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Fighting corruption, empowering people in Uganda’s health service

It was another day of fieldwork; the project officer arrived at Amach health centre IV in Lira district, Northern Uganda at 9:15am and was welcomed by the security guard. No health worker had started working yet. He found 15 patients seated waiting for health service. By 10:20am 78 patients had lined up. Patients could not […]

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Civil Society in Libya – between high hopes and frustration

Sixteen months after the February 17th revolution the country is preparing for its next historical step: The upcoming elections for a new parliament! Although they have just been postponed from June 19th to take place on July 7th 2012, these elections will be the first free elections for the people of Libya after the 42 […]

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Voting Day in Egypt: why I am optimistic — for now

With the sun beating down and temperatures reaching 41 degrees in Cairo, I went to my local polling station to vote in an election where, for the first time in our history, no one knows the outcome. This was a remarkable moment for me and my fellow Egyptians.  And because of that, I have to […]

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Nigerian oil in turmoil

The removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria has hit the poorest sections of society hardest. Amid huge protests, the government has used corruption and smuggling in the oil industry to justify its actions. There are other ways to tackle oil industry corruption that do not have such unfortunate side effects. 2012 kicked off with the […]

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G8 action on asset recovery for the Arab world

The G8 have just released an ambitious and comprehensive asset recovery action plan as part of the Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition. It is timely and necessary to reinforce the momentum behind stolen asset recovery processes. The first step by G8 countries was to freeze the accounts of the authoritarian leaders Mubarak, Ben […]

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The roadmap to a new beginning

Peace agreements offer the possibility for a new beginning. They allow the international community and national governments the opportunity to strengthen governance and embed some anti-corruption controls which, in turn, will help build durable state institutions. Recent studies demonstrate that change can be achieved with the appropriate mix of political pressure, incentives, and creativity. As […]

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Pushing Forward G8’s Anti-Corruption Agenda

In India more than 200 million people live without secure access to food, the most of any county in the world, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. As the report argued, this is not because India lacks the resources to provide for its population. On the contrary, India’s domestic food production would be more […]

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Niger fait campagne contre les faux enseignants, la corruption dans les écoles

4 milliards de Francs CFA destinés à l’éducation perdus, presque mille faux enseignants, et des milliers d’enfants de régions rurales assis par terre, parce que les bancs et tables inscrits au budget n’ont pas été livrés. Il n’est pas étonnant alors que le taux d’alphabétisation au Niger est en dessous de 30%, laissant peu d’opportunités […]

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Truth or consequences? The problem with settlements and the World Bank’s debarment of Alstom units

While the year-long allegations of misconduct against the Alstom Group (ALO) have led to some significant consequences for the company – US$ 9.5 million worth of them – a lot of questions about what happened remain. At the end of February, the World Bank decided to debar two Alstom subsidiaries for three years and agreed […]

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UNESCO – Obiang : a risky relationship

This blog post was written by Rachel Leenhardt. Rachel is Communication Officer of Sherpa, a Paris-based, non-profit organization that aims to protect and defend the victims of economic crimes in developing countries. SHERPA’s overall focus is deploying legal expertise to fight the injustices caused by economic crimes and to bring about effective changes to public […]

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