities to help make emerging adaptation funds in developing countries more robust and corruption-proof. Efforts should include working with adaptation institutions in developing countries to make their governance and operations more transparent and inclusive as well as with civil society organizations to build their capacity to hold these institutions to account.

In a related IACC conference workshop, WRI’s electricity governance (EGI) team focused on how to address pervasive corruption in the capital-intensive electricity sector. Kickbacks to government officials to secure contracts for building new power plants or providing fuel or equipment are common, and clean energy technology markets are also not immune to fraud or corruption. These conflicts of interests can affect power development plans that shape a country’s energy choices. The workshop showcased innovative strategies to fight corruption in a sector that has historically received little attention from civil society, yet is at the center of sustainable development and climate change efforts. Speakers from EGI civil society partner organizations shared experiences from four different countries: Thailand, India, Indonesia, and South Africa.

EGI will soon compile a compendium of these examples and other emerging strategies and challenges that will be available on its website: http://electricitygovernance.wri.org

Leadership forum

View the short report here

“Asia must embrace the principle of inclusive growth, brining more people into the circle of opportunity that growth and development provides”
Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank

“Without civil society and without the people, from the grassroots up, anti-corruption agencies will not be able to operate efficiently.”
Juree Vichit-Vadakan, Secretary General, Transparency Thailand

Corruption, Peace and Security

Read the plenary transcript here

Read the short report here

“Corruption fuels many of today’s gravest risks to security, from nuclear proliferation, to terrorism, to organized crime”
Melinda Crane, Deutsche Welle

“There is simply no alternative… to a really coordinated international effort based on cooperation; to enforce international mechanisms; to provide financial, institutional support when its needed; and of course it was to promote an anti-corruption culture, based on integrity and accountability.”
Gareth Evans, President Emeritus of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group

“We need to create development policies, combat corruption and combat organized crime, from a human rights perspective, in which we take into account the dignity of individuals, their autonomy and their rights.”
Magdalena Sepulveda, Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty for the Office of the UN High Commission of Human Rights; Director of Research, International Council on Human Rights Policy

“Customs could be a leading showcase for good governance because of its critical role in facilitating trade, a viable source of poverty reduction in line with the Millennium Development Goals. Also it plays a critical role in protecting society at borders.”
Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO)

Fuelling Transparency & Accountability in the Natural Resources & Energy Markets Plenary

View the plenary transcript here

Read the short report here

“Transparency is an absolutely critical component of maximizing the long-term economic benefit for the resource-producing country.”
Karin Lissakers, Director General, Revenue Watch Institute

“Most of my experience has been with real people on the ground, the village housewife of third world countries, the farmer, the fisherperson. And these are the people that face the actual cutting edge of corruption.”
Arvind Ganesan, Director, Business and Human Rights, Human Rights Watch

“The important thing is to maintain a consensus between the magical triangle as I call it, of government, civil society and private sector, at every level.”
Peter Eigen, Chairman of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

“There has to be strong enforcement. In order for that to happen, you need what is called political will, and in order for political will to happen, you need strong public opinion.”
Ashok Khosla – President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Climate Governance: Ensuring a Collective Commitment Plenary

Read the plenary transcript here

Read the long report here

“When one considers climate governance, one must address both the national and international levels. At national level climate finance must be applied in a way which respects and promotes the full enjoyment of human rights.”
Iruthisham Adam, Ambassador /Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations Offices at Geneva & WTO

“We need to invest in building local civil society to be able to hold institutions accountable”
Manish Bapna, Managing Director, World Resources Institute

“It’s essential that we move away from this industrial paradigm and put in a system where the 1.6 billion people that depend in some degree or other on the world’s forests have a major role in the reform and benefit directly from the funding that comes from it.”
Patrick Alley, Founder and Director, Global Witness

“We need strong whistleblower protections at all levels where climate finance is taking place.”
Daphne Whysham, Fellow and Board Member, Institute for Policy Studies

Strengthening Global Action for an Accountable Corporate World

Read plenary transcript here

Read the short report here

“It’s the intersection between private and public that …corruption notoriously does most of its dirty work. It’s also in this public stroke private space that the fight against corruption can usefully be waged.”
Timothy Large, Thomson Reuters Foundation

“The next task is pulling together good public procurement, good public integrity programmes, good corporate education, corporate audits along with a good domestic and foreign anti-bribery programme.”
Richard Boucher Deputy Secretary General, Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development

“In voluntary compliance, the society… works together and puts a core value that surrounds itself on the basis of integrity and transparency; people voluntary comply with what is considered right.”
Minister Idris Jala Minister in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office

“Corruption lurks in shadows and behind closed doors and across borders. Capital and money moves much more easily internationally than evidence does”
Mark F. Mendelsohn Former Deputy Chief, U.S Department of Justice

“Corruption is not as yet entrenched in most African countries: as such there’s still the opportunity to bring about effective reforms and perhaps entrench anti-corruption policies and initiatives into the fabric of African countries.”
Mary Boakye, SNR Denton, Africa Financial Markets group head

But Natalia stumbled upon fate: her son was arrested for revealing state bigwigs’ tax fraud worth U.S. $ 230 million, then died in custody due to severe illness without proper medication. Sergei, 37 years old, died 16 November 2009 after 11 months in jail, just a few days before the one year limit that he could be held without trial would expire.

‘He was a man of dignity, and prison didn’t change him,’ said Natalia with a gloomy face when receiving the Integrity Award for his son last Friday.

Wearing a dark green dress, while reading his speech, Natalia’s lips were always curled, almost looking like an inverted U. Sadness radiated from her eyes, which seemed to have run out of tears to cry over her son’s death.

She said, when Sergei was jailed, there were offers to “reconcile” with the officials. But her son refused.

Sergei’s death changed the law in Russia. Now Russia bans the jailing of tax offenders. “I hope there will be no more mother in Russia live what I live. His son [will] be proud of his father. He will always be in my heart,” said Natalia.

Tragic stories for the sake of upholding the integrity happened (and still happens) to other people as well.

Another Integrity Award recipient, Sri Lankan journalist Attotage Prema Jayantha, was tortured for exposing the injustice in the health sector, education, and transportation his country. The media freedom activist, more widely known with his pen name Poddala, revealed the biggest tax fraud in Sri Lanka, worth RS 3.6 billion (about U.S. $ 37 million), in his report.

June 2009, Poddala was kidnapped and tortured by unidentified men who accused him as a traitor of the state. The veteran journalist was then dumped on the roadside in a pathetic condition. The kidnappers broke three of his fingers, ‘so he would not be able to write news anymore.’ His leg and ankle were also broken. He is permanently disabled and now must live in exile.

But there’s always a hope for integrity and anticorruption activists. Another Integrity Awards recipient, Gabon activist Gregory Ngbwa Mintsa, who together with other activists filed a legal complaint before the French Public Prosecutor against three African dictators, President of Congo-Brazzaville Dennis Sassou Nguesso, President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Mbasogo, the late President of Gabon, Omar Bongo Ondimba, and their families. They were accused of having luxury properties in France, which allegedly were paid by corruption.

Despite threats, imprisonment and a freeze on his salary, Mintsa refused to drop the case. The good news is, the French Supreme Court has ordered investigators to work on Mintsa’s claims. This is the first time for the French court to judge so.

Of the three Integrity Award recipients, only Mintsa could come to the ceremony.

“Corruption is a robbery to humanity. I believe corruption should be a crime against humanity under international law. Do not give red carpets for corruptors,” he said during a speech in front of more than 1,100 participants of the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference who attended the Integrity Award gala dinner.

What will you do when upholding integrity might cost you your life?