Anti-Corruption Day 2013: celebrations around the world

Today is International Anti-Corruption Day and Transparency International is celebrating the day around the world. From anti-corruption school debates in India to a walkathon in Sri Lanka and Tunisian rap music, while the activities might be diverse, one message stands out: people are joining together to show their desire for corruption-free societies.

Are you celebrating International Anti-Corruption Day? Let us know what you’re up to and show your support – #stopthecorrupt.

Americas

In Brazil our partner organisation Amarribo will launch its Time to Wake up Campaign on Anti-Corruption Day in San Salvador de Bahia in the north-east of the country and in Espirito Santo, in the south-east. The campaign focuses on showing Brazilians how corruption affects their everyday lives and what all citizens can do to fight it. The organisation has also produced a video, which will be promoted on the day.

Our partner organisation Transparency Institute Guyana will hold an anti-corruption march to the parliament buildings and is inviting its members and representatives from government, politicians, and the general public to join in. Participants will receive t-shirts with the phrase “say no to corruption” and carry banners with the same message. Two of the major newspapers in the country will cover the march. The president of TI Guyana will fast that day to show solidarity with the victims of corruption, who are the poor and vulnerable. He will invite chapter members and the public to join him in the fast.

Together with Peru’s National Anti-Corruption Commission, Transparency International Peru (Proética) will be present at a central plaza in Lima, where there will be stalls representing 30 public and private institutions as well as NGOs. The aim is to raise awareness about the damaging effects of corruption and show what the different institutions are doing to combat it. Lupita, Peru’s well-known anti-corruption heroine, will be at the plaza interacting with the public, while Proética makes a 15-minute presentation on transparency and climate change.

Asia Pacific

India’s creative young minds will come to the fore during an inter-school anti-corruption debate competition in Delhi. The debating will take place in both Hindi and English, and participants will be moderated by a three-member panel. There will also be an anti-corruption slogan-writing and drawing competition among schools. Business will also be involved as Transparency International India teams up with the UN Global Compact Network India for a two-day meeting. Supported by five state-owned companies, participants are set to discuss issues of transparency and accountability in public procurement.

Together with the island nation’s Anti-Corruption Commission, Transparency Maldives will launch education packs that contain an illustrated version of the country’s Constitution, a book on citizenship, a booklet on the bill of rights, an illustrated publication explaining corruption-related concepts, and a comic strip on integrity. We’ll also host, together with the commission, a panel discussion under the theme Corruption: an impediment to development.

Transparency International Sri Lanka will mark the day with two events: a national Integrity Award ceremony to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the chapter; and a youth walkathon in Colombo, which aims to draw hundreds of participants and highlight young people’s commitment to integrity and a corruption-free future. After the march, the leaders of the walk will hand an anti-corruption statement to the Ministry of Youth.

Europe and Central Asia

Transparency International Hungary will host a conference on youth integrity, urging participants to ask themselves “is it worth being honest?” and then discuss ways in which young people can be taught about honesty. The event hopes to draw a combination of youth, academics, media and civil society participants, as well as young entrepreneurs. After the conference there will be an award ceremony for a film animation contest, followed by a music concert.

Transparency International Turkey will be involved in a number of events: there will be a press conference to discuss Turkey’s performance in various international reports, like our 2013 OECD Progress Report and Transparency in Corporate Reporting. There will also be a high-level event with selected private sector representatives, where the chapter will seek to grow anti-corruption support among companies in the country.

Middle East and North Africa

Transparency International Morocco will use the theme of “no impunity” during its anti-corruption day campaign, which aims to tackle judicial reform, access to information, the functioning of anti-corruption institutions, ethics in public administration, and protection of corruption witnesses. The campaign messages will be broadcast in Arabic, French and Amazigh for two weeks across six radio stations. Anti-corruption billboards will be placed in Rabat and Casablanca, as well as on local buses. The grand finale of the Paroles Urgentes project (Urgent Messages project) will also form part of the campaign and include artistic performances with an anti-corruption theme to mobilise young people in the country.

I Watch, our partner organisation in Tunisia, will launch a month of activities to mark international anti-corruption day and build momentum ahead of the International Anti-Corruption Conference taking place there in October 2014. The activities will include Friday prayer speeches on Islamic guidance in combating corruption and the effects on communities, which will be broadcast live on national TV. There will also be anti-corruption rap music produced to raise awareness among youth and a conference to coach local private-sector companies in compliance systems. In addition, I Watch will host a Whistleblower of the Year Award ceremony to pay tribute to individuals who have come forward to report corruption, and run a series of investigative journalism training sessions for young people.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Our chapter in Ghana has built a float to travel through the busy streets of Accra, sending out the message that everyone needs to “get on board” for corruption to be defeated. Volunteers manning the float hope to motivate young passers-by to support anti-corruption efforts in the country. There will also be a media soirée on the evening of 9 December for journalists and civil society organisations to discuss how they will monitor the president’s outlined plan to fight corruption. The chapter plans to partner with faith-based organisations to get an anti-corruption message read out at churches and mosques.

Our partner in South Africa, Corruption Watch, has produced a series of articles paying tribute to local whistleblowers who have exposed public-sector corruption in the country. The series focuses on the lives of ordinary people who are demanding that money lost to corrupt activities be channelled back into development, and that the perpetrators are held accountable.