What stops women reporting corruption?

When asked whether corruption is a problem for women, I immediately think about the women in a local hospital who were being charged US$ 5 every time they screamed while giving birth. The impact of corruption on women is under-researched and hard to document because it is not easy for women to come forward and […]

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Aid from China, India and Brazil: more transparent than the West?

The growing presence in foreign markets of emerging economies like Brazil, China and India is starting to be matched by development spending. China, for example, provided US$ 38.83 billion in “foreign aid” in 2009 – these are the most recent government figures and likely exclude other investments in development projects). Often, these countries eschew the […]

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Young activists: the future of social media in the Arab world

The onset of the Arab uprisings demonstrated the power of social media and its effect of people protesting for their rights. Youth were an integral part of the revolutions, with many grassroots initiatives springing up online in response to years of endemic corruption. In the search for more ways to use technology to fight corruption, […]

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A watershed in Brazil

**UPDATE** After a wait of just over one month, Brazilians found out last week that their judicial system is serious about sending a message that those in power can be held to account. On November 13 the Supreme Court in Brazil sentenced one of the leading politicians in the country, José Dirceu former chief of […]

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How not to fall foul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

This week the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission published their long-awaited guidance intended to provide useful information to companies to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The 120 page document has for the most part been welcomed by civil society organisations and defense counsels alike because of its comprehensiveness […]

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A voice against corruption in water and sanitation – community video in India

In September 2011, in the slum of Mumbai, the heavy monsoon rains were filling up sewage pipes to breakage point. The dirty waste from the burst pipes flooded the streets at an accelerated pace because of the continuous and strong rain pour. The residents of the slum had no choice but to walk those filthy […]

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Dancing and acting against corruption in the streets of Harare

Why a flashmob? The operating context for TI-Zimbabwe is one mired with suspicion and prejudices against civil society by government organs. It still remains very difficult to conduct protests against any social ills like the rising levels of systemic corruption. Creativity continues to be TI-Z’s best advocacy strategy hence it piloted the use of flash-mobs […]

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If you whistleblow on me…I will bite your ears off!

Our Palestinian chapter have prepared children’s stories about corruption as part of a national educational campaign. They provide a nice example of that human tradition of using stories to pass lessons between generations. In one story, “the integrity of the fox”, a fox starts an agricultural project in cooperation with a rabbit. But the fox […]

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Please mind your own business, France!

“Our country is a good student when it comes to passing laws. What is missing is their implementation because of the lack of political will” says Daniel Lebègue, chair of Transparence France. One of the world’s biggest exporters, France is not doing nearly enough to fight and prevent foreign bribery, say the OECD’s and Transparency […]

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Rio shows way on links between environment and corruption

The inter-governmental deal on climate change inked in Rio de Janeiro in June has proved nothing less than the “longest suicide note in history”, according to Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International’s executive director. He sees the successor compact to the original landmark 1992 Rio declaration on climate change as a crucial and perhaps fatal missed opportunity […]

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