Human Wrongs Watch
By Transparency International*, 6 November 2012 — Amid news of another round of financial scandals, word that the former president of a G8 country has been convicted of tax evasion and growing frustration across the Middle East that new leadership has not meant renewed efforts to stop corruption, it is more and more evident that the battle has to reach its next level.
**Image: A campaign to prevent bribes in Zambia | Photo: Lars Plougmann from London, United Kingdom | Wikimedia Commons
In Bangkok the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference pointed the way forward for the anti-corruption movement by empowering and supporting all those who are willing to change the rules of the game. This requires the restoring of trust through frank exchanges, concerted action and results.
In Brasilia the 15th IACC aims to take the struggle to its next level, beginning with the premise of mobilising people against corruption and impunity.
Why this is so important is obvious: The ever-rising cost of corruption shows that deep, long-lasting change is essential, and more importantly, corruption does not deserve a second chance. Our message to the corrupt is clear: impunity will not be tolerated.
Forging a New Anti-corruption Agenda
The 15th IACC opening plenary will bring global leaders from civil society and the public and private sectors together to discuss how to take the fight against corruption to a point of no return. The opening plenary will produce key recommendations for the movement to design the necessary strategies to connect with and support the movements and individuals around the world that are changing the rules of the game.
Delivering the message requires concerted action and will be a focus of discussion throughout the 15th IACC. A special plenary will feature leading experts from national, regional and international institutions who will discuss how their work is helping to set the anti-corruption and transparency agenda into the global agenda.
Here are the main sessions of the 15th IACC in chronological order:
Global Solutions against Corruption
Global thinkers discuss leading strategies in the global corruption fight
Around the world, leading institutions and actors have embraced the fight against corruption as a way to address risks that affect global security and human rights. Combating illicit financial flows, repatriating stolen assets, ensuring transparency and accountability in the arms trade, and building transparent governance mechanisms for human development are among the leading strategies to answer some of the world’s most pressing global challenges.
Mobilising People: Connecting Agents of Change… Are We Ready?
Ensuring that the fight against corruption reaches the point of no return
During the 14th IACC in 2010 the global anti-corruption movement agreed that the way forward is to fight corruption by empowering, mobilising and connecting people from all sectors and countries, with an emphasis on women, young people and vulnerable groups.
Since then movements in countries from north and south, notably in the Middle East, are testimony to the speed and strength in which people are standing up against corruption and impunity. People power is breaking the walls between countries, sectors, gender and generations. What have we learned from these movements? Are we ready to harness people power and take our fight to the point of no return?
Ending Impunity: Are We any Closer?
The time to implement an integrated response against impunity has come
Impunity fuels human rights violations, organised crime and corruption, spreading violence and fear across societies. By undermining the rule of law, it constitutes a major threat to political and economic stability across the world. After nearly three decades of fighting corruption, to what extent have our efforts to end impunity been effective?
On course to a Corruption-free fFuture?
Ensuring that Rio+20 delivers by addressing social and environmental injustice
Sustainability means economic growth, social well-being and environmental protection. Corruption threatens to unravel progress on all three. At this year’s Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, UN member states unanimously recognised that tackling corruption is essential to setting our planet on a sustainable course. Our task now is to make that pledge practically possible.
Dirty Money: A Stolen Future
Ensuring that transparency and accountability drive the world of money
In the world of money and its intersection with politics, greed, secrecy and corruption benefit a minority while robbing the majority of hope for a better future. Today in the struggle for economic recovery the pressure to weaken the current regulatory and enforcement mechanisms is greater than ever, bringing new risks of corruption in the financial markets and in trade and investment – be it domestic or international.
Corruption in Sports: Why the Penalty to Society?
From fans to champions: It’s time to blow the whistle
The two biggest sporting events in the world are coming to Brazil. They bring with them huge corruption challenges, which must be addressed head on to ensure these global events leave a positive legacy for the people of Brazil while enhancing the image of sports around the world.
People Power, Transitions and Corruption: What Is Our Role?
Ensuring political transitions lead to fair and transparent governments
As in previous political transitions the regime changes in the Arab region and beyond have shown us that sustained collective pressure is fundamental to ensure positive change. But power shifts do not necessarily lead to transparent and accountable governance systems that respect and promote human rights. Political transitions are long and unstable processes and corruption can always derail them.
From Bangkok in 2010 to Brasilia in 2012 the leading forces in the fight against corruption make their way to Brazil this week to define the way forward in the battle against bribery and the abuse of power.
Defining Our Future: Collectively Shaping the Global Governance Agenda
Fighting corruption links all people and countries. A global governance agenda is the next step towards positive change
In an increasingly interdependent world, humanity’s most pressing challenges are interconnected by the scourge of corruption. The reconfiguration of the geopolitical order brings into question whether our current dislocated, and in some cases inefficient, constellation of governance systems and institutions can bring solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
The calamity of corruption continues to ripple across the globe, keeping much needed medical care from the child whose parents cannot afford a bribe, or adding billions of dollars of unnecessary cost to construction projects worldwide. As in previous IACC editions, the 15th IACC will be the launch pad for determining the way forward in our battle.
Press contact: Chris Sanders, Manager, Media and Public Relations, press@transparency.org, +49 30 3438 20 666
*Source: Transparency International. Go to Original.
Transparency International,one global movement sharing one vision: a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption. In 1993, a few individuals decided to take a stance against corruption and created Transparency International. Now present in more than 100 countries, the movement works relentlessly to stir the world’s collective conscience and bring about change. Much remains to be done to stop corruption, but much has also been achieved, including: the creation of international anti-corruption conventions; the prosecution of corrupt leaders and seizures of their illicitly gained riches; national elections won and lost on tackling corruption, companies held accountable for their behaviour both at home and abroad.
**Image: A campaign to prevent bribes in Zambia | Photo: Lars Plougmann from London, United Kingdom | Wikimedia Commons
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 