In March, the TI national chapter in Israel, SHVIL, held its annual ‘Transparency Shield Award’ ceremony at Tel Aviv University, Israel, recognising individuals and/ or organisations leading in implementing ethical behaviour and promoting transparency and social responsibility in Israeli society. This year’s award was granted to the seven local municipalities Beit Arye-Ofarim, Haifa, Migdal-HaEmeq, Misgav, Ma’alot Tarshiha, Nes-Ziona and Shoham. The ceremony event included a lecture by Professor Josef Gross, Chair of SHVIL, as well as a discussion panel on “Municipal Corporate – between business and public”. Galia Sagy, the CEO of SHVIL, further presented the findings of the “Transparency and Open Access to Information in Local Municipalities” project, which examines transparency, access to information and dissemination in 15 of the largest independent municipalities in Israel. The event concluded with scholarships awarded to four MA and PhD students whose studies promote the objectives of TI and ethics in Israel. The award is in memory of Dove Izraeli, the founder of the organisation.

Laura Alonso, the head of the TI national chapter in Argentina, Poder Ciudadano, has been honoured with this year’s Vital Voices Global Leadership award.

Alonso received the award in the Political Participation category for being one of Latin America's most prominent activists for open, accountable government and because Poder Ciudadano’s work helps improve the living conditions of women and the creation of new opportunities for their development within the Argentinean society.

In her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, which took place in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Alonso thanked Vital Voices for having “given me the energy I need and the reinforcement that I am on the right track. Because of you I will go back to my country more energized and more committed to make change happen.”

Every year the international NGO Vital Voices honours the work of remarkable women leaders who are pioneers of social, economic and political change in their countries and around the world. Women who not only have extraordinary achievements as individuals, but whose work has contributed immeasurably to the betterment of their societies. Women who have inspired countless others to become champions for political, economic and social progress.

For more information please click here.

The previous governments in Guatemala have all had different institutions responsible for fighting corruption within the Executive. The last institution in place ceased functioning in January 2008, when the new elected government took office. In order to avoid this institutional gap, Acción Ciudadana (AC), the TI national chapter in Guatemala, advocated for the establishment of a new official body responsible for fighting corruption. In March 2008 the Transparency and Anti-corruption Commission was created, which is headed by the vice-president. High level public officials will be involved in the work of the Commission, while non-governmental actors – including AC will assist in an advisory role. One of AC's first efforts was to submit a draft work plan to the newly created Commission.

Etica y Transparencia, the TI national chapter in Nicaragua, carried out a public opinion survey on how citizens in three municipalities perceive institutions in the justice sector. They were asked for their general opinion as well as their view on the quality of the service delivery. 40 per cent of citizens asked have “some” trust in the institutions (from no trust, some, quite some, a lot of) and about 20 per cent said that they were “not at all” satisfied with the service delivery (not at all, some, quite some, totally satisfied).

Transparency International for Latin America and the Caribbean (TILAC) signed a cooperation agreement with the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA) in April. Both organisations are joining forces to combat judicial corruption - a source of injustice that denies citizens the basic right to a fair trial. The agreement establishes a general framework for cooperation on the development and implementation of joint activities. The entities will jointly sponsor conferences, seminars, workshops and other academic meetings; coordinate tasks of interest to both agencies; exchange information; and execute projects. “In order to protect the rights of all and not only the privileged few, judicial reform with a focus on increasing transparency should be a priority for all leaders who are truly working to decrease the inequality and poverty that affect nearly 40 per cent of Latin Americans,” said Silke Pfeiffer, Director for the Americas at Transparency International, in Santiago, Chile, where she signed the accord.

On 15 March, the TI national chapter in India awarded its second ever Rai Bahadur M S Oberoi Media Award in an award ceremony in Dehli. Poonam Agarwal, correspondent for New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV), India's largest private television production house, won the Gold category award for exposing the alleged involvement of defense and prosecution lawyers in winning over prime witness Sunil Kulkarni in the BMW case. The channel's chief correspondent Siddharth Pandey won the Silver category award for his story exposing illegal mining in Delhi. The Silver category award went to Divya Shah, a correspondent with the CNN-IBN news channel, for her story highlighting how easy fake official documents can be procured. While Meher Prasad Yadav, co-editor of Dainik Bhaskar (Jhansi), a Hindi daily newspaper, won the Gold award in the Print Media category for his story exposing the alleged misuse of funds in the mid-day meal scheme in 30 districts of the Bundelkhand region.

The annual ‘Rai Bahadur M.S. Oberoi Media Awards’ were founded by TI India and the Oberoi Group in 2006 to recognise stories exposing corruption in India. There is one award for print and one for electronic media - each award is made up of a medal, a citation and cash prizes of Rs. 2 Lakhs (€ 3200, US $5100) and Rs. 1 Lakh (€1600, US $2550) for the first and second prizes for each category respectively.

As part of its programme monitoring ministerial expenditure, the TI national chapter in Sri Lanka (TISL) published its first report on 'Mega Cabinet in Sri Lanka: Perceptions and Implications'.

The report provides an analysis on the expenditure involved in maintaining a large cabinet in Sri Lanka within the current political and economic context.

The cabinet of Sri Lanka was sworn in November 2005 with 26 ministers. With subsequent reshuffles it has expanded in the last two years to the present 108 ministers. Civil society opinion in Sri Lanka is predominantly critical of the present cabinet. TISL plans to continue this research with a view to creating a public debate on the need for adhering to standards of good governance.

For more information please click here.

In a ceremony held at the French Ambassador’s residence in March, the Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Pierre Mayaudon, awarded Blandine Boulekone, the managing director of the TI national chapter in Vanuatu, the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur on behalf of the President of the French Republic. The Ambassador highlighted Blandine’s engagement and action in favour of the handicapped, the family (creating an association for the Family Health), women (founding member of the Vanuatu National Council of Women), and citizenship and good governance (founding member of Transparency International Vanuatu in 2001 and responsible for its management since 2004).

New ALACs in Haiti, Ukraine and Kazakhstan will bring the total number of ALACs to 22 worldwide.

On 7 April, the Kazakhstan Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre in Almaty and its anti-corruption hotline opened. Citizens can call 2 600 678 everyday from 10.00 to 18.00 for advice from ALAC professionals. On the day the hotline was launched, it received numerous calls and already 12 cases were taken on by the legal advisors of the centre. The project is implemented by the Civic Foundation Transparency Kazakhstan and receives funding from the European Commission. A second ALAC in Astana will be launched in autumn this year.

On 14 April, the National Contact Group of TI Ukraine “Anticorruption Committee” announced the official launch of its “Anticorruption Information Service”. Funded by Management Systems International (MSI), the Service provides legal advice to victims of corruption and a toll-free hotline through which citizens can seek advice in corruption related matters. The hotline number in Kiev is 8 800 500 3 100. The official presentation on 14 April was attended by representatives of the Ukrainian Government and MSI.

In Haiti, the first French speaking ALAC worldwide was launched during a press conference on 22 April. The launch has been postponed due to the food riots that have rocked Haiti since the beginning of April. The Centre de Plaidoyer et d'Assistance Juridique (CEPAJ) will operate a toll free hotline – 2 518 0757 - where victims and witnesses of corruption can voice their concerns and provides free legal advice. The project is implemented by the Heritage Foundation Haiti and funded by the Haiti Civil Society Advocacy Project of USAID.

On 19 February, Armenia voted for the new president. TI Armenia has been monitoring the transparency of political financing during the election campaign. According to its findings, two of the nine presidential candidates (among which was the current President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan) exceeded a limit of the campaign expenses as set by the electoral fund. The limit is set to provide fair conditions and a level playing field during the electoral campaigns.

On 1 March a 20 day state of emergency was officially declared by the Armenian President after cracking down on a peaceful post-election protest of supporters of the main oppositional candidate for the Presidency. The state of emergency involved an information blockade, a mass media censorship and a ban on public gatherings. Armenian NGOs and civil society organisations are confronted with a new challenge on how to operate in this new political environment.

TI Armenia continued to advocate for the protection of human rights and freedoms, transparency and accountability during the state of emergency period by initiating petitions and public statements, consultations with other civil society activists, meetings with diplomatic missions and international organisations, condemning any violence and terror, and urging for appropriate measures be taken against any violation of human rights and freedoms.

On 8 April, the eve of the inauguration of the new president Serzh Sargsyan, TI Armenia, together with its partners, civil society organisations and activists, organised a Quo Vadis Forum in Yerevan on the challenges civil society is facing in the current political situation. During the forum some 50 representatives of NGOs, as well as media outlets and international organisations, discussed issues such as possible human rights and freedoms violations, increased control over mass media, restrictions on the activities of civil society and work with the National Assembly. A list of immediate actions, such as a petition to the National Assembly to lift all anti-democratic restrictions on public gatherings, together with medium and long-term initiatives, such as the creation of a victims of repressions database and lobbying for media-related reforms, were undertaken by four working groups and widely disseminated among all interested parties.

In cooperation with the TI national chapter in France, Transparency International sent a letter to Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French State Secretary for European Affairs, highlighting TI's point of view on several anti-corruption related issues in February. TI hopes that the upcoming French EU Presidency will address these priorities when they take over from Slovenia in the second half of 2008. The French government responded to TI’s letter on 1 April, confirming that issues such as financial transparency and reinforcement of EU cooperation to fight tax fraud and tax evasion are on the EU Finance Minister’s agenda. The government further assured TI that France is for the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the enforcement of international anti-corruption rules within the EU.

Review the TI letter at www.transparencyinternational.eu

On 8 April, the Hungarian Parliament discussed the latest TI NIS (National Integrity System) Country Study on Hungary during a joint session of the Budget and the European Affairs Committees. During the hearing, the TI national chapter in Hungary, TI Hungary, presented the report and called for closer attention to party and campaign financing as well as to public procurement. Noemi Alexa, the director of TI Hungary, said that since the report on corruption came out last December, progress has been made in several areas, however, concrete changes have not yet been revealed and despite good legal regulations against corruption in Hungary, their implementation raises serious concerns. The hearing was also attended by all G8 ambassadors and other international representatives.

TI Russia is establishing a web portal, the Anti-Corruption Online Office, which contains legal information and provides advice to victims of corruption. This project was initiated and developed by the Project Team of TI Russia, a group of young activists who are currently students at the High School of Economics in Moscow and other universities in Russia. The main aim of the project is to help citizens and businesses concerned about daily corruption within state and municipal services. The Anti-Corruption Online Office will provide data on legal provisions, document templates and instructions on how to file complaints, contact details of the relevant institutions, along with featuring success stories. Users of the web portal will be able to voice their concerns and stories and thereby provide a picture of the daily corruption ordinary citizens face. TI Russia will use this information for analytical reports and advocacy events. The project is funded by CIDA.

The Council of Europe’s GRECO (Group of States against Corruption) review team is visiting Russia from 21 April to 25 April for meetings with the Russian government to prepare the first GRECO Evaluation Report on the Russian Federation. The review team will cover the subjects included in the first and second rounds of GRECO reviews, such as the independence, specialisation and means available to national bodies engaged in the prevention and fight against corruption; the extent and scope of immunities; identification, seizure and confiscation of corruption proceeds; public administration and corruption (including conflicts of interest); efficiency and transparency with regard to corruption; prevention of legal persons being used as shields for corruption; tax and financial legislation to counter corruption and links between corruption, organised crime and money laundering.

TI Russia will participate in evaluation meetings in Russia and plans to fill in an evaluation questionnaire to provide GRECO with its vision of how anti-corruption work in the country could progress.

In April, the Brussels office of TI-S submitted recommendations for the European Union (EU) Budget review. As the EU seeks for ways to improve how it spends its budget – currently at 129 billion euros (US $205 billion) – TI recommends that EU institutions and member states increase transparency and accountability and that each member state should assume more responsibility for funds spent within their own territories. The recommendations address three challenges: reducing complexity, addressing inherent risks and overhauling the management and control arrangements at EU level. TI believes that the most effective means for improving transparency and accountability in EU spending are:

• to systemically publish the recipients of EU funds
• to set proper financial incentives (financial sanctions, blacklisting, debarment from public contracts) for those who do not comply with the rules
• to increase accountability for spending under shared management which accounts for over 80 % of EU spending, by better delineating the obligations of the Commission and the Member States

For more information on TI’s work on the European Union, see: www.transparencyinternational.eu

TI is calling for nominations for the 2008 Integrity Awards, honouring individuals and organisations that have demonstrated exceptional courage and outstanding leadership in fighting corruption. Each year TI receives nominations for candidates who have risked their lives and their livelihoods in the name of justice, transparency and integrity. Winners have come from Asia and Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. They have included journalists and public prosecutors, accountants, government officials and leaders of civil society. Launched in 2000, the goal of the Integrity Awards is to offer greater recognition and support to those who investigate and unmask corruption, often at great personal risk. Nominations for the 2008 Integrity Awards will be accepted until 31 August 2008. For further information please click here.