news room/in focus/2010

In Focus editions in 2010

2010 Meeting Global Challenges
2010 Meeting Global Challenges
Achieving Climate Change Agreements in Cancun
From 29 November until 10 December, global leaders and climate change stakeholders will gather in Cancun, Mexico, to participate in the 16th Sessions of the Conference of Parties (COP 16) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After the disappointing meeting in Copenhagen in 2009, this year’s Summit will once again try to agree on global commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and how to finance efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Time is running out. The initial commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Millions of livelihoods are at stake, as well as billions of dollars. Under the Kyoto Protocol, some countries set emissions reductions to be achieved within the five year commitment period up to 2012. But the United States has not ratified the protocol and many countries are not on-track to reach their targets. Countries are now considering reductions beyond Kyoto that could range between 25 to 50 per cent by 2020 or 50 to 95 per cent by 2050, but few are optimistic that such an ambitious target will be agreed. The scepticism comes partly from the concern that some countries with low historical but high present day emissions, such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa, may not be taking sufficient action to mitigate their emissions in a way that appears transparent or accountable.
Integrity Awards 2009-2010
Integrity Awards 2009-2010
Restoring Trust: Global Action for Transparency
At a time when global crises threaten public trust in institutions and the hope for greater social justice, the global anti-corruption community meets for the 14th biennial International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) from 10 November to 13 November, 2010, to share ideas and map out the way forward. Under the banner “Restoring Trust: Global Action for Transparency”, more than 1,000 conference participants are gathered in Bangkok to address these challenges head on. Participants and visionary speakers from civil society, business, government, academia and the media will address the following issues at six plenary sessions, 15 special sessions and 40 workshops
14th International Anti-Corruption Conference
This November more than 1,000 people are heading to Bangkok to tackle some of the most pressing global challenges at the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC). Since its start in 1983 the conference series has served as the leading international platform for those committed to advancing the global governance agenda and the importance of transparency and anti-corruption has steadily risen on national, regional and the global agendas.
Central American Transparency Forum
Central Americans will be watching El Salvador closely as regional representatives from government, business and civil society collect for the first Central America and Dominican Republic Transparency Forum. Gathering under the banner “Central America Forum: a region free of corruption?”, the Transparency Internationa-organised forum will build on the Guatemala Declaration, signed in 2006 by heads of state from Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama proclaiming a corruption-free region by 2010.
Foro de América Central y República Dominicana por la Transparencia
Foro de América Central y República Dominicana por la Transparencia
The anti-corruption catalyst: realising the MDGs by 2015
Realising the MDGs by 2015
Reporting on corruption in Latin America
In Latin America, investigative journalists played a central role in exposing corruption that resulted in the ousting of at least five presidents: Fernando Collor de Mello of Brazil, Abdalá Bucarám Ortíz of Ecuador, Arnoldo Alesmán of Nicaragua, Alberto Fujimori of Peru and Carlos Andrés Pérez of Venezuela.
Seeing through corruption
Seeing through corruption TI Annual Report 2009. Corruption has no conscience. When allowed to spread, its corrosive effects destroy trust and fuel injustice, regardless of geography or sector. To counter this scourge, Transparency International (TI) works around the world fostering greater transparency and accountability in government and business, and empowering people to demand their rights. TI’s latest Annual Report provides compelling evidence of how the global anti-corruption movement is making concrete gains against corruption.
Development Pacts: Making their voice count
Corruption has a strong presence in the lives of disadvantaged groups. They face it in the struggle for resources, justice or in a simple visit to a health care centre. Often, they find that their protest against corruption goes unheard or is met with force.
Educating for integrity
Nearly half of the world's population (almost 3 billion people) is under the age of 25, according to the World Population Foundation. The importance of engaging youth in anti-corruption cannot be overestimated. It can help change attitudes and mores and build zero-tolerance for corruption where the problem is seen as an acceptable fact of life.
G20 – Calling for Action
Increasing evidence in recent months has shown that fraud and corruption may have played significant roles in causing the financial crisis, and they have been a prime reason for the serious decline in public confidence in both financial services and the bodies regulating them. In April 2009, the Group of 20 leading world economies set out an ambitious agenda that famously declared the “end of bank secrecy”. It aimed to reform the global regulatory framework, prevent further abuses and curb illicit financial flows. More than a year later, rhetoric has surpassed action.
Preventing Corruption in Sport
For the next few weeks in South Africa, the pulse-racing excitement of football will reverberate around the world to the tune of cacophonous vuvuzelas. Nations from 32 countries are battling it out for the World Cup in front of an audience of billions. The great appeal of the beautiful game is based on a belief that the playing field is truly level: when the whistle blows, the result is a true reflection of everyone’s role, from the player who gives his all to the referee who points to the spot. For the good of the game, this must be so. Unfortunately, the spate of recent match-fixing scandals has cast doubt on this, even at the World Cup, and could threaten the long-term appeal of the sport. Wolfgang Feldner, the head of strategy at FIFA, world football’s governing body, suggested that even its Early Warning System, which monitors suspicious betting patterns, could not wipe out match-fixing altogether. In May, Michel Platini, president of the European Football Association (UEFA), called for an international police task force to fight corruption in sports, especially in football, in an interview.
Climate governance for a better world
Climate change is a defining issue of our times and the importance of how it is managed, cannot be underestimated. It is increasingly clear that there is a need for mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency to reduce corruption risks in decision-making processes and financial flows, in efforts to reduce global warming and climate change. Climate governance has been referred to as “the sum of organisations, policy instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures and norms that regulate the processes of climate change” (IISD). Broadly, this concerns public and private sector actions and approaches to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to adapt to climatic impacts such as severe weather, flooding, droughts and the extreme deterioration of land referred to as desertification.
Anti-corruption challenges in the Americas
The Organisation of American States (OAS) has consistently identified corruption and a lack of transparency as a fundamental factor jeopardising the security and prosperity of citizens in the region. It promoted the first convention against corruption, The Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) in 1996, and has made corruption a high priority at all five Summits of the Americas since 1994. Yet despite identifying the problem, concrete action remains insufficient. Although 33 out of 34 OAS members have ratified IACAC, there is still a strong need to translate the words of the convention into national policy and practice. Currently, only 28 states are taking part in the convention’s monitoring mechanism. The political will to take corruption seriously has not yet translated into a concerted effort to deal with its causes. The region remains racked by violence, poverty and inequality. Organised crime is perceived to have a stranglehold on more than one country and the current build up of conventional weapons, particularly in South America where arms budgets have increased 150 per cent since the beginning of the decade, is a serious concern.
Retos anticorrupción en las Américas
The Organisation of American States (OAS) has consistently identified corruption and a lack of transparency as a fundamental factor jeopardising the security and prosperity of citizens in the region. It promoted the first convention against corruption, The Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) in 1996, and has made corruption a high priority at all five Summits of the Americas since 1994. Yet despite identifying the problem, concrete action remains insufficient. Although 33 out of 34 OAS members have ratified IACAC, there is still a strong need to translate the words of the convention into national policy and practice. Currently, only 28 states are taking part in the convention’s monitoring mechanism. The political will to take corruption seriously has not yet translated into a concerted effort to deal with its causes. The region remains racked by violence, poverty and inequality. Organised crime is perceived to have a stranglehold on more than one country and the current build up of conventional weapons, particularly in South America where arms budgets have increased 150 per cent since the beginning of the decade, is a serious concern.
NIS Regional Report -- A chance for good governance: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine
Accountability, transparency and the fight against corruption are high on the policy agendas across the Middle East and North Africa. To help benchmark progress and identify areas of concern, Transparency International (TI) conducted independent assessments of the National Integrity Systems – the pillars of society that shape how a country is governed – in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine.
فرصة‮ ‬للحكم‮ ‬الرشيد‮ ‬:‮ ‬مصر٬‮ ‬لبنان٬‮ ‬المغرب‮ ‬و‮ ‬فلسطين
تأتي المساءلة والشفافية ومحاربة الفساد على رأس جدول أعمال السياسات في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا. وللمساعدة في وضع معايير للتقدم و لتحديد مجالات الاهتمام ، أجرت منظمة الشفافية الدولية دراسات تقييم مستقلة لأنظمة النزاهة الوطنية- وهي الأعمدة داخل المجتمع التي تحدد شكل الحوكمة في بلد ما، في كل من مصر ولبنان والمغرب وفلسطين.
World Press Freedom Day 2010
World Press Freedom Day 2010
Navigating Corruption Risks in Defence Contracts
The defence industry is often seen as more prone to corruption than others primarily because of the secrecy surrounding military spending and national security. Such lack of transparency in a market estimated to be worth US$1.5 trillion in 2008 increases the risk of abuse. One area that receives little attention because of its complexity and opacity is offsets.
Re-starting with Integrity
The international community meeting in New York to draw up a post-earthquake reconstruction plan for Haiti to spend the US $11.5 billion pledged by multilateral agencies and individual governments faces many challenges. This is an enormous sum for a small country of 9.7 million people but Haitians need everything: houses for the one million made homeless and millions of others living in unsanitary conditions; food, clean water, regular electricity, functioning schools and hospitals, agricultural development, good roads and more. Corruption can seriously undermine the humanitarian mission underway. When relief is delivered in a challenging environment, there is pressure to disburse aid rapidly and immense organisational challenges in expanding the scope and scale of programme delivery. Haiti’s reputation for poor governance makes this of particular concern. The billions of dollars donated in the past have made little difference in the lives of Haitians, most of who still live on US $1.25 a day.
African Education Watch
African Education Watch
2010 Winter Games: On Track for Sustainability
From February 12th – 23rd the Olympic flame will burn over Vancouver. It marks the beginning of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and a hopeful milestone in how major sporting events are staged. For the first time there is transparency, sustainability and accountability in all phases of the project – something that has been lacking in the past.
World Economic Forum 2010
World Economic Forum 2010
Stopping Corruption to Save Lives. A practical guide for combating corruption in relief emergencies
Preventing Corruption in Humanitarian Operations: A Handbook of Good Practices is a timely, practical guide to help aid organisations deal with corruption in day-to-day operations. When people donate money to aid agencies they expect it to reach people in need. When it ends up in someone’s pocket, this not only hurts the victims but damages the donor-aid-delivery supply chain. Eliminate corruption and donors remain confident and more aid ends up helping those who need it most.