On 1 August, Transparencia Venezuela, TI’s national chapter in Venezuela, the Perú- based Press and Society Institute, the Venezuelan Institute for Social and Politics Investigation and the Social Organisation CESAP (Grupo Social CESAP) have launched the group Coalition Pro Access: Venezuelan Movement for the Right to Public Information (“Coalición Pro Acceso. Movimiento venezolano por el Derecho a la Información Pública) in Caracas.

It aims to promote legal instruments and activities towards the right of the public to access to information. During the launch presentation the coalition presented 10 principles for the right to know, starting by claiming the access to public information as a human right and explaining who is subject to the principles; how to deal with denials and exceptions; and the nature of the information such as that it should be free, detailed and current. For more information see www.proacceso.org.ve

In August, Manfredo Marroquín, TI’s Regional Coordinator for Central America participated in a press conference organised by the Committee for Free Expression (C-LIBRE) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, drawing attention to the politicised appointment of the three commissioners set to lead Honduras’ Access to Public Information Institute. TI strongly supports monitoring their performance in regulating access to public information, as planned by the Committee for Free Expression (C-LIBRE), Alianza 72 and other civil society organisations.

Transparency International’s national chapter in Paraguay, Transparencia Paraguay, has launched an Electoral Observatory to monitor the presidential campaign and elections in Paraguay coming up in April 2008. The campaign will be carried out with a coalition of civil society organisations called Citizen Observatory against Corruption (Observatorio Ciudadano Contra la Corrupción). The campaign will include monitoring for the abuse of state resources related to the electoral campaigns, pushing for public officials to declare and publish their assets, and ensuring that public officials renounce their offices if they are running for election. In addition, the group will monitor that rule of law is followed by issuing complaints should there be reasons to do so. Finally, the group will take measures to promote the transparent handling of campaign resources.

Transparency Deutschland, TI’s national chapter in Germany, issued a press release together with six other German civil society organisations – BUND, Campact, foodwatch, Germanwatch, LobbyControl and Mehr Demokratie – welcoming the decision of the German Constitutional Court to confirm the "Parliamentarians' Law" and the respective code of conduct. This law requires parliamentarians to report on additional sources of income, especially with regard to activities in relationship with the mandate for which the parliamentarian was elected. Additional professional activities are considered to be secondary employment, which must be disclosed to the President of the German parliament and made public. This income is not published in exact numbers but presented in three monthly ranges starting at €1,000. TI and the other civil society organisations are asking for more detailed information on the parliamentarians' income.

As part of Transparency International’s work on promoting transparent procurement and strengthening corporate responsibility, a two-day seminar was held at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China from 21-22 August. The seminar was designed to increase public awareness of the importance of good corporate governance and of the role of business in curbing corruption in the construction sector, as well as improving the corporate governance system in State Owned Enterprises. The project is funded by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office programme of the United Kingdom Embassy in Beijing.

In August, Transparency International’s national chapter in Bangladesh (TIB) published Biman Bangladesh Airlines: A diagnostic study. It was presented during the roundtable “Bangladesh Biman: Problems and the way out” at the National Press Club in Dhaka with experts, civil society members and representatives from Biman Airlines participating. The study detected corruption involving US $45 million in the procurement process for purchase and lease on aircrafts in the last five years. The study also tried to determine whether corruption existed in repair and maintenance, management of in-country as well as foreign stations, and selling and confirmation of tickets.

The study suggests that the government decision to turn Biman into a public limited company may turn out to be ineffective because certain preconditions were not met. For instance, the board of directors does not reflect the presence of aviation experts with the required expertise on aviation industry’s technical, commercial and legal issues, but rather itis dominated by senior government officials.

Transparency International and its national chapter in Zimbabwe organised a workshop in August to train TI chapters and partners on advocacy and on how to take the National Integrity System (NIS) study results of Southern African countries forward.

Held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the workshop was organised prior to publishing the NIS studies of Botswana, Cameroon, DR of Congo, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. TI Zimbabwe served as the sub-regional secretariat for this series of NIS studies, a project on-going since August 2006. The studies are currently being edited and will be released in the coming months.

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) will be holding a debate on governance and transparency in post-conflict countries and countries under international administrations on 27 September at the Parliamentary Assembly, the White Hall (House of Peoples), Sarajevo. The subject is closely linked to the ‘failed states’ phenomenon and governance and anti-corruption issues as some of its aspects, focusing in particular on the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This 'Open Parliament' discussion is primarily intended to critically examine governance and development under international administrations as well as to stimulate debate on state capacity building on the road to European integration. Particular emphasis will be on the rule of law and corruption issues. National and sub-national MPs, government officials, academia, media, relevant civil society organisations and interested international organisation representatives have been invited. For more information, or to attend, please contact Boris Divjak at bdivjak@ti-bih.org or Srdjan Blagovcanin at sblagovcanin@ti-bih.org.

Transparency International submitted its recently launched Recommendations for Review Mechanism for UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to the UNCAC inter-governmental Working Group on Review of Implementation in Vienna, Austria at the end of August. The report includes specific proposals on the structure of the review process and seeks to bring governments closer to agreement on the overall structure of the review process and the assignment of powers and responsibilities in relation to it. TI calls on governments to give priority to the fight against corruption and to reach consensus on concrete proposals to review whether countries covered by the UNCAC are taking sufficient action to fulfil their commitments. To download the report, please click here: www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2007/2007_08_28_uncac_review

Transparency International’s national chapter in Ghana, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has appointed the new Executive Secretary Mr Vitus A. Azeem. Mr Azeem has taken over the administration of GII on 1 August.

Transparency International and its Chair Huguette Labelle would like to extend heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the late Attorney Mervyn Encanto, a long-time Board Member of TI’s national chapter in the Philippines who passed away last week. Mervyn Encanto was committed to TI Philippines from its inception as a founding director, and as its president for a long time was the prime mover of the chapter. TI Philippines benefited greatly from his generously shared resources as a banker and the president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines, including his office, employees and assistance at a time when TI-Philippines direly lacked resources. TI would like to express its thanks and grateful appreciation for all that the founding president of TI Philippines has done to support the cause of anti-corruption in the Philippines.