Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International, has accepted the invitation of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to join the Board of the UN Global Compact, a voluntary corporate citizenship initiative with over 3000 corporate and stakeholder members. In this role, she will seek to further foster the principles of transparency and accountability in concert with the private sector.

Dr. Devendra Raj Panday, a member of Transparency International’s Advisory Council and a former president of Transparency International Nepal, was released from prison on 25 April after more than 90 days of illegal detention. He was held for having demanded a return to democracy, civil and political rights, and dismissal of the unconstitutional government. TI Nepal and the TI Secretariat have been in contact with Dr. Panday, who confirms that he is in good health. He wishes to thank all in the TI movement for their support and solidarity.

Transparency International has been awarded a Partnership Programme Agreement with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). The agreement, which will run from July 2006 through April 2011, will deliver increased resources to Transparency International of up to GBP 1 million per year. It does not affect existing relationships and funding arrangements between national chapters and DFID. It confers special status within DFID for TI, and may open new avenues for cooperation and influence at all levels. Questions or comments? awarburton@transparency.org.

Transparencia Paraguay organised a roundtable discussion on construction of a new hydroelectric power station with representatives from all sectors. Since 2005, the chapter has alleged that the project’s bidding process was not transparent. The roundtable identified a lack of transparency, a lack of equity and a lack of sovereignty. As Transparencia Paraguay pressed for an investigation, civil society protested, leading the parliaments of Paraguay and Argentina to ask their governments for clarification. This contributed to the president’s decision to halt the bidding process.

Transparency International Vanuatu has condemned the arrest of a journalist, saying it threatens press freedom in Vanuatu. On 27 March, seven policemen arrested Daily Post publisher Marc Neil-Jones after his newspaper published an article about an assault on Post reporter Samuel Taffo by police officers during a rugby match. Taffo was attacked after photographing rough behaviour by rugby players against their opponents, according to the article. TI Vanuatu is calling on members of Parliament to introduce a bill recognising press freedom and the right to information.

On 17 April, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation became the first Indian company to sign an Integrity Pact with Transparency International. The Pact was signed by company Chairman and Managing Director Subir Raha and Admiral R.K. Tahliani, former Chief of Naval Staff and chairman of TI India. The company had used the Pact since July 2005. Developed by TI, the Integrity Pact is a tool to prevent corruption in public contracting.

Spring 2005 municipal elections were overshadowed by corruption scandals as political candidates were found to have engaged in vote buying in the Latvian towns of Rēzekne and Jūrmala. The administrative court annulled the results in Rēzekne and ordered a new election. Results in Jūrmala, an exclusive resort town on the Riga Gulf coast, were also contested, although the results were not overturned by the court. Transparency International Latvia discovered that politicians and closely connected business people engaged in bribery to ensure that the “right” mayor of Jūrmala was elected. The case is pending before the courts. TI Latvia has requested that politicians clearly state their views on the allegations.

Since June 2005, Proética, TI’s national chapter in Peru, has run a programme to develop citizen watchdog skills in 150 teenagers and 75 children in Ferreñafe. The programme teaches transparency, ethics and democratic governance, as well as communication skills. Students evaluated seven programmatic areas, such as the Municipal Sanitary Service and access to public information, and developed best-practice recommendations. These were then delivered to the relevant authorities, who welcomed and adopted the results. The programme succeeded on many levels, contributing to good government practices and changing the attitudes of youth involved in the programme. Proética plans to repeat the programme in 2006 in other regions of Peru, integrate it into education institutions and train teachers.

In March, Transparency International Ireland announced its partnership with the School of Business, Trinity College, Dublin, to establish and manage an anti-corruption resource centre at the university. The programme will prepare representatives of the private sector, government and non-profit organisations to manage risk and prevent corruption. Dr. Gerard McHugh, Head of Trinity’s School of Business, said: “Irish businesses alone are losing €2 billion a year from economic crime. This partnership will offer support to TI Ireland’s research and education programmes while keeping the School of Business at the cutting edge of anti-corruption education”. A website and electronic newsletter can be found at www.transparency.ie. The chapter will also publish a National Integrity System Country Study in October.

TI Israel, Shvil, held elections for its Board of Directors in March. Shvil’s general assembly decided to hold open three of the 15 seats for public figures who will be invited to join to help elevate Shvil’s profile and goals. Professor Joseph Gross was re-elected as Chair; Arie Avneri, Doron Greenberg, Ahmad Massarawa, Zeev Pilpel and Dr Lea Shilo were also re-elected. The following new members were elected: Dr Avshalom Adam, Doron Navot, Yehuda Porath, Jacob Sabo, Dr Efrat Tulkowsky and Varda Zilberberg. Further information can be found at www.ti-israel.org.
At TI Ireland’s first annual meeting, Colm McCarthy, who has led the chapter since November 2004, stepped down as Chair, replaced by Patrick D'Arcy. Mr McCarthy was elected Treasurer, Noeleen Hartigan, was elected Vice Chair. Dr Louis Brennan and Michael Smith were also elected to the board.

The National Bank of Pakistan and TI Pakistan have signed a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of an Integrity Pact to promote transparency in the bank’s procurement system. The bank will establish a mechanism to ensure accountability in all its dealings and to provide checks and balances to contribute to transparent procurement. The bank has approximately 10 million accounts.

Transparency International Bangladesh will publish more than a dozen diagnostic reports on widespread corruption in service delivery organisations between June and December this year. The plan was disclosed in a meeting between TI Bangladesh and the newly formed group, Reporters against Corruption.

In March, Poder Ciudadano, TI´s national chapter in Argentina, presented the results of its 2005 monitoring of Congress, which shows little improvement in increasing citizens’ involvement in the legislative process or adequately publicising information. The quantity of information made available to the public is also inadequate. Poder Ciudadano recommended that Congress designate days for citizens to question their representatives, and proactively distribute information about its members and legislative agenda. Poder Ciudadano has monitored Congress since 2001.To access the full report please visit www.poderciudadano.org.

To ensure transparent electoral processes, Transparencia por Colombia launched Vote Bien, involving agreements with two political parties to ensure transparency in political campaign finance. The agreements, signed by Partido Cambio Radical and Polo Democrático Alternativo, include an internal transparency policy, ethics agreements, and disclosure of the curricula, income and expenditures of campaign finance managers. The website www.votebien.com contains information on campaign results, campaign financing and other issues. The project, funded by USAID through Casals, is led by Transparencia por Colombia, the weekly magazine Semana, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Colombia and Conexión Colombia.

The Central American Task Force on Political Financing met in Managua, Nicaragua, from 29 March to 1 April to launch a project to monitor November’s Nicaraguan presidential and legislative election campaigns. Representatives from TI national chapters and contacts in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the TI Secretariat shared experiences and good practices in monitoring political party finance. As in 2004, Etica y Transparencia, TI’s national chapter in formation in Nicaragua, will serve as an independent observer on Election Day. Financial and technical support comes from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Americas Department at TI’s Secretariat.

With the theme “Towards a fairer world: why is corruption still blocking the way?” the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference will be held in Guatemala City and Antigua, Guatemala, on 15-18 November. As the premier global anti-corruption event, the IACC serves as a platform for advocacy, a forum to exchange information, and an opportunity to cross-fertilise work and establish coalitions. Four plenary sessions and some 40 workshops will cover the top priorities for the anti-corruption movement. Special events include the Transparency International Integrity Awards and the Latin American Investigative Journalism Award ceremonies. Contact rprocha@transparency.org or bcarl@transparency.org for further information.

The Forest Integrity Network has resumed activities, and now has a programme manager at the TI Secretariat. FIN is a multi-stakeholder network, created in 2000 and hosted by TI, which focuses on building coalitions to combat corruption in the forest sector. In partnership with the World Bank’s Programme on Forests, FIN produced Tools for civil society action to reduce forest corruption, a booklet to promote the use of TI created tools to curb corruption in this sector. FIN is currently looking for companies in the forest sector to work with on promoting the Business Principles for Countering Bribery. If your work is related to the forest sector please contact afigari@transparency.org, or click on www.transparency.org/fin.