International Anti-Corruption Day 2024: Reaffirmin...

Corruption is a major crippling affliction of democracy, even decades after the international community recognized it as a threat and has taken steps to counter it. The challenge lies in corruption's multifaceted nature and ability to continuously evolve and adapt to new circumstances. Thankfully, defenders of democracy recognize this challenge and are tirelessly working on multiple fronts to counter it.

The U.S. Government labels corruption as a grave and enduring threat to its own national interest and security, and to its democratic partners. The International Republican Institute (IRI) understands the gravity of this challenge and works with its partners using a multi-pronged approach to counter corruption and kleptocracy around the world.

IRI conducts original research and produces tools and resources to equip development practitioners and stakeholders working to combat corruption on the ground with relevant skills and knowledge. IRI also works closely with local partners and supports public officials and civil society in the design and implementation of context-specific responses to improve transparency and accountability, leveraging its extensive networks to build trust and receptiveness to anti-corruption reforms.

Over the past year, IRI has added several resources against corruption and kleptocracy to its existing collection that includes toolkits, pioneering reports, and policy briefs. Supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), IRI published a report in partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) that highlights factors that contribute to the successes and failures of non-violent collective action movements against kleptocracy, and offers recommendations for policymakers, reformers and the business community. Likewise, with the National Endowment for Democracy's (NED) support, IRI also added Beneficial Ownership Transparency: A Roadmap for Civil Society and Non-Governmental Actors to its library to equip a wide range of actors working to promote greater transparency. IRI also produced a diagnostic tool on anti-corruption that provides specific guidance on program and measurement design based on engagement with a broad range of stakeholders. 

On the ground, IRI supported civil society organizations (CSOs) in Bangladesh, Honduras, Nepal, and Panama to promote evidence-based approaches to countering transnational kleptocratic networks and generate political incentives for reform through engagement campaigns targeting key political actors.

In Morocco, with the support of the NED and USAID, IRI worked to increase accountability through its support to local members of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). IRI's local partners hosted a series of events to increase awareness of Morocco's OGP commitments amongst subnational elected officials, civil society, and citizens. IRI also provided trainings on access to information, participatory budgeting, and petition writing, to equip civil society with the tools to increase transparency and citizen oversight.

Aligning with the spirit of this year's theme of International Anti-Corruption Day, IRI has continued its engagement with youth on anti-corruption issues. IRI launched an innovative regional project in the Asia-Pacific, supported by the NED, to provide young leaders from Mongolia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines with the mentorship, technical skills and knowledge to design and implement community projects to combat corruption in their respective countries. These participants formed the Asia Young Leaders Alliance (AYLA) and implemented projects that resulted in increased awareness of the negative implications of corruption and provided youth with alternatives to motivate action.

Similarly, in Mexico, funded by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), IRI worked with two youth-led networks to counter corruption: REJA (State Youth Anticorruption Network) and CICA (Center for Innovation and Environmental Culture). Together, they brought "Youth Challenging Corruption" workshops to over 20 universities in various cities across the State of Guanajuato and the State of Mexico, reaching almost 1,500 college students. These highly participative, youth-to-youth trainings saw high demand from academic institutions and students.

However, IRI's fight against global corruption and kleptocracy is far from over. Today, marking International Anti-Corruption Day, IRI reaffirms its commitment to Anti-Corruption as it presses on with its mission to support democracy worldwide.