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The program took place
on June 9-11 2009, at the World Bank Institute in Washington DC,
bringing together more than 40 participants engaged in the private,
public and NGO sectors from around the world, to learn about and
explore- through a number of working sessions- the importance of having
a strong compliance program of collective action to get an enabling
environment in place that limits opportunities and incentives for
corruption and bribery.
During the first day of
the program, the participants learnt about the different forms of
collective action, the criteria for assessing which types of collective
action may be appropriate for a certain context, the internal and
external dynamics of a collective action initiative and how to manage
and tackle common challenges.
Furthermore, the
participants were provided with the opportunity to learn from companies’
initiatives such as BELA, which is a collective ethics initiative called
“Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA)”, that commits members to
key principles of good business conduct and periodic examinations by
independent auditors.
In the second day of
the program, the participants discussed how to ensure integrity of
collective action partners as a key to success and how to conduct due
diligence on companies and NGOs that want to join a collective action
initiative and what services one can use and how to ensure that
participating NGOs are themselves transparent and do not engage in
questionable behavior.
Then, the participants,
through a working session on collective action scenarios, explored real
life examples of collective action initiatives and understood the kinds
of problems that decision makers may face in high risk operations.
This exercise helped
participants learn from experiences of recent collective action
initiatives and gain a better understanding of how to solve collective
action challenges.
Another working session
on how to reform laws and to create a more transparent and competitive
operating environment took place. Through this interactive session, the
participants were also able to understand the principles and steps of
effective business advocacy and learnt how companies can reform laws and
regulations through coordinated public policy advocacy efforts in
partnership with NGOs.
Additionally, a case
study on Siemens - a powerhouse in electrical engineering and
electronics, engaged in well-recognized remediation efforts after its
corruption scandal in 2006- was presented and participants worked on an
exercise to analyze Siemens remediation efforts.
During the third day of
the program, the participants were divided into 2 parallel-in depth
working sessions. 1) how to ensure Transparency in procurement by
implementing anti corruption tools, 2) how to set up an effective
collective action coalition.
Anti Corruption
Collective Action Practitioners Awards:
In Jan 2009, the
World Bank Institute, with the support and sponsorship of the Belgium
Government, organized a global competition for practitioners and young
leaders to capture new ideas and innovative initiatives in fighting
corruption through collective approaches. The WBI received over 150
applications and winners were selected by an expert panel.
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Transparency
Colombia (1st prize winner )
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Ghana Anti
Corruption Coalition (2nd prize winner)
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Eastern produce
Limited Malawi (3rd prize winner)
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The Coalition for
accountability and Integrity- AMAN (4th prize winner)
Additionally, 2 students also received awards for writing the best
essays on fighting corruption through collective action.
The
Belgium Ambassador to the United States, his Excellency Jan Matthysen,
honored the winners on the second day of the program by providing them
with winning certificates.
Moreover, the first prize winners of the competition were given the
opportunity to briefly present their work.
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