On the front line: fighting corruption in Palestine

Posted 13 May 2011

Transparency International (TI) is proud to present ‘On the Front Line’, a new film documenting the work of the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre run by Transparency Palestine in the West Bank. The film looks at the people behind the centre and follows the stories of three of its clients.

Full-length film, ‘On the Front Line’ (27 minutes)

Helping the victims of corruption in Palestine

Over half of all Palestinians using government services reported having to pay a bribe according to TI’s 2010 Global Corruption Barometer. Without a dedicated complaint channel and expert advice, most people can do little to counter the problem. That is why TI has set up legal advice centres in Palestine and in many other countries.

‘On the Front Line’ looks, among others, at the story of a Ministry of Transport employee who, together with the centre, has led a campaign to crack down on the misuse of government cars for private purposes, resulting in many millions of dollars in savings for the Palestinian Authority.

The film also interviews a man whose two sons were shot by a renegade policeman who long managed to evade the law, as well as a civil servant who was denied severance pay and medical benefits after falling victim to a political shakeup.

Legal advice in Palestine: a record of success

The Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre in Palestine has only been in operation since 2009 but has already achieved great things, not only in the number of citizens and groups it has been able to assist but in the change it has driven. Concrete examples include the drafting and implementation of codes of conduct for several ministries and the passing of a cabinet decision on the use of public vehicles.

The centre helps bring the discussion of corruption into the open. This discussion is fundamental to the centre’s success and to establishing robust corruption prevention policies.