The Coalition of Accountability and Integrity (AMAN; TI’s national chapter in the Palestinian Authority) organised the first ever “Transparency Festival” which featured a ceremonial signing of anti-corruption codes of conduct and an Integrity Awards ceremony. The festival was attended by more than 400 people in Gaza and the West Bank. In Sri Lanka, an anti-corruption slogan competition organised by TI Sri Lanka brought close to 300 people together.

TI Bangladesh organised an eight-hour concert to mark UN Anti-Corruption Day, attended by more than 25,000 of the nation’s youth. It also hosted various and creative activities such as rallies, debates and painting competitions, a human chain, street theatre shows, and a remarkable cross-country nine-hour bicycle ride to Dhaka. TI Bosnia and Herzegovina also organised a concert to mark the day. The concert, featuring a performance by the Youth Symphony Orchestra South Eastern Europe was attended by 350 people.

National Integrity Awards ceremonies carried out in the Palestinian Authorities and in Bosnia and Herzegovina honoured the countries’ anti-corruption heroes on Anti-Corruption Day to show that combating corruption requires brave and visionary people to lead the fight. In Turin, TI Italy awarded public bodies and organisations for adopted ethical measures.

Around the world, hundreds of people convened in seminars and discussions to debate anti-corruption issues and look for new solutions. In Nepal, discussions concentrated on the role of political parties and media figures in minimising corruption. In Sri Lanka the focus was on the right to information to fight corruption. Other conferences dealt with implementing conventions – as was highlighted by TI Bosnia and Herzegovina activities– and discussed the links between corruption and poverty and human rights, for example TI Cambodia and TI UK. Many national chapters issued press releases to draw the attention of the media, the public and the governments to the importance of anti-corruption work.

The Transparency International secretariat in Berlin launched new web pages on Anti-Corruption Day to illustrate the importance of fighting corruption to a general audience and to highlight a new television advertisement that was created to raise awareness about the impact of corruption. TI’s television advertisement reminds the movement and the public why anti-corruption work remains so important: “Corruption marks children, families and societies for life”. These web pages and the advertisement are accessible through TI’s homepage at www.transparency.org.

If you have ideas on how the TI movement should mark the next anti-corruption day, please contact: aporoznuk@transparency.org