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The pledge by G7 leaders to donate one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries in need is laudable, but must be coupled with a strategy to ensure equity, integrity, and transparency of distribution campaigns, according to PTF advisers.

In order to enhance the equity and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in developing countries, global leaders must enact an international initiative promoting civil society involvement and citizen engagement in vaccine distribution.

The world faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The impact of the pandemic on middle- and low-income countries is significantly greater than the enormously challenging situation in Western industrial nations. It is too early to gauge with any accuracy the full scale of the global humanitarian crisis, but not too late to focus public attention on the essential actions that are needed to mitigate the crisis. However, the governments of the Western wealthy countries are so preoccupied with striving to deal with all the bitter consequences of the pandemic in their own countries that they have failed, so far, to address meaningfully the unfolding development crisis that may well set the poorest nations back by at least a decade, if not more.

As governments and the international aid community scramble to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, direct citizen engagement in public health programs has already had a demonstrable positive impact on the success of these programs. While governments in both middle-income and low-income developing countries face the pandemic with support from international aid agencies, the large-scale, rapidly disbursing programs strain weak public delivery systems and provide massive opportunities for fraud and corruption.

July 27, 2020 -- The Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is launching a COVID-19 emergency monitoring project with Poder Ciudadano, the Argentina Chapter of Transparency International. Richard Stern, President of PTF said: “ We are making a $10,000 grant to , to Poder Ciudadano to lay the foundation for a substantial program to enhance the integrity, transparency, and effectiveness of COVID-19 emergency responses in Argentina. We intend the project to be a catalyst to attract substantial funding to scale-up this urgent and important program.” This is PTF’s first such emergency COVID-19 grant in Latin America – a region where the pandemic has been spreading at a rapid rate. PTF has also launched COVID-19 projects in East and West Africa and in India. National governments across Latin America, often with the support of multilateral and bilateral donors agencies, have been disbursing substantial sums for emergency medical equipment and supplies, hospital  and health system improvements, but concerns have been mounting that important safeguards are inadequate. The PTF-Poder Ciudadano project specifically addresses this concern. Due to the urgency of countering the health crisis, standard procurement procedures and controls may be bypassed in favor of limited or non-competitive bidding approaches, direct negotiations with suppliers, and opaque reporting and oversight. While Argentina has so far been spared the worst of the epidemic, the World Bank, IDB and CAF are providing millions of U.S. dollars in assistance. Argentina’s National Executive Power, through Decrees of Necessity and Urgency, has empowered national organizations to make procurements through much more flexible methods than the traditional system and with very few accountability mechanisms. The new project aims to enhance the transparency of the financial flows from donors and national budgets to hospitals and clinics via the Public Procurement Observatory of Poder Ciudadano. The Public Procurement Observatory will carry out a series of activities that i) promote access to public information on procurements made during the emergency, ii) allow effective social control over each one of them, with centralized and quality information; iii) generate recommendations for improvement in the procurement system, ensuring the integrity of the affected public funds. Some of these activities include creating a website, establish an Advisory Council, train local CSOs and will share recommendations based on local practices and lessons. These resources will enhance oversight regionally and beyond. The project will also design and test an independent monitoring process in which civil society organizations will monitor and report on the storage, distribution and delivery of essential medical equipment and supplies to the beneficiary institutions—hospitals and clinics and provide the basis to resolve any problems so identified with the relevant authorities. The M&E system developed by this project is intended to serve as the basis of a nationwide rollout in the coming months and possible replication in other countries. PTF’s global experience shows that monitoring by civil society organizations has a significant impact in improving outcomes, especially in health services. This investment is made in response to a contact made by Delia Ferreira, the chair of Transparency International, and helps meet the needs of our partner organizations. This is the sixth PTF-sponsored COVID-19 emergency response project globally – two [...]

On July 1, 2020, the Partnership for Transparency (PTF) and the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) hosted experts from Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States in a 90-minute conversation on one of the worst forms of corruption. Nancy Hendry of the International Association of Women Judges began using the term “Sextortion” a number of years ago to bring attention to practice of women being sexually exploited by corrupt actors, primarily men in positions of power. She joined a panel of experts to discuss the topic, including Francisca Chinelo Ekwonu, founder of New Girl on Campus; Dr. Ortum Merkel of the United Nations University; Marie Chêne, Research Director at Transparency International; Dena Shayne of the Amara Legal Center and Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Just Corps Fellow; and Nancy Hendry of the International Association of Women Judges. Indira Sandilya, a Senior Adviser at the PTF and Board Member of the Partnership for Transparency India also contributed to the conversation.

1 in 5 people experience Sextortion or know someone who has -- Latin American TI Barometer 2019 Recommended viewing BBC EYE ON AFRICA Sex for Grades: Undercover inside Nigerian and Ghanaian universities This remarkable BBC undercover investigation in Nigeria provides first-person accounts. Universities in Nigeria and Ghana have been plagued by stories of sexual harassment by lecturers and professors for decades. The UNA-NCA and PTF Anti Corruption Forum present a special virtual global discussion on SEXTORTION in developing and emerging market countries - and indeed in our own communities How acute is the Sextortion issue? What must we do to counter Sextortion? Sex + Corruption = Sextortion The abuse of power to obtain sexual favors – specific demands by men in power of sex in return for, for example, obtaining a job, getting a passing college grade, ensuring safe passage as a migrating refugee, obtaining vital official documents. What all the victims have in common is that they are in situations where they have few means to secure legal, or community support and recourse – making them all the more vulnerable. Please join outstanding experts from Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States in a 90-minute conversation on one of the worst forms of corruption. Guest experts include: Dr. Ortrun Merkle, Researcher, United Nations University, Graduate School of Governance. Author of doctoral work: The Myth of Gender-Neutral Power: Corruption and Gender Norms. December 2018. Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowob, Executive Director, Stand to End Rape Initiative (STER). TIME 100 NEXT Honouree, 2019 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year. 2019 Africa & Europe Winner, Commonwealth Award for Excellence in Development Work, 2018 British Council Future Leaders, Connect Member, 2018 Obama Foundation Fellow in Africa. Francisca Chinelo Ekwonu, founder of “New Girl On Campus (NGOC),” official at the Centre for Social Awareness, Advocacy and Ethics (CSAAE), Lagos, Nigeria. Nancy Hendry – International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), Washington DC – a leading authority and writer on the challenges of sextortion. Marie Chêne, Transparency International, Berlin, Research Director – TI recently published: Breaking the Silence around Sextortion: The Links between Power, Sex and Corruption. Dena Shayne, Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps Fellow at the Amara Legal Center in Washington DC. “I view Sextortion as the single most challenging area for anti-corruption reform and arguably the single most pervasive form of corruption across the world,” - Frank Vogl, Chair, PTF Board of Directors on PassBlue.

The international development community’s response in the coming months and years will be crucial to prevent widespread health and economic fallout. But large and fast disbursing programs will present massive opportunities for graft and the misuse of funds, particularly in health - from the initial procurement stage to the long supply chains characterized by a large number of individual transactions. Provision for systematic civil society engagement in COVID19 programs can significantly enhance their impact by mitigating the diversion of funds. We are working with partners to adjust ongoing activities and timelines in the Gambia, Philippines, Myanmar and Malawi. We have provided funding to partners for new projects in India, Ghana and Uganda to jumpstart rapid response programs. We expect to expand similar programs in line with major international donor response and recovery programs around the world, particularly those supported by the World Bank. We’re motivated to stay vigilant during this crisis and emerge stronger. We are a unique community - now is an important time to stay in touch and work together. Reach out to us at info@ptfund.org to explore partnership opportunities. COVID19 Citizens' Transparency Initiative for Uganda In Uganda, the Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU), is supporting civic engagement in the implementation of COVID19 funds and resources with the aim of contributing to increased efficiency and economy.  The project employs a multi-approach strategy comprising of supporting medical workers to provide information on COVID19 preventive measures, procurements and distribution of supplies and media engagements, citizen-led monitoring of public expenditures, working with investigative journalists to unearth waste, and constructively engaging with authorities to provide feedback to improve implementation. It will initially target the Kasangati Health Centre IV, which serves over 140,000 citizens, over a six-months period to test the model for nationwide scale-up. LEARN MORE COVID19 Response Projects in India PTF and the Indian Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) are co-funding two similar projects to provide relief from the adverse effects of COVID19 on migrant workers. India’s nationwide lock-down aimed at containing the epidemic has caused huge problems for vulnerable groups, including millions of migrant workers, who have been forced to leave the cities where they work with no support, no social security and no work. Many are not registered appropriately in local administration and so not able to access government relief programs. In Ganjam, Youth for Social Development (YSD) will create community awareness on preventive measures and provide safety hygiene kits, provide dry food and essentials, identify the left out poor (eligible families) and ensure they get entitlements, assist with institutional quarantine facilities at the Gram Panchayat level. They will also advocate with local and block and district government to recognize these poor and connect the benefits particularly the special assistance and other issues arising due to COVID19. YSD as member to the civil society group and IAG-Odisha working with the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) will also take the issues to the state level. LEARN MORE In Ajmer, the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) will implement a project to facilitate and complement local government’s efforts to provide immediate relief to migrant workers whose lives have been disrupted by the corona crisis. [...]

Nearly 10 percent of PTF supported projects have been directed at fighting corruption in education. The projects addressed problems of governance, poor transparency and corruption in four main areas: (i) use of school resources; (ii) school construction; (iii) procurement and delivery of textbooks and other school supplies; and (iv) professional misconduct related to student admissions, examinations and teacher hiring. THE CHALLENGE Transparency International's (TI’s) Global Corruption Report: Education (2013)  reinforces the notion that corruption inhibits social and economic development and may even jeopardize stability of a nation’s education system. The opportunity for corruption exists all along the education continuum. The “roots of corrupt practices lie in a lack of transparency and accountability” (p. xiii). The experience gained through implementation of PTF education projects corresponds with TI findings. In the 12 years that PTF provided small grant assistance for good governance projects, about 10 percent (about 22) were directed to the education sector. The projects addressed problems of governance, poor transparency and corruption in four main areas: (i) use of school resources; (ii) school construction; (iii) procurement and delivery of textbooks and other school supplies; and (iv) professional misconduct related to student admissions, examinations and teacher hiring. Approximately 70 percent were carried out in two regions, Africa and East Asia; 17 focused on the primary/secondary levels of education, and five on the tertiary level. PROJECTS USE OF SCHOOL RESOURCES In Armenia, Cameroon and Ghana PTF has supported projects that emphasize a participatory approach in monitoring the expenditure of funds collected from parents and students to compensate for inadequate budgetary resources. The corruption risk lies in the potential for misuse of the funds due to the absence of transparent procedures for managing them. Armenia: Partnership & Teaching NGO The Partnership and Teaching/NGO (P&T) designed and implemented a project to introduce a transparent system to monitor the collection and use of school fees.  The project focused on six schools in two localities, involving school boards, administrators, teachers, parents and students at each school, and at each stage of the project, from issue identification through introduction of the new accountability procedures. The P&T provided training and community awareness campaigns to sell its model for transparent budgeting to the relevant school, community and local government authorities.  Their approached yielded positive and measurable results in the schools and communities involved and also had an impact at the policy level.  The national Ministry of Education (MOE) adopted the new monitoring procedures and at the end of project implementation the P&T began to lobby for legislation requiring use of the procedures in all Armenian schools. Read more. SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PTF has supported projects in Cameroon and the Philippines to fight corrupt practices of public officials and building contractors in the construction of classrooms. Cameroon: Action Group for Democracy and Good Governance Cameroon In theory, Cameroon’s students attend secondary school free of charge. In practice, the principals of secondary schools and the school management committees (SMC) draw up an annual budget with a list of projected operating costs and subtract the likely government contribution. To close the financial gap, parents are asked to contribute dues directly to the parent teacher association (PTA). Exasperated by the generalized misuse of PTA funds, Mrs. Lois Ebenye, principal of the [...]

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