04/12/2020: For a future based on trust, truth and transparency đ&#x;™? Hello! Like more than 7,000 participants across the globe, we spent the week at the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) learning from anti-corruption experts, imagining a corruption-free future with artists and grassroot activists, and strengthening our resolve with politicians and civil society leaders. We’ve taken stock of the challenges the world faces in the fight against corruption and measured the progress made. Above all, we’ve forged new alliances and agreed on a collective vision: a 2030 horizon rooted in trust, truth and transparency.
Image: Cill performs at the Fair Play anti-corruption concert at the IACC 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage and mass vaccinations are about to begin, we resolve to make more resilient, more transparent and better-performing health systems the legacy of COVID-19, and to fight to ensure fair and equitable access to the vaccines and a just economic recovery, everywhere, leaving no one behind. We stand in solidarity with the artists, activists, journalists and whistleblowers threatened, jailed or killed around the world for exposing corruption and police violence and for demanding freedom and equality – this week especially with imprisoned Cuban rappers Denis SolĂs GonzĂĄlez and Didier Almagro.
In parallel, we will double down on our efforts to hold power to account: that is governments and elected representatives who abuse their power and threaten freedom of press and democracy; Big Tech and social media giants as they aren’t doing enough to curb fearmongering and the spread of conspiracy theories and hate; banks turning a blind eye to suspicious transactions; and companies that turn bribery into enormous profits, to the detriment of entire populations and nations. We join those seeking to dismantle the systemic discrimination that allows corruption to hit under-served communities – including ethnic minorities, the youth, the poor, women, LGBTQIA+ communities – the hardest. We pledge to build alliances to ensure our work is first and foremost directed at supporting and empowering under-represented communities. And lastly, we celebrate those who fight corruption daily and at a great risk for their lives, like this year’s Anti-Corruption Award winners, Afghan journalist Zaki Daryabi and Kazakh whisteblower Botakoz Kopbayeva, and the protagonists of the eight eye-opening documentary films featured in Film 4 Transparency (F4T), the anti-corruption film festival.
You can watch these powerful movies for free until December 6th, and listen in as Ai Weiwei, artist, activist and director of the documentary "Coronation" on the lockdown in Wuhan discusses how to expose health corruption during the pandemic with other experts in just a couple of hours.
Join the discussion
What do you think? Let us know @anticorruption. STORY OF THE WEEK
IACC 2020: Where COVID-19 spreads, corruption follows During the opening plenary of the 19th International Anti-Corruption Conference, the heads of various international organisations – such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Economic Forum – highlighted the economic and social costs of corruption during a global health emergency and stressed on the role of collaboration with civil society organisations in fighting corruption. FEATURED STORIES
Making the Maldives safer for whistleblowers In 2016, a whistleblower revealed a huge corruption scheme in the Maldives, helping to bring down an authoritarian government and paving the way for the Maldives’ first whistleblower protection law. According to the latest Global Corruption Barometer Asia, a staggering 90 per cent of citizens in Maldives think that government corruption is a big
problem but 56 per cent of Maldivians also think ordinary citizens can help stop corruption.
Rooting out corruption in Nepal When a determined headmaster at a Nepali school realised that nearly 1.2 million rupees (US$10,700) were missing from the school’s Employees Provident Fund, he exposed and challenged fraud with the support of Transparency International Nepal’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) in Kathmandu.
IACC 2020: Social norms enable corruption but young activists are standing up to it Corruption has been recognised as one of the biggest impediments to effective climate action and responsible climate governance. Vested interests of international oil and gas companies and oil-rich countries are blocking global efforts to address climate change, according to panellists of the Climate Action: Time for Integrity session.
IACC 2020: Corruption is hindering the global transition to renewable energy Corruption has been recognised as one of the biggest impediments to effective climate action and responsible climate governance. Vested interests of international oil and gas companies and oil-rich countries are blocking global efforts to address climate change, according to panellists of the Climate Action: Time for Integrity session. NEWS
19th IACC formally opens with spotlight on transparency and integrity in COVID-19 recovery The 19th International Anti-Corruption conference formally opened on 1 December 2020 with the President of Korea, current and former UN Secretaries-General, and leaders in the global anti-corruption movement stressing the importance of transparency, integrity and accountability for a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Landmark anti-corruption provisions included in annual US defence bill A final congressional agreement on funding for the US Department of Defence was made public on Thursday. The agreement includes important provisions to update US antimoney laundering laws. This update is appropriate since the existing gaps allow corrupt foreign officials to exploit the US financial system, threaten regional and global stability, and endanger national security. Botakoz Kopbayeva and Zaki Daryabi/Etilaat Roz newspaper receive 2020 AntiCorruption Award Botakoz Kopbayeva, ex-Vice-Rector for Financial and Economic Affairs at the Kazakh
National Conservatory, and Afghan journalist Zaki Daryabi and newspaper Etilaat Roz have been selected as the winners of the 2020 Anti-Corruption Award. The awards were announced during the ongoing 19th IACC.Â
Transparency International Secretariat Alt Moabit 96, 10559 Berlin Germany