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Most complaints received by anti-corruption task force involve LGUs’ intervention in public works.  “[The Philippine Justice] department’s Task Force Against Corruption (TFAC) has endorsed several complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman, mostly involving local government officials who are meddling in public works projects.  ” Bianca Angelica D. Añago/Business World: https://www.bworldonline.com/most-complaints-received-by-anti-corruption-task-force-involve-lgus-intervention-in-public-works/     Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption in SSR (Blog).  “This post discusses what an approach to mainstreaming anti-corruption in SSR could look like in practice...1. Design corruption-responsive [Security Sector Reform] assessments…2. Take measures to address corruption-conflict systems…Looking at the wider picture” Julien Joly/Tufts University: https://sites.tufts.edu/ihs/mainstreaming-anti-corruption-in-ssr...

Deal struck to cut police graft.  “The head of [Thai] national police force and National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)…agreed to join hands in an effort to suppress corruption at the 88 Metropolitan Police stations across the capital…[NACC] signed an agreement with national police chief…to undertake an Integrity and Transparency Assessment at each of the stations.” King-oua Laohong/Bangkok Post : https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2153903/deal-struck-to-cut-police-graft     Duterte administration's fight against corruption: For real, or for reel?.  “As the [Philippine] President's last [State Of the Nation Address] approaches, questions on whether he can really lick corruption or not heats up, especially amid his estrange political ally, Senator Manny Pacquiao stated that the volume of corruption under the Duterte administration has tripled.” Sherrie Ann Torres/ABS-CBN News: https://news.a...

Understanding Authoritarianism and Corruption in the Philippines (Blog).   “Duterte, Marcos, and other political elites have exploited religious and other psychological predispositions by using system justifying messages to reinforce the legitimacy of corruption and authoritarian domination. Top-down processes of elite communication and bottom-up psychological needs and interests meet in the middle, so that system-justifying messages find their audiences and inflame lower class insecurities.” Jenavieve Hinton/Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/social-justice-pacifists/202107/understanding-authoritarianism-and-corruption-in-the       What makes frontline duty-bearers act with integrity? 10 key takeaways (Research).  “This research summary provides 10 key takeaways from Integrity Action’s research into the conditions and approaches that influence teachers and health workers to deliver services wi...

CoST West Lombok launches programme with brand new infrastructure data portal.   “As the programme launched, CoST [the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative in West Lombok, Indonesia] was also able to unveil a brand-new infrastructure data portal called INTRAS. CoST West Lombok applied for CoST membership with a plan to build on practices of data-disclosure already embedded in the regency, by developing a data portal based on SISOCS on which data is disclosed according to the Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard.” CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative: https://infrastructuretransparency.org/news/cost-west-lombok-launches-with-brand-new-infrastructure-data-portal/   Lessons from the Pegasus Project: Reforming Surveillance Through Open Gov (Blog).  “[A] global investigation uncovered how mobile phones of journalists, activists, and opposition leaders across the world were targets of illegal surveillance by ...

SONA 2021: Duterte's anti-corruption legacy: What he said he'll do vs. what he's actually done.  “[With] less than a year to go before he leaves Malacañang, and with the problem still entrenched in some of the government's most corrupt agencies, Duterte has clearly failed to fulfill a major campaign promise.” AC Nicholls/CNN Philippines: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/7/19/sona-2021-corruption-rodrigo-duterte-administration.html     Why Paying the Media to Uncover Corruption Would Work in India (Blog).  “A rewards program would give media outlets stronger incentive to uncover and report on forms of corruption that are more likely to result in some form of redress, rather than focusing only on those stories that will generate the most “clicks,” regardless of substance…[it] would give media outlets a strong incentive to keep a given case in the news so as to put pressure on the government to prosecute it....

Governance and Institutional Issues in COVID-19 Vaccination (Brief).  The purpose of this note is to summarize some of the key governance and institutional issues surrounding rapid universal vaccination, which also includes corruption. The risks  can  be  grouped  into  five  key  areas:  contracting,  physical  distribution,  vaccine integrity,  equity,  and misinformation. World Bank: https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/385081622703715858/governance-and-institutional-issues-in-covid-19-vaccination     A road project in Indonesia’s Gorontalo carves a path of graft and grief.  “More than 1,000 families were entitled to payments for land needed to construct the Gorontalo Outer Ring Road, a national priority infrastructure project on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island... A senior provincial official and two surveyors have been jailed ...

Aung San Suu Kyi slapped with 4 more charges related to corruption.   “According to one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Min Min Soe, two new cases were filed against Suu Kyi alone, while one other charge was filed against her and Naypyidaw Mayor Dr Myo Aung, Deputy Mayor Ye Min Oo, and Naypyidaw City Development Committee member Min Thu. The cases were recently filed at the Mandalay Region High Court and the hearing has been set for July 22.” Coconuts Yangon: https://coconuts.co/yangon/news/aung-san-suu-kyi-slapped-with-4-more-charges-related-to-corruption/     Social Distancing Reduces Corruption Too (Blog).  ““Social distance”…Applied to the findings of Fisman and colleagues and the case studies, it means more than how far apart investigators, prosecutors, auditors, and others responsible for enforcing anticorruption laws stand physically from those whom they police. It means too the absence of school and neighborho...

Call for Concept Notes: Anti-Corruption & Transparency Initiatives Engaging Youth in the Indo-Pacific (ACTIVE Youth) (Funding opportunity).  “NDI seeks to strengthen youth capacity to participate in and collectively act on accountability, transparency, and open government issues through its Anti-Corruption & Transparency Initiatives Engaging Youth in the Indo-Pacific (ACTIVE Youth) program. To accomplish this, NDI is looking to engage with CSOs and networks in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, and is calling on organizations to submit concept notes for the program. Submissions are due by July 26, 2021. ” National Democratic Institute: https://www.ndi.org/publications/call-concept-notes-anti-corruption-transparency-initiatives-engaging-youth-indo-pacific     ED: Holding public officials accountable for their conduct (Editorial).   “The survey, which was conducted by Drik News and carried out on a ...

Myanmar Junta to File Corruption Charges Against NLD Vice Chairman.  The military regime is planning to file corruption charges against National League for Democracy (NLD) Vice Chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung and the former Mandalay Region Minister of Electricity, Energy and Construction U Zarni Aung…the military regime has accused him of accepting a bribe from a private company in September 2019, in return for granting land permits in Mandalay.” The Irrawaddy: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-to-file-corruption-charges-against-nld-vice-chairman.html     GB to make ‘Transparency and Right to Information’ law soon.  “The Gilgit-Baltistan [regional government in Pakistan] has started work on making its own law on the lines of the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013.” Asif Mahmood/The News: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/863065-gb-to-make-transparency-and-right-to-information-law-s...

UNODC Southeast Asia Anti-Corruption Newsletter (April - June 2021.  Follow UNODC’s work over the past quarter, ranging from formulating data-driven approaches to anti-corrution across Southeast Asia, to strengthening anti-corruption investigations in Viet Nam. UNODC: https://mailchi.mp/1617492f7f12/unodc-corruption-newsletter-5553000   Illegal Enrichment Laws: Asia’s Ignored Anti-Corruption Weapon (Opinion).  “Unconventionally, these laws do not require prosecutors to show proof that a government official committed a specific crime before a court will order a sanction and confiscate funds. Instead, a court must merely be satisfied that the official enjoyed an amount of wealth that has not been justified by reference to their legal income.” Andrew Dornbierer/The Diplomat: https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/illegal-enrichment-laws-asias-ignored-anti-corruption-weapon/      Myanmar Junta Extorting Money From Anti-Cou...

Bridging the Gap in Vaccine Procurement: How to Build Transparency for Public Trust (Webinar/Resource).  “[We] have created a new guide to fill that gap. Covering 15 priority pieces of information that should be shared along the vaccine procurement cycle, this guide provides in-depth context and examples of what the key issues around vaccine contracting are, and why public disclosure matters. Join our launch event [on Wednesday 14 July, 2pm GMT] as we walk through the key phases of the guide, and share success stories from both governments and civil society around the world” Direct link to guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CV3wrpXKlNGtl3evfbu1HCETItz1wbiE5HhJyDYcLmY/edit Open Contracting Partnership: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwqf-uprDgjGtB-CG2obpT7OwBraALVLRW6     As COVID-19 Spreads, Thai Govt Stuck in Self-Made Trap (Opinion).  Thailand’s vaccine saga keeps going from bad to worse. Mounting questions have ...

Double harm when corruption meets discrimination (News/Resource).   “In this first investigation into how corruption and discrimination interact, [Transparency International and Equal Rights Trust] listened to the experiences of corruption among people facing discrimination and uncovered some disturbing patterns.” Direct link to report: https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/defying-exclusion-corruption-discrimination Transparency International: https://www.transparency.org/en/news/double-harm-corruption-discrimination-sdgs-leave-no-one-behind     The perfect storm? Mining, corruption and COVID-19 (Blog).  “[Transparency International’s Through the looking glass: Corruption risk in mining licensing and permitting in the pandemic era ] report draws on interviews with over 80 mining sector stakeholders, and includes case studies from Canada, Indonesia, Mexico and Zambia. In this blog we profile three key themes that ...

How blockchain can help dismantle corruption in government services.   “Blockchain could increase the fairness and efficiency of government systems, while reducing opportunities for corruption; [it] could improve the transparency and disclosure of procurement processes, investment in which can be lost to corruption; [the] emerging technology can also enhance property and land registry systems, streamlining lengthy processes and protecting people's rights.” Matthew Van Niekerk/World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/blockchain-for-government-systems-anti-corruption/     About the Short Guide – Why Social Norms Matter to Anti-Corruption (Resource).  “This short guide explains why integrating social norms into accountability, corruption or integrity related programming matters and highlights possible negative consequences of the failure to do so. It follows upon our first short guide, which boils down the c...

3 Things Peacebuilders Should Read About Anti-corruption and Conflict (Blog).  “[We] share three key texts peacebuilders should read to grasp how anti-corruption practitioners approach dilemmas of conflict and corruption and where peacebuilders can contribute to the conversation. Given how often corruption is identified as a core driver of conflict, we hope peacebuilders can see their own work well-embedded in these articles, albeit in different language.” Rosemary Ventura/Tufts University: https://sites.tufts.edu/ihs/3-things-peacebuilders-should-read-about-anti-corruption-and-conflict/     2021 Trafficking in Persons Report: Cambodia.  “Endemic corruption and lack of political will continued to severely limit progress in holding traffickers accountable; corruption continued to impede law enforcement operations, criminal proceedings, and victim service provision…The national police maintained a mechanism for NGO workers to r...

Myanmar’s warring military and rebels find common ground in corrupt jade trade.  “A new investigation from watchdog group Global Witness reports that jade mining is a major source of income for both the Myanmar military and armed ethnic groups, fueling conflict in the country…The report also accuses Aung Pyae Son, the son of the general who seized power in a coup in February, of directly benefiting from corruption in the jade trade.” Andrew Nachemson and Kyaw Hsan Hlaing/Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/myanmars-warring-military-and-rebels-find-common-ground-in-corrupt-jade-trade/        Setting the bar against graft.   “The Transport Minister said the government had earlier launched the National Anti-Corruption Plan (2019-2023)…that outlined the need for every government agency to obtain the Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS) certification…“The development and implementatio...

China's CanSino cuts ties with Brazil firm, halting vaccine licensing.  “Brazilian health regulator Anvisa has canceled a request for emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's CanSino Biologics Inc after the laboratory cut ties with its Brazilian representative. The move follows a wave of scrutiny in Brazil of vaccine contracts negotiated by intermediaries, a common local practice.” Reuters: https://news.trust.org/item/20210629130003-jxn8t/     India’s Covid-19 vaccine is at the center of a corruption scandal in Brazil.   “India’s homegrown Covid-19 vaccine is at the epicentre of a controversy again. Brazil’s health minister Marcelo Queiroga announced…the country would suspend a $324 million contract to buy 20 million doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. The announcement comes amid a probe into allegations of irregularities in the procurement of the vaccine that are entang...