On 10 February, a march against corruption was organised by the Honduran National Anti-corruption Council (Consejo Nacional Anticorrupción), the Catholic Church of Honduras and ACI-Participa, TI’s national chapter in formation in Honduras. Nearly 30,000 people responded to the invitation to protest against corruption and to give a clear vote in favour of integrity and honesty in Honduras. ACI-Participa, took the opportunity to convene a three-day conference reminding people of the commitments and anti-corruption approach already in place. These include Honduras’ ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in March 2005, and the Guatemalan president’s signing of the Guatemala Declaration against Corruption, committing himself to a set of concrete anti-corruption reforms together with other 8 Central American Presidents and representatives. ACI-Participa is monitoring the implementation of these commitments with the help of other civil organisations.

The project NIS Study and Awareness-Raising within the Judiciary in Cameroon kicked off with a groundbreaking workshop in Yaoundé, Cameroon in February. The National Integrity System (NIS) Study and Awareness-Raising within the Judiciary project in Cameroon kicked off with a groundbreaking workshop in Yaoundé, Cameroon in February. The project includes the elaboration of a study of the country’s NIS and a series of workshops to train representatives in the judicial system, including leading officials from the ministry of justice, judges, magistrates, and lawyers. Seventy representatives from different levels of the country’s judiciary system attended the successful two-day workshop. The project will lead to a multi-stakeholder action plan, based on the findings of the NIS study. The project will run through the end of 2007.

Transparency International has signed a ‘National Chapter in Formation’ Agreement with its national contact group in Albania, Citizen’s Advocacy Office (CAO), on Tuesday, 20 February. The Citizens Advocacy Office was established in October 2001, with the purpose of encouraging citizens to denounce corruption and power-abuses by officials and bureaucracy. CAO’s strategy combines professional and legal approaches and strategic cooperation with the media, and is supported by a team of young and experienced professional. The organisation focuses on legal advice against corruption, legal education, constitutional and legal initiatives and awareness raising in the media. One example of CAO’s work was a televised panel organised for the local elections in February 2007 where politicians and the private sector were invited to discuss transparency in public contracting. www.cal.al

With the support of Transparency International and the Konrad.Adenauer-Foundation, the Latin American Bishops Conference organised a two-day seminar on corruption in February. Their objective was to prepare concrete proposals for the Latin American bishops' council (CELAM) taking place in Brazil in mid-May. Representatives from the Catholic Church, governments, academia and NGOs discussed the social and political consequences of corruption, including the links between corruption, violence and security. During the conference, TI elaborated on the role of civil society in monitoring anti-corruption conventions. Transparencia Mexicana gave an overview of the fight against corruption in Mexico and Transparencia por Colombia presented a recent study on corruption and violence in Colombia.

The final declaration acknowledges the link between poverty and corruption and encourages different sector - among them the Church - to collaborate with different social actors and take action in the fight against corruption.
For more information, go to: www.adenauer.org.br/atual.asp#

Transport plays a very important role in sustaining India’s economic progress as roads carry three-fourths of the freight traffic. TI India’s new Report on Corruption in Trucking Operations suggests that truckers are required to pay bribes at every stage of their operations, including for registration and fitness certificates, and for issuance and renewal of interstate and national permits. One of the major findings of the study is that a truck operator pays between Rupees (Rs) 211 (Euro 3,.6) and Rs 266 (Euro 4.5) per day as bribes. Based on this estimate, Rs 79,920 (Euro 1369) are paid annually by a single truck. The report also includes suggestions on how to tackle the major issues. To read the executive summary of the Report on Corruption in Trucking Operations in India, visit: www.transparency.org/content/download/15626/169071

The report Ensuring the Transparent Use of Earthquake Reconstruction Funds is now available in both English and Urdu and can be downloaded here: www.transparency.org/content/download/14385/151311. This report outlines the recommendations made at the TI International Workshop on Ensuring the Transparent Utilisation of Earthquake Reconstruction Funds, held in Islamabad in February 2006.

On 01 March 2007, TI released a report investigating the health of oversight and accountability institutions on the front line of the fight against corruption in East and Southeast Asia. The Regional Overview Report on National Integrity Systems in East and Southeast Asia identified regional trends and best practice based on nine National Integrity System (NIS) studies undertaken in the region in 2006, in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The report found that the NIS in East and Southeast Asian countries still have profound weaknesses. Even Hong Kong and Singapore, recognised as the strongest in the region, still show significant room for improvement, for example in involving civil society in government decision-making processes. Download the report at: www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2007/nis_in_east_and_southeast_asia

Transparency Palestine organised a training workshop on enhancing integrity, transparency and accountability in the work of professional associations. The workshop targeted 23 trainees from the Palestinian Engineers Association and is the first in a series of training sessions to be implemented by Transparency Palestine to target active professional associations in Palestine. The training focused on building values of integrity and systems of transparency as means for combating corruption. It also highlighted professional standards and ethics required in the work of professional associations, particularly in preparing budgets. The training also concentrated on the importance of developing a good and accurate reporting system within unions as a means for ensuring transparency.

On 16 February, Transparency Morocco organised a roundtable conference on “Elections Transparency and Citizens’ Participation.” Nouredine Ayouch, president of the association 2007 daba, was invited to promote participation and transparency in the 2007 elections, while Abdallah Harsi, Professor of Public Law at University of Fez, from Transparency Morocco, presented the conclusions and recommendations on the electoral framework of the study Democracy Reporting International which he co-authored. After the closing by Azeddine Akesbi, Secretary General of Transparency Morocco, art pieces by young artists resulting of a workshop on “creativity and raising awareness of the struggle against corruption and promoting transparency” were honoured.

After several months of establishing the required internal procedures, TI Romania has successfully passed its institutional audit and obtained ISO 9001-2001 certification, with the help of internal auditors and a final external audit carried out on 8-9 February. The certification was obtained through the SGS Group, based in Geneva (in conformity with the HU0174QYR standard of London). The certification awards standards in quality management systems of organisations.

TI’s national chapter in Bosnia Herzegovina (TI BiH) released a National Integrity System Study on 13 February 2007. The NIS Study was presented at a roundtable organised by TI BiH after almost a year of analytical work in co-operation with some thirty eminent experts from across the country. The key findings of the study emphasise a picture of contradictory and complex legislation, weak and politicised mechanisms and law enforcements structures, and a bureaucratic apparatus much larger than the European average involving numerous administrative procedures all of which can contribute to the growth of corrupt practices. Conflicts of interest dominate public institutions, while prevention mechanisms and legal solutions are either not being observed or applied. Please visit: www.ti-bih.org/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=970fb1d7-47e1-49dd-afab-82a03b8eb03c

The 2006 Corruption Perception Survey for Armenia was publicised in January at an event bringing together public figures, representatives of NGOs and international organisations, as well as mass media. The survey was implemented by Center for Regional Development / Transparency International Armenia (CRD/TI Armenia) with the support of United Nations Development Programme Armenia Office and is comparable to a similar survey carried out in 2002. The main results indicate that citizens are very concerned about corruption. Of the citizens surveyed, 89 percent see corruption as a problem in Armenia. Most people thought that bribery and abuse of public office for personal gain are the main manifestations of corruption and believe that it is the state authorities who initiate corruption. The traffic police, the electoral system, and the tax service were perceived as the most corrupt sectors and services. Please see: www.transparency.am

TI’s national chapter in Georgia prepared four reports within the framework of Georgia's International Commitments Assessment Programme.
The reports focus on the following issues:
1) Georgia's Achievements and Challenges through Different Lenses describes achievements and challenges of the Georgian government in relation to the requirements of the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan (ENP AP) as seen by the authority, opposition and civil society representatives.
2) Reforming Georgia's Social Welfare System looks at the recently established system of social protection for the extremely poor in Georgia.
3) Reform in Georgia's Defence Sector analyses structural reforms of the Ministry of Defence aimed at meeting NATO's entry requirements.
4) Budgetary Priorities of Georgia focuses on the dynamics of governmental priorities and expenditures since the Rose Revolution.
The programme is supported by the government of Finland and was implemented by TI Georgia. To access the reports, please click here: www.transparency.ge

In February, Transparency International Latvia published a report on the anti-corruption efforts of the state agency, New Three Brothers (J3B), in their supervision of the construction of the National Library of Latvia, the Acoustic Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art. TI Latvia serves as an independent public representative and watchdog on the J3B projects as part of an Integrity agreement made in September 2005 by the Ministry of Culture, J3B and TI Latvia.

The report states that the agency must continue to improve its communications with the public and with specific target audiences. Based on a previous TI Latvia recommendation, J3B has established a procurement procedure which exceeds the minimal requirements of the law and is an example of good governance. However, J3B is still not requiring the implementation of anti-corruption measures by its business partners. In its previous report, TI Latvia suggested that J3B draft an anti-corruption plan for the upcoming six months but J3B fulfilled only part of that goal.