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Corruption in the Americas: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index does not show significant movement in the scores of the countries in the Americas. For the more cynical among us, this is a good sign as there is always the possibility of worsening. But the reality is that stagnation is not good news. Each year that passes without things improving, […]

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A promising step in Costa Rica: now for the real challenge

On a Thursday night at the end of August, Costa Rican citizens turned on TV sets, radios and livestreams to find out what Luis Guillermo Solis – the recently elected president of Costa Rica – had to say about the first 100 days of his administration. The speech and accompanying report drew a highly critical […]

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Un paso prometedor en Costa Rica: ahora comienza el verdadero desafío

Un día jueves a finales de Agosto, los ciudadanos costarricenses encendieron sus televisores, radios y aparatos móviles para escuchar las palabras de Luis Guillermo Solís – el recientemente electo Presidente de Costa Rica – acerca de los primeros 100 días de su administración. El discurso y el informe presentados dibujaron un panorama altamente crítico del […]

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Brazil: marching against corruption

On 24 July the town hall in Queimada Nova was packed. The citizens of this small town – which has about 8,000 residents and is situated 520km from Teresina, the state capital of Piauí – had gathered to listen to a group of volunteer anti-corruption activists who had just finished analysing the town’s accounts. This was […]

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Beefing up anti-corruption programmes for corporates

Our chapter in the US recently released a report to help companies assess the effectiveness of their anti-corruption programmes. In this interview, Shruti Shah, our Senior Policy Director at Transparency International-USA, explains why the mere adoption of an anti-corruption programme is not enough – verification is crucial. (This is a shortened version of the interview […]

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International Youth Day – corruption fighters in the making

Today is International Youth Day, and we’re celebrating the work of our youth activists around the world in their fight against corruption. These innovative and creative young activists show us that there are many ways to fight corruption and promote integrity. From street protests to taekwondo, here are 10 pictures of different anti-corruption activities worldwide: 1. DOMINICAN […]

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Messi and the International Impunity System

The ongoing prosecution of football super star Lionel Messi for alleged tax evasion made global headlines last week. Messi and his father Jorge are accused of evading 4.2 million euros (US$5.6m) in tax on sponsorship earnings in court documents submitted by the prosecutor. The alleged tax evasion scheme was based on using a web of […]

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World Cup winners and losers

The 2014 World Cup had it all. Goals galore on the pitch, surprise results, tears and triumphs: a cornucopia of sporting excitement for a worldwide audience of more than a billion, culminating in a deserved win for an exceptional team from Germany. But it also had a series of own goals off the pitch by […]

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Colombia – un gran paso hacia la cultura de la transparencia

El 6 de Marzo, el presidente colombiano Juan Manuel Santos firmó la Ley de Acceso a la Información. Esto fue el paso formal de un largo proceso liderado por organizaciones de la sociedad civil en colaboración con muchos sectores del país. El derecho de los ciudadanos a conocer en detalle el quehacer del gobierno y […]

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Colombia: a major step forward towards the culture of transparency

On 6 March, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos signed the country’s access to information law.  This was the last formal step of a long process led by civil society organisations collaborating with many sectors in the country. The right of citizens to know what governments and public institutions are doing, and how public resources are […]

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