SHARING KNOWLEDGEASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL PROGRAMME MEETING SPECIAL EDITION - 21ST MAY 2014 - ISSUE 02

What is the best tool to fight against corruption? Anti-corruption fighters shared unique methods to fight against corruption on the second day of the Asia Pacific Regional Programme Meeting. Combatting corruption needs various methods and approaches, they said.

ADVOCACY THROUGH CINEMADedy Haryadi, Deputy Secretary General from Transparency International Indonesia said they use cinematic approach to construct new reality.

“Indonesian society can be categorized as a watching society, it’s not difficult to make them familiar with the cinematic product,” Dedy Haryadi said, “Our approach is in line with characteristics of the society.”

TI Indonesia works with different stakeholders including well known artists to produce movies and campaigns. Since 2004, TI Indonesia has made four films. The movie messages are targeted towards corruption prevention and civic education.

ART AGAINST CORRUPTIONErnie Ko, Vice Executive Director of Transparency International Taiwan, stressed that anti-corruption movement should be effective and fun.

“We combine the art program into anti corruption movement, that makes the whole thing very fun, very vivid and very colorful,” Ernie said.

Since 2012 Transparency International Taiwan has been implementing a youth integrity program called Rui-bin Camp that invites international university students to Taiwan to work together with underprivileged elementary students.

“We let the university students to design a curriculum on art and character,” Ernie said.

PHOTO FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT Liao Ran, Senior Programme Coordinator from Asia Pacific Department said "photos are very important in the fight against corruption because photos are powerful. As photos speak more than a thousands words, they are really important in engaging people".

TI secretariat organized “CHAPTERS IN ACTION” an annual photo competition and the winning pictures were awarded on the first day of the regional programme meeting.

“Photography is the art of light and shadow, it’s about lighting and movement, you have to be at the right place at the right moment,” Liao Ran said, “National chapters should think on how to use photos more because this is the time of social media.”

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX TO FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

Led by TI-Bangladesh, TI-Malaysia and TI-Taiwan, the chapters discussed challenges and opportunities in the roll out of TI’s global research products at the national level. Concerns were expressed on processes and methodologies involved, and options for regionally specific indices were debated. Agreement on a way forward and further collaboration with the TI-S Research Department was sought to enhance TI’s research outputs to ensure national relevance and ownership.

To become leaders in the fight against corruption beyond national boarders

- Build capacity to become a credible partner in the fight against corruption (practice what you preach)

- Build capacity to improve outcome of programme work. (engaging experts is a key element in this regard)

- Build capacity to introduce tools in fighting corruption beyond national borders

WORKING TOGETHER

Among others a corruption scandal implicating Malaysian companies in massive land grabs in PNG, stole participants' attention. TI chapters discussed means to work collaboratively to advocate across borders on issues related to land and forest governance. Initiatives related to land and corruption from TI-Bangladesh, Timor Leste and TI- Indonesia were shared, and consensus was reached on the need for greater collaboration and advocacy on transnational and national corruption cases related to land.

FOREST GOVERNANCE ACROSS BOARDERS

This project uses a number of research approaches in order to understand how women experience corruption when accessing public services.

SRI LANKA – RESEARCH ON WOMEN AND CORRUPTION

This campaign is advocating for 5 seats in parliament to be reserved for women, due to the current lack of female representation: 0 out of 52 MPs are women despite 50% of the population being female.TIV is also conducting research on women and human rights, and tries to inspire younger generation to challenge gender discrimination and overcome barriers for women to become leaders.

VANUATU – PROMOTING FEMALE LEADERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION

EMPOWERING WOMEN TO BE CHANGE AGENTS

This project applies a gender-sensitive approach and is aimed at empowering women to tackle corruption in the education sector (e.g. ghost schools, embezzlement of education funds, teacher absenteeism and misconduct).

PAKISTAN – ENGAGING WOMEN TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

BARCAMPS

CAPACITY BUILDINGAS A MEANS TO AN END

Chapters expressed interest in participating in the Asia Pacific Youth Community Concept to promote integrity and fight corruption throughYouth Leadership: TI Mongolia, TI Cambodia, TI Vanuatu, TT Vietnam, TI East Timor Working Group, TI China, TI Pakistan ,TI NZ,

TI PNG, TI Solomon Islands, TI Malaysia, TI Indonesia

Youth Integrity: TI Mongolia, TI Thailand, TI Malaysia, TI Pakistan, TI NZ, TI India, TI Cambodia, TI Solomon Islands

Youth Activism: TI Mongolia, TT Vietnam, TI Cambodia, TI NZ, TI Malaysia, TI PNG, TI Indonesia, TI Solomon Islands

Youth Advocacy: TI Mongolia, TI Vanuatu, TT Vietnam, TI Cambodia, TI Solomon Islands, TI Malaysia, TI PNG, TI Indonesia

Many chapters in the region have a good relationship with the ACAs

The ACA strengthening initiatives would be another opportunity to engage with them in a constructive way with content

Creating healthy competition among ACAs in the region backed by sound research findings would be classic opportunity for driving changes within ACAs in the years to come

ASIA PACIFIC YOUTH COMMUNITY CONCEPT

STRENGTHENING ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES

Q: Describe the situation of corruption in your country?

Emily Taule: In the Corruption Perception Index we are sitting at 150th out of 177 countries. It gives indication of what other people consider the effect of corruption in my country is. It's a major developmental issue.

Q: What tools are you using to fight against corruption in your country?

Emily Taule: Basically advocating against corruption we look at membership, we also warfare on corruption in raising these issues on media and social media so you keep the issues at the front so people are aware and informed on the effects of corruption. In a lot of ways we focus on education, educating people on corruption. In PNG, most of the population is rural based; at least 90 per cent of the population lives in the rural area. Only forty percent of population is literate.

Q: What are the best practices that you learnt from this year's RPM?

Emily Taule: Opportunities like this where we come together from different parts of the world realise that we are trying to utilize the same thing, to curb the scourge. Meetings like this give us an opportunity to look at what other chapters are doing in their countries and how best we could utilize those ideas in the fight against corruption. Just talking about volunteers for instance, TI-Cambodia and their tools of engaging volunteers was interesting. We need to put in some of those things in our country. And just hearing in Nepal the extensive youth activities that go on here it is amazing to see how you could utilize the youth to carry the message across and help strengthen the movement.

Q: Is there anything you want to say that I didn’t ask?

Emily Taule: I think that corruption gets more sophisticated and we need to be more innovative in the way we approach the fight against corruption. Regional meetings like these give us the opportunity to discuss and keep moving ahead with our efforts.

Emily Taule is the Executive Director of PNG.

WE NEED TO BE MORE INNOVATIVE

The IACC welcomes calls for session proposals related to and inspired from the Conference Theme - Ending Impunity: People, Integrity, Action. for more detail visit

Pacific chapters were updated about recent developments of the New Zealand MFAT funded Organisational Strengthening Programme: After negotiations with the donor an interim arrangement of bridge funding was put in place while the new programme phase is being designed

Pacific Chapters and APD discussed advocacy initiatives over the coming months and possible interventions at the C20/G20 meeting in Australia in June

It also included discussions about the possibility of engaging collaboratively in programmes targeting Business Integrity and transparency in the resource sector

PACIFIC

- Advocate for a cleaner South East Asia through ASEAN- Make ACAs more effective through healthy competition- Work together to identify avenues for foreign bribery and to build pressure on both governments and companies

Upcoming work- ASEAN experts meeting 2013- ASEAN Anti-corruption seminar in 2014

SOUTH EAST ASIA

In Mongolia, bribery is not outlawed by the current penal code. TI Mongolia should work to bring it in alignment with the UNCAC standards. It will need to work with other NCs in the region and stakeholders in Mongolia.

In three other countries, like China, South Korea and Taiwan, even though bribery has already been criminalized, the legal provisions are vague and the laws are hardly enforced. No case has been filed. In particular due to the hostility between two sides of the Taiwan Strait, mutual legal assistance is a remote possibility.

EAST ASIA

SOUTH ASIAThe South Asia national chapters discussed the findings of the NICSA reports in their countries, and TI contact groups from Bhutan and Afghanistan shared their own challenges in terms of public sector governance. Each of the chapters defined areas of advocacy focus coming out of their research, with variations between countries but some key commonalities. Right to information and whistle-blower protection were highlighted as key challenges in the sub-region, as well as the strength in practice of anti-corruption agencies. Tomorrow’s launch of the NICSA report will provide an opportunity for showcasing and debating these findings with regional press and public.

REGIONAL ADVOCACY

16iacc.org