The 14th IACC conference in Bangkok, Thailand

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Women: The Missing Link

By pooja. Published 11 November 2010

14th IACC Workshop: Gender Inequality, Women’s Security, and the Millennium Development Goals: How far is Corruption a Hindrance

A professor coerces his female student to have sex with him. He will give her an A in her class.

At today’s workshop, Gender Inequality, Women’s Security, and the Millennium Development Goals: How far is Corruption a Hindrance, the panelists warned that if we don’t consider the gendered dynamics in our fight against corruption, eventually the success of our fight will be hollow.

When we think about corruption, we associate it with bribes, with governments, with greedy officials and with the misuse of power. It’s rare to relate corruption to slave labor, to human trafficking, to forced prostitution or even to illicit abortion.

Lilian Ekeanyanwu, Head of the Technical Unit on the Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms, TUGAR, Nigeria, speaking at the panel noted that in addressing corruption, we need to ensure the inclusion of “body” corruption”.  Ekwanyanwu said, “We have to expand the review of frameworks to capture country policies and reports on these issues in order to bring them to the global arena.”

Furthermore, more women need to be included in decision-making bodies because they are widely underrepresented. As Cecilia Blondet from Transparency International Peru and Surdarshan Kunda, Gender and Governance Specialist at UNIFEM both reminded the audience that since women and men inhabit our world, both deserve the right of governing it.

Maybe, their increased participation and voice will check acts of corruption in our societies. Maybe, that female student coerced by her professor will speak against her professor because our society now recognizes the professor’s actions as corrupt.

The oil that fuels the human trafficking machine

By jimmy. Published 11 November 2010

“Corruption is the oil that fuels the human trafficking machine,” remarked Danish anti-human-trafficking NGO Hope Now’s head Ms. Anne Brandt Christensen during this morning’s workshop “Corruption and Human Trafficking: Unraveling the Undistinguishable for a Better Fight.”

She’s right.  Despite the fact that almost every country has passed laws against slavery, National Geographic recently reported that there are still over 27 million slaves today—toiling in locations as diverse as the brick kilns of South India and piaçaba plantations of Brazil, the brothels of Svey Pak and Sonagachi, and in the agricultural industries of California and Florida that put food on the plates of millions of Americans daily.

It’s impossible to explain this discrepancy without acknowledging the inextricable link between corruption and human trafficking, and that’s precisely what this morning’s panelists set out to do.

Photo: Ricardo Valdes discusses Peru’s efforts to empower and motivate government officials to take sex trafficking seriously

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What could individuals do to fight against corruption?

By Rajneesh. Published 11 November 2010

Social media should inspire people to take action vs. corruption: Crane

By tonyo. Published 11 November 2010

Melinda Crane (right) listens to one of the young journalists at the sidelines of the 14th IACC in Bangkok. (Photo by: Rajneesh Bhandari)

BANGKOK – Journalist Melinda Crane, who moderated the leadership plenary forum at the ongoing 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference, told young journalists to seize and maximize social media or new media to champion the cause of good governance and to combat corruption.

Crane said that social media’s many advantages make it a great tool for advocacy and for encouraging broad participation in causes, including the worldwide fight against corruption. > Read full story

The housekeeper

By kornchanok. Published 11 November 2010

On the first day of the 14th International Anti-Corruption Convention with over 1,200 participants from more than 130 countries, the convention’s staff were doing their jobs diligently.

A lady was sweeping the floor in front of the Plenary Hall. When I asked her whether she knew what the conference was on, she smiled, shook her head and shied away.

I told her it was a meeting on corruption, then asked her what she thinks about the term.

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know. That’s up to the chiefs,” she said smiling.

She said, she knew what it means, but declined to say more.

I asked her if she thinks corruption eradication or reduction is possible, and how much she believes corruption exists around her.

“Please don’t ask me. I’m just a housekeeper.” She paused for a while, then said nothing, but left the conversation by moving to sweep the floor in a nearby area.