The TI national chapter in Nigeria, Transparency in Nigeria, made a presentation to the Nigerian Senate on the proposed Freedom of Information Bill, which is presently before the two Houses of the National Assembly. The chapter strongly supports its passage into law, stressing that an Access to Information law is an indispensable tool for fighting corruption. The chapter urged the National Assembly to pass the bill expeditiously and suggested changing the short title of the bill to “Access to Information.”

The TI Latin America and the Spanish speaking Caribbean (TILAC) network has just launched its new regional strategy. The strategy, which runs until 2012, responds to the need of tailoring TI´s approaches to the changing realities and challenges in the region.

The aspiration of TILAC 2012 is to focus anti-corruption work in areas where more value can be added to the reduction of social and economic inequalities, the improvement of the quality of public policies and the strengthening of the legitimacy of democratic institutions. Its overall objective is to increase the transparency and accountability levels of political and administrative systems in Latin America through concerted efforts by the government, the private sector and civil society.

The chapters and contacts in the region, together with the Americas department at the TI Secretariat, decided to concentrate on three areas: advocacy around the issues of political corruption, international agreements and poverty, collective learning/knowledge management and organisational development.

The TI chapter in Chile, Chile Transparente, published a study that reflects the need for transparency and accountability in NGOs. The study presents the instruments that CSOs can use to account for their work and finances, and includes the Chilean NGO regulations.

The text proposes a set of 25 transparency standards for NGOs. These standards aim to help NGOs present information on their websites about how an NGO operates, who are its members, it’s by laws, and donors and lobbying activities it is involved with.

The TI chapter in Colombia, Transprencia por Colombia, signed an agreement with the Pacific branch of the Business Alliance for Secure Commerce (BASC) to introduce anti-corruption standards in Colombian companies certified by BASC.

Around 900 companies in Colombia have this certificate, which obliges businesses to establish control systems and organisational security procedures to be able to export. The anti-corruption standards, which are part of this certification, is a very important step to prevent corruption in the private sector.

The pilot phase of the project involves 50 companies. They will put in practice the main modules of “Rumbo Pymes,” created by the chapter. This is a self regulation tool to strengthen ethical behaviour among businesses, which employs TI´s Business Principles for combating bribery.

The TI chapter in Haiti launched its Centre de plaidoyer et d’assistance juridique (Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre) with a press conference on 22 April. The centre aims to provide victims of corruption in Haiti with legal assistance to pursue their complaints. The work will also enable the chapter to collect valuable data that will be translated into advocacy action for systemic change. Posters and brochures produced by the chapter will be distributed in public institutions that provide services to the population such as the customs and tax offices, the tribunals, the municipal offices, the electricity, telephone and water service provider as well as the public universities. The project is supported by USAID through the PACT Civil Society Advocacy programme.

The measurement tool registers the payment of bribes declared by Mexican households in 35 public services provided by the three levels of government and the business sector. The survey also sheds light on the cost of corruption for Mexican citizens.

The 2007 results show that more than 197 million corrupt actions allegedly took place in order to access public services. According to this, Mexicans “invested” 27 thousand million Mexican Pesos (€ 1.6 thousand million) in claimed incidents of corruption, i.e. paying bribes in procedures and public services. This amount represents 8% of the average income of Mexican families.

For more information please see: www.tm.org.mx

Building on its extensive knowledge and practice drawn from producing its Municipal Transparency Index, the TI chapter in Venezuela, Transparencia Venezuela, drafted a document with standards for the successful and transparent management of municipalities. The set of recommendations have been presented to the candidates of the next municipal elections that will take place next November. Transparencia Venezuela aims to find concrete ways to involve candidates with public transparency and the fight against corruption so they are fully aware of the issue and prepared before taking office.

The TI Asia Pacific Regional Programme Meeting was held in Manila from 21-24 May 2008. More than 60 representatives from 20 national chapters took part in the meeting, where participants shared their experiences and successes over the past year as well as their upcoming plans. Workshops were held on fundraising as well as on communications strategies in times of transition. Chapters also discussed the way forward to implement the TIAP Regional Strategy, looking at different regional programmes including the development of ALACs, corruption prevention in humanitarian assistance, increasing development accountability, political finance transparency and other issues. The regional meeting was preceded by a one-day workshop on the Forest Governance and Integrity Programme currently being developed in the region, during which participants discussed the programme objectives, looked at risks and challenges, and conducted a stakeholder analysis to better understand the position of TI in increasing forest governance.

TI India has called for the government of India to take all necessary steps to seek the data offered free of charge by the German government gathered from their Liechtenstein tax evasion investigation. R H Tahiliani, Chair of TI India, said that there should be complete transparency and accountability about the money, possibly being brought abroad to evade taxes in India. Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, UK, USA and other nations have already expressed interest in obtaining this data. The Indian government has been silent on the issue and has not approached the German government, which has offered to provide information on accounts to various nations around the world, including India.

The Annual Members Meeting (AMM) 2008 of TI Pakistan was held in May in Karachi. Along with a presentation by Saad Rashid, Executive Director, on the chapter’s activities and notable achievements during 2007, an agreement with the donors sponsoring the second phase of the Anti Corruption Project Pakistan was agreed. The AMM discussed the concept of TI’s Advocacy and Legal Advise Centres (ALACs), as well as the methodology of their National Corruption Survey 2006, the next edition of which plans to include perceptions of the new government.

In May, the TI chapter in Azerbaijan held a workshop with representatives of the Ministry of Tax in Lankaran and residents of Khavzov village on the financial obstacles of the national strategy, the increase of transparency and the prevention of corruption. During the training participants were informed on corruption and a plan of activities for the realisation of the national strategy. Free legal assistance was provided to the people of the village of Khavzov as part of the chapter’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre project, which has offices in Baku, Gandja, Lankaran, Guba and Sheki.

TI Bulgaria published a survey in April which looks at the municipal election candidate’s campaign finance reports. Results reveal a low level of transparency in political party financing. The elections were given 1.77 points (where 1 indicates low levels of transparency and 10 high) in their Transparency Index. This result represents the lowest score since 2005, when the chapter first published on the issue. The survey was conducted in October-November 2007 and covered the cities of Varna, Rousse, Haskovo, Vidin, Doupnitsa and Bourgas. Of the 326 registered candidates for mayors and municipal councillors in the six cities, 131 presented reports on the financing of their campaigns. Of the 88 parties at national level, 70 submitted reports to the National Audit Office. TI Bulgaria has stressed the need to introduce uniform standards for reporting on political party financing and to impose fines on parties failing to submit reports.

TI France’s latest La Lettre de Transparence newsletter focuses on the environment and the fight against corruption. Among other stories, the publication looks at the level of corruption in the environmental sector in France, a case study of the Kenyan Wildlife Service, the question of sustainability in rainforests, corruption in the water sector and the question of extraction without extortion. To download the newsletter please click here. For further information please visit www.transparence-france.org

In connection with the appointment process of the Supreme Court president, the TI chapter in Hungary stated that the country’s courts could be made more transparent and accountable, and recommended for the court administration system to be reformed as well as changing regulations to boost accountability. The chapter also recommends the introduction of clear ethical standards in court bodies, making the operation of the National Justice Administration Council (OIT) transparent and open to the public, and making court documents accessible.

The TI chapter in Israel, SHVIL – TI Israel, held its General Assembly Meeting at Tel Aviv University in April. A review of the chapter’s activities and achievements in 2007, as well as the outlook for the 2008 work programme were presented by Professor Gross, the chapter's chairperson, and CEO Galia Sagy. The organisation's budgetary report was approved and the report of the Audit Committee was accepted. The highlight of the evening was the biennial elections for the Board of Directors and the farewell ceremony for the departing directors Dr. Lea Shilo, Ahmad Massarawa, Zeev Pilpel and Dr. Doron Greenberg. The General Assembly also voted to change SHVIL’s name to Transparency International Israel.

The Annual Members Meeting of the TI chapter in Latvia was held on 31 March in Riga. The meeting elected Lolita Čigāne as the new Chairperson of the Council. A long-time member of the organisation, she has extensive experience in good governance and anti-corruption projects in Latvia and abroad. The new TI Latvia Council members include Inese Voika, Pauls Raudseps, Mārcis Gobiņš, Rasma Kārkliņa and Jānis Ātrens.

The meeting also decided that the organisation’s strategic management will be carried out by the Council and Council Chairperson with executive functions transferred to the Director.

On 22 April, TI Moldova published a study that suggests that it is possible that corruption in Moldova is more widespread than before. Conducted with a sample of over 1,000 people in Moldova between 23 February and 10 March 2008, the study shows a record rise in alleged government corruption, with visa issuing and law enforcement topping the list. According to those asked, Moldovans are forced to hand over bribes 81 percent of the time for visas and 57 percent for all customs related matters. Over 80 percent of Moldovans believe that corruption is holding back the development of their country. TI Moldova Director Lilia Carasciuc said, “people place corruption as third among the problems they meet, after poverty and unemployment. The business people also feel affected and place this phenomenon as second after high taxes."

During the Civil G8 Dialogue, a civil society forum for integrating the views and recommendations of civil society ahead of the 2008 G8 Summit at Toyako, Japan, TI has highlighted the need for anti-corruption measures, integral to fighting both poverty and climate change. TI has called on the G8 continuously to move swiftly on a number of anti-corruption measures, including the promotion of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, cracking down on overseas bribery by G8-based multinationals, harmonising and strengthening anti-corruption measures in the work of national and global aid institutions, and safeguarding the international financial system against misuse by corrupt officials.

TI-S’s Managing Director Cobus de Swardt said that: “Hunger and illiteracy cannot be eradicated as long as corruption continues to sap resources from the world’s poorest countries, and environmental regulation, including CO2 controls and forest protection, will not be effective as long as law enforcement and other decision-makers can be bought.” Addressing another dominant theme for this year’s summit, climate change, TI Japan expert Professor Toru Umeda spoke of corruption as a cause of deforestation and illegal trafficking of endangered species.

On 25 June TI launched its 2008 Global Corruption Report (GCR) on corruption in the water sector in the United Nations headquarters, New York. The GCR argues that the water crisis is a crisis of governance, with corruption as a root cause.

"Water is a resource without substitute. It is paramount to our health, our food security, our energy future and our ecosystem. But corruption plagues water management and use in all these areas,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.

The GCR is an annual publication, produced by TI and published by Cambridge University Press. Since it was first published in 2001, the GCR has focused on a wide range of key issues, drawing attention to access to information, political corruption, corruption in construction and post-conflict reconstruction, corruption in the health sector and corruption in judicial systems.

For more information and to download the 2008 report, please see www.globalcorruptionreport.org

On 28 June TI celebrated its 15th anniversary. German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, addressed TI's international Board of Directors in honour of the organisation's anniversary.

"Your work has been most valuable, not only in raising awareness, but also in setting international standards in all relevant fora, in advising governments and in developing codes of conduct for the private sector on a highly complex issue," said the Minister in his address.

The Minister also promised the Board of Directors to make another effort in the second half of the year to push for Germany’s ratification of the UNCAC.

In April, TI and Enablon, a leading provider of corporate responsibility management software, presented Enablon’s Anti-Bribery System (ABS), a web-based anti-bribery self-evaluation tool for companies that want to prevent bribery in their operations. TI joined forces with Enablon to develop the interactive program intended for internal use by companies to appraise the strength, completeness and effectiveness of a company’s anti-bribery policies and procedure, and to support improvement. The program is based on good practices set out in TI’s Business Principles for Countering Bribery and a framework for anti-bribery self-evaluation developed by TI (TI Self-Evaluation Tool). Enablon ABS offers diagnostic functions that will enable users to identify risks and areas for improvement. It provides potential solutions through access to expert knowledge and aims to assist companies in strengthening their anti-bribery systems.

For more information on the software please click here.

TI is calling for nominations for the 2008 Integrity Awards, honouring individuals and organisations that have demonstrated exceptional courage and outstanding leadership in fighting corruption. Each year TI receives nominations for candidates who have risked their lives and their livelihoods in the name of justice, transparency and integrity. Winners have come from Asia and Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. They have included journalists and public prosecutors, accountants, government officials and leaders of civil society. Launched in 2000, the goal of the Integrity Awards is to offer greater recognition and support to those who investigate and unmask corruption, often at great personal risk. Nominations for the 2008 Integrity Awards will be accepted until 31 August 2008. For further information please click here.

Early bird registration for the 13th IACC has been extended to 15 July. To take advantage of the offer please register online at www.13iacc.org.

Important: please note the opening conference on 30 October will now commence at 14.00.