International Youth Day global snapshot: young people fighting the good (anti-corruption) fight

“Students helped us collect, write and translate all the stories,” explains Judit Zeisler from Transparency International Hungary. “They will be alongside us at the exhibition this week, where the photos are being seen for the first time.”

The exhibition includes photos of unnecessary observation towers in the wilderness, life-threatening cycling tracks, beaches that are closed to locals and private accommodation built with billions in taxpayer funds.

The opening text of the exhibition explains what TI Hungary’s project hopes to convey: “The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an excuse to distribute hundreds of billions in tourism development aid to [largely] pro-government beneficiaries in a non-transparent way. Transparency International Hungary’s exhibition offers visitors a selection of these absurd examples, which were developed at the public’s expense.”

The students behind this protest met at an integrity bootcamp run by Transparency International – Initiative Madagascar. An energetic series of activities helped the participants to examine typical scenarios involving corruption or personal interest – and to bond as a group.

“We learned 198 methods of non-violent action,” says Michaël. “I had no idea there were so many ways to be an activist.”

Thirty-five students that met at the camp last year formed a new association that has been running workshops in rural areas and planning peaceful actions – including last month’s protest.

“We used to think that people were fed up with politics,” says Ketakandriana Rafitoson, the executive director of Transparency International – Initiative Madagascar. “But we discovered that actually young people are very interested in politics. We discovered that there was hope.”

And since successfully mounting the first protest, Michaël’s group is ready for more. “It has inspired us to try more actions,” he says. “We want to encourage more and more young people to join us.”

Although some of their actions are lighthearted, the group has also recorded videos on fraud, spoken out against a draconian new police bill and taken to Twitter to demand that the prime minister protect a whistleblower who exposed corruption in the university education system. Working with Transparency International’s national contact in Fiji, they even helped the national university to develop a short, free online course on ethics and anti-corruption.

Youths4IntegrityFiji even organised workshops with the Fijian elections office to encourage young people to vote in the upcoming elections and do their part to hold public officials accountable. As part of the workshop, participants held mock elections to learn how supervisors will tally and calculate election day results.

“I have this sense that young people feel their vote doesn’t matter,” another member of the youth group Selenia says. “We’re trying to change that.”

Both women, only 23 years old, are now part-time staff with Transparency International’s national contact in Fiji, working to create space for even younger people to become active members of the community.

Isam Haj Hussein, executive director of Transparency International Palestine, has been working toward such youth-led initiatives for a decade.

“We started 10 years ago with high school teachers,” he explains, “helping them become more familiar with the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability, and to pass that on to their students. Now we work in over 50 schools.”

This first foray into education led to a similar program for universities, which in turn led to an official integrity course for law and business students. “It has since been adopted by 11 universities!” Isam says.

What’s more, inspired by the long-running international school in Lithuania, Isam’s team launched a series of Palestinian integrity schools for young people aged 18-24. “Each year we get hundreds of applications for these schools.”

At the end of the school, each group has two months to prepare a case study on an integrity problem in the Palestinian public sector. Then, a facilitator helps them transform this into an action aimed at public officials.

“It could be a peaceful march, or a radio show, or a community workshop,” Isam explains. “All the actions are timed to take place on the same day across Palestine – our own National Social Accountability Day. And a few months later, these same groups follow up with public officials to see what actions have been taken in response.”

It is work that Lotte enjoys tremendously. “Most of us feel the same high energy and motivation to really change the way things are done.”

She and other members visit Dutch universities and student associations to give workshops or hold discussions. “We often see that young adults are not fully aware of the issues that Transparency International is working on in the Netherlands. So we seize the opportunity to engage young adults in the fight against corruption, which is especially important for those about to start their professional careers.”

90 young people are already members of the organisation, which is open to students and young professionals. “Later this year we are planning a series of events where we invite politicians, journalists and other experts as speakers, and have open discussions on topics such as political integrity or the role of the Netherlands in illegal money flows. Our members will have the opportunity to ask questions and meet with other students and young professionals who share the same interest in integrity and accountability.”

Lotte is enthusiastic about the future. “I believe that young adults can change our current integrity culture. We expect higher standards for our politicians, government and businesses – and should not settle for injustice.”

The model is simple but highly effective. Students are given a part of the school’s budget. They brainstorm together what their school might need, then take some time to develop concrete proposals (cost included). The final decision is put to a vote. In the process, they learn how local authorities – and the European Union – decide how to spend public money in real life.

“So often, school administrations never ask students what they want – and students don’t volunteer to get involved,” says Deimante. “This is a practical way to walk young people through what should happen in a transparent and accountable government.”

The message back from the young people involved is clear: “It’s a chance to be heard.”

And although the project was designed for teenagers aged 11-18, in some schools it has worked so well that they are launching a version for children as young as seven.

“They work with a smaller budget at first, to gain confidence. We have seen it encourage kids to feel like they can be masters of their own school – and ultimately their country.”

There’s also growing political support, with the new law on corruption prevention encouraging schools to teach about anti-corruption and transparency. Participatory budgeting is one way of doing so, and TI Lithuania has been instrumental in gaining support among national institutions, advocating for broader use of these powerful methods.

“We have seen it encourage kids to feel like they can be masters of their own school – and ultimately their country.”

Nazmus Sakib Bin Mustafa, who leads his local YES group, was 11 when he first realised he wanted to make a difference. “I saw a leaflet at school from Transparency International Bangladesh, explaining how much money was being used up by corruption in Bangladesh. It was enough to run more than 10,000 schools and help thousands of vulnerable people. I was shocked and knew I wanted to do something to stop corruption.”

He joined his local YES group as soon as he turned 15 – the minimum age one must be to join. Now, 21 years old, Nazmus is leading anti-corruption efforts in his community.

In addition to investigating public programmes, Nazmus and his fellow YES members also run information fairs about government services and provide pop-up advice desks to guide people through filling out requests for information. They check official government web portals and push for out-of-date information to be corrected.

YES groups around the country have used a variety of creative approaches to get their message across – from cartoon exhibitions to cycle rallies. COVID-19 pushed them to shift online, but they have since continued work on the ground.

When YES members reach the age limit of 27, they can join the Young Professionals Against Corruption network. When they turn 30, they can also join the Committees of Concerned Citizens or Active Citizens Group, which are also supported by Transparency International Bangladesh. This way they can continue pushing for integrity in their workplaces and communities.

“In my experience,” Nazmus says, “young people everywhere think in the same way. They dream of making a corruption-free society, a corruption-free country, a corruption-free world.”

With the support of Transparency International’s national contact in Malta and Access Info Europe, they submitted freedom of information requests to the EU and their governments on important issues, including corruption, climate change, major public procurements and gender equality. They then spoke to national decision-makers about improving how the system worked, and made concrete recommendations about what needed to be done to open up government decisions for public scrutiny.

“I wanted to do my part to preserve our inherent freedoms,” participant Jeremy explained.

This is just one of the changes made by the Laboratory, set up by Viktoria and a group of fellow students with the support of Transparency International Russia.

“The young people who come to study at the Laboratory are interested in combating injustice,” she says. “It seems to me that at a young age, the desire to change the world is greater than that of adults because we understand that we have a long life ahead of us. And continuously trying to make the world a fair, transparent and predictable place is how we protect that life.”

IWATCH are firm believers in the power of youth, which is evident from the number of young staff members and interns in their office. To cultivate more future anti-corruption champions, IWATCH’s young cohort of staff has established clubs for primary and middle school students, and integrity schools for those in high school or above. They also regularly organise engaging activities like poetry slams and theatre.

IWATCH’s new initiative, ICAMPUS, takes their effort a step further. A network of more than 150 students across seven universities, from fields as diverse as journalism, business and computer science, will allow young Tunisians to educate themselves on their country’s challenges and be independent activists.

“Tomorrow’s leaders are today’s students,” says Siwar, a 25-year-old staff member at IWATCH. “Future ministry of finance staff are currently at business school, future newspaper editors are in journalism school. We are creating integrity champions.”

Their 27-year-old colleague, Mohamed Salah Souissi, agrees. “Young people should know the laws, should understand what corruption means and how to fight it. We should name and shame the corrupt. And f**k corruption!” he laughs, echoing the slogan that has been used by young people at the International Anti-Corruption Conference.

Transparency International Zambia regularly runs activities for anti-corruption clubs at schools around the country. These clubs were set up by the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission to engage and equip a new generation of young corruption fighters.

Meanwhile, Transparency International Trinidad and Tobago has set up their own integrity clubs in secondary schools across both islands. “A teacher acts as an ‘integrity champion’, but the students themselves operate the integrity club…” says Kernika Charles. “They must set their own agenda and develop activities that promote integrity and ethics. We want the students to develop ethical leadership with an understanding of right and wrong, and feel capable of making positive change.”

In Pakistan, inter-university debates and online webinars are giving young people space to connect and speak with experts. Last August, Transparency International Pakistan held a webinar with members of all the major political parties, challenging representatives to first explain how they involve young people in public decisions and then giving the floor to younger participants to ask them further questions. In the same year, a bilingual debate on corruption at the University of Karachi brought together 18 universities and colleges to make recommendations and receive feedback from experts.

At just 35 years old, Shumaila Samad Khan is already a lecturer and helped organise the debate. “Helping young people to understand the harmful effects of corruption, and fostering good values such as honesty, integrity, transparency, ethics and social responsibility have an important role in developing young people as agents of change,” she says.

In Cusco, a city in Peru, Lohuana Marycielo Antonio Jalixto was among a group of young people trying to affect change but frustrated by a lack of support for their efforts. By connecting with Proetica, Transparency International’s chapter in Peru, they were able to meet other youth organisations like theirs and engage with local civil society organisations fighting corruption. Now, they have developed an integrity network through which they connect with other citizens and investigate if public investment projects in their city are following integrity standards.

Louhana credits Proetica for providing the training they needed to follow up on challenges such as identifying corruption risks in public investment. Equipped and empowered, she is determined to be a part of change. “Young people are not just the present but also the future of our country. We have energy and can take action by putting our civic values into motion, but we need help like tools and networking,” she said.

Transparency International Papua New Guinea is running an Active Civic Engagement programme for youth representatives from Bougainville, an area still recovering from a 20-year civil war. Fredlyn (pictured below) was one of them. “This program harnesses the good values in young people and instils a higher sense of responsibility as citizens and community leaders to create solutions for the challenges that affect their communities. The Active Civic Engagement Program inspires a hands-on approach to identifying community issues and developing a practical plan to address them.”

Not long after 23-year-old university student Ronald Omondi Adika joined Transparency International Kenya as a volunteer last year, he decided that he wanted to do more.

“Me and my friends came up with an idea to start our own community association – We CARE CBO. Our focus is involving young people at the local level in the fight against corruption. In one of the projects, students helped set up a system that now ensures the transparent and accountable delivery of learning materials.”

We've been running workshops on how people can engage with their government and monitoring how climate mitigation funds are spent.”

In Mauritius, Transparency International's chapter has hosted several youth forums for those aged 18 to 25. They present their vision on major issues such as corruption and freedom of information, and to show how to reach identified goals. This isn’t just a theoretical exercise: the recommendations they make are submitted to the prime minister, the leader of the opposition, the speaker of the national assembly, the president of the republic and other political leaders.

“The young people who participated are fully conscious of what is happening on their island,” says Lovania Pertab, chair of Transparency International Mauritius, “and they furnished extensive examples of how corruption works here.”

Transparency Mauritius also hosts essay and speech competitions on the importance of a Freedom of Information Act, and has held talks for over 2,000 primary and secondary students to help them understand ethics, integrity, good governance and democracy.

Each winter, near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Petra, a group of young Jordanians aged 18 to 30 assemble in the desert. They are there to challenge themselves to set their personal lives, their careers and ultimately their country on a more ethical and transparent path.

This integrity school is the brainchild of Rasheed for Integrity and Transparency, Transparency International’s chapter in Jordan, which also encourages young people to monitor elections, share information about the channels available to report corruption and run activities in schools. “We have seen participants go on to become active student representatives,” says staff member Sana' Alawaamleh. “One young woman even established a human rights team at the University of Jordan.

After sessions on how to prepare effective advocacy campaigns, all the participants jointly choose an issue to campaign on. “I learned a lot about democracy, integrity and ways to combat corruption,” says one participant whose group went on to run a campaign about the arrests of political activists and journalists in Jordan.

Every year, young people from across Cambodia join a Transparency International youth camp. “It was unforgettable,” says Ros Dane, who attended in 2019. “About 100 youths from different provinces and backgrounds.”

This flagship project organised by Transparency International Cambodia helps turn knowledge into action. Eighty-five per cent of the participants said that they would report corruption in future, thanks to what they learnt at camp. At the end, all the young participants are also challenged to create a mini project of their own. Ros’ group’s idea was selected for a small grant, which they used to train youth club members and get the club recognised by local authorities – even getting the community chief and local secondary school principal involved.

Transparencia por Colombia closely watched integrity schools elsewhere before launching their own online course on recognising and countering corruption – with a special focus on young people.

"We were not expecting the level of interest we got,” explains Melissa Arce Caicedo, Project Coordinator at TI Colombia. “For our first school this year, 764 people registered.” Part of what motivated people to join, in Melissa’s opinion, is the level of corruption in Colombia. “Young people see it every day in the news.” Soon, Transparencia por Colombia plans to bring the conversation to an even younger group. “We want to adapt the contents of our school for children from eight years old. That's our next step.”

Despite being deeply affected by misgovernance and corruption, a Transparency International report found that 20 per cent of young people in Zimbabwe are afraid to join anti-corruption initiatives while 35 per cent of them lack knowledge about what corruption is.

“That’s why we launched a school of integrity last year,” says Keith Sibanda from Transparency International Zimbabwe. “To help restore trust in government institutions and encourage young people to fight for accountability and transparency.”

The school is the first part of the puzzle, but Keith sees alumni getting involved long-term.

“They are already making a significant difference. They've joined our campaigns and annual multi-stakeholder indaba, calling for comprehensive whistleblower protection laws, more transparent elections and proposing public procurement reform. And many alumni are now working with the accountability monitoring committees we set up to identify issues of transparency and accountability in local communities. They also continue to engage young people in communities and promote the school among them.”