CPI 2013: A glimmer of hope in Greece?

As the European political and economic crisis enters its fifth year, there are few signs of optimism. The results of the 2013 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the region are no exception. The story in general is one of stagnation: there are more than 27 million unemployed in the EU – a figure that continues […]

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Efforts to educate players and officials about match-fixing must be increased

Six people were arrested in the United Kingdom this week on suspicion of match-fixing following an undercover sting operation. It’s not yet clear what games were targeted, but one player named is a former Premier League striker, now playing in a lower division. The fixer is alleged to have come from Singapore, the centre of […]

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El Estor’s women becoming gatekeepers of transparency

In the late 1800s a British settler set up a general trading store on the banks of the pristine Lake Izabal in the remote eastern part of Guatemala. The shop, being the only supplier of goods for kilometres around, drew a throng of support from the surrounding villages and soon the area around it developed […]

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Are UK organisations merely paying lip service to whistleblowing?

This year whistleblowing has been the media’s darling, dominating headlines around the world. Secretive governments, irresponsible banks, crooked businesses and unsafe healthcare have come under the spotlight thanks to workers finding the courage to speak up about wrongdoing. Public inquiries into scandals have recommended better whistleblowing arrangements as a means to combat corruption and abuse. In […]

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Malawi: tackling corruption for a development dividend

Malawi is facing a crisis of confidence. Aid donors, whose contributions make up 40 per cent of the government’s budget, have stopped signing cheques following a corruption scandal that has skimmed off US$250 million that was supposed to be used to help the poor. Not surprisingly, many people are asking what went wrong. What they […]

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Youth photo winner: corruption, toxic waste and the power of photography

Just one image can tell a story, says Sony Ramany, winner of our 20th anniversary youth photo competition – and these stories have the power to spark real change. “We need to show images of suffering and hardships,” he says, “so that people can see the truth”. A photographer from one of Bangladesh’s leading English-language newspapers, […]

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Youth writing winner: the battle against corruption starts from within

If young people want to see change in the world, they have to realise the battle against corruption starts with them – they must resolve to do the right thing. This is the message from Nigeria’s Ugoh Wilson Emenike, 23, the winner of our 20th anniversary youth writing competition. Emenike’s essay is a semi-fictional account of […]

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Elections in Honduras: is public security a priority for presidential candidates?

Honduras is one of the most insecure countries in the world with the highest murder rate per capita. According to the Observatory of Violence (Observatorio de la Violencia), 85.5 people per 100,000 were murdered in Honduras in 2012 – almost 20 per day. This high level of violence occurs in a country in which half […]

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Getting rich, paying the price: corruption in Brazil

On 13 November, after eight years, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered the arrest of senior politicians convicted in the one of Brazil’s biggest corruption scandals, known as the Mensalão. Although this will not end the process – the defendants will have a new trial in 2014 – it is a step forward in changing the […]

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How whistleblowing on surveillance can reform the system

The Edward Snowden case is not the first in which the exposure of surveillance activities by the United States government led to a public debate about questions of security and privacy. In 1970, former US Army intelligence officers Christopher Pyle and Ralph Stein disclosed how the army was investigating the political activities of American citizens […]

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