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The Partnership for Transparency (PTF) Africa Committee hosts quarterly Civil Society Organization (CSO) Forum events that provide an interactive, participatory way for PTF’s CSO partners throughout Africa to share experiences, challenges, successes, and opportunities. On September 19, 2023, the PTF Africa Committee facilitated a CSO Forum event on the role of civil society in monitoring public procurement to improve service delivery and counter corruption. Currently, PTF is collaborating with local CSOs in Malawi and Moldova on civil society public procurement monitoring projects and these initiatives were highlighted. Presentations were given by Jeff Kabondo, African Institute of Corporate Citizenship Governance Programmes Coordinator, who is part of the project team for the Strengthening the Capacity of CSOs to Promote Transparency and Accountability in Public Infrastructure Projects in Malawi, and Carolina Ungureanu, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives Viitorul Deputy Director and Manager of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project. In addition, Max Levites, Global Integrity Program Manager, provided information on the Building Bridges for Stronger Systems project. The participants represented CSOs in DRC, Ghana, Malawi, Moldova, Senegal, Uganda, the United States, and Zambia. The following topics, in which the CSO representatives expressed interest, were covered: • increased accountability through public procurement monitoring, • effectiveness of multi-stakeholder groups and coalitions for public procurement monitoring, • capacity building of CSOs to engage in public procurement monitoring, • importance of constructive engagement with public procurement authorities and the private sector, and • lessons learned.

From May 15 to 19, 2023, Hady Fink represented Partnership for Transparency at the 13th Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) in Commonwealth Africa in Seychelles. The theme was “Uniting Commonwealth Africa in the Fight Against Corruption” and the conference was attended by the heads of ACAs from Botswana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. The conference was opened by Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, followed by a keynote address by Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, in the presence of Seychelles Vice-President Ahmed Afif and many other high-level government officials. On May 16th, Hady gave a presentation on “Strategic Programming for ACAs to Achieve Measurable Success”, which provided an approach for systematic accomplishments by focusing on guidance for defining appropriate indicators. Throughout the week, country delegations presented their approaches and lessons learned in the fight against corruption. These were complemented by expert contributions from the African Development Bank, Australian Federal Police, Basel Institute on Governance, Commonwealth, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fisheries Transparency Initiative, Grant Thornton UK LLP, International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre, UK Serious Fraud Office, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and World Bank. In addition to the conference program, there were receptions at the State House and British High Commission where Hady had the honor of meeting Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan and UK High Commissioner Patrick Lynch.

On April 25 and 26, 2023, the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC) hosted a symposium called “Play Your Part! Let’s Rid Africa of Corruption”. Sessions focused on individual responsibility to counter corruption, civil society engagement in the fight against corruption, the roles of civil society organizations (CSOs) and anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) in combating corruption, and information exchange on the collaborative experiences of ACAs and CSOs to prevent and address corruption. On April 25th, Partnership for Transparency (PTF) ran a session on civil society engagement. PTF Management Team Member Aileen Marshall moderated the session and PTF Advisor Hady Fink provided technical support. PTF Board Member Richard Holloway gave a presentation on the different types of CSOs and how they can be useful to ACAs. Next, there was a presentation on whistleblowers, whistleblower protection, and the roles of CSOs and ACAs by Louise Portas, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer with the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. This was followed by an interactive discussion with the participants. The session culminated with a video of CSO perspectives from Ghana, Uganda, and Zambia, which was moderated by PTF Europe Member Ina-Marlene Ruthenberg. Many thanks to Siapha Kamara, CEO, SEND West Africa; Doreen Nalunkuma, Program Officer, Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda; and Maurice Nyambe, Executive Director, Transparency International Zambia for their insightful comments. Key take-aways from the session are that CSOs and ACAs share a lot of common ground as both are concerned about improving development outcomes for citizens and much can be gained by more effective collaboration. In most instances, there is a confidence gap between CSOs and ACAs that needs to be bridged. Although, in several cases, ongoing collaboration, which is sometimes formalized through MOUs, is yielding productive results. There is willingness on the part of CSOs and ACAs to work together and share information, with CSOs acting as a connection to local communities and a channel for two-way flows of information. In particular, anti-corruption efforts need to reach disadvantaged communities and be gender-sensitive, given that women are often disproportionally affected by corruption. In addition, protection of whistleblowers is essential. Greater collaboration between ACAs and CSOs could raise community awareness of the work of ACAs, build understanding and bridge differences between ACAs and citizens, help change public perceptions, foster trust, increase advocacy for anti-corruption, maximize use of scarce resources, and help establish effective anti-corruption coalitions. UNODC provides knowledge resources and technical assistance to institute effective whistleblower provisions and protections. PTF is available to work with CSOs and ACAs on collaboration and coalition building.

February 1, 2023 Partnership for Transparency’s Vision: A world free of corruption in which citizens trust public officials and institutions and hold them accountable and responsive to their communities’ needs. Today, Washington, DC-based Partnership for Transparency (PTF) launched its 2023 to 2026 strategy to strengthen support for civil society organizations as they lead the fight to counter corruption in their countries. The new strategy defines PTF’s mission to support innovative civil society organization-led and related approaches to reduce corruption, increase transparency, strengthen governance, and enhance accountability in low- and middle-income economies and widely share knowledge gleaned through its work. “Never before have political pressures to curb civil society organizations (CSOs) been greater in scores of countries than they are today,” said Frank Vogl, Chair of the PTF Board of Directors. “Our new strategy will strengthen our ability to provide CSO support in the key areas where we have established outstanding development expertise. A critical strategic aim is to build deeper partnerships in our work with CSOs, official aid agencies, philanthropic foundations, and anti-corruption experts,” added Vogl. PTF’s 2023 to 2026 strategy details six operational goals: program scope and activities, knowledge management, advocacy and advisory services, financial resources, strategic partnerships, and communications. PTF President Dirk Mattheisen said, "Our new strategy strengthens our focus on anti-corruption in areas where our teams of advisors have exceptional sectoral expertise, notably in public procurement, health, and other areas of public services, as well as supporting civil society engagement more broadly. We are also building on our relationships with outstanding local civil society partners in a range of countries where we are now working, or where we have recently worked, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Malawi, Moldova, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Ukraine, and Zambia.” PTF is a 501(c)(3) Washington, DC-based non-governmental organization founded in 1998. Since it started operations in 2000, PTF has supported more than 200 projects in over 50 countries, published reports and extensive articles on the lessons learned from its projects, and provided advice to multilateral institutions. The expert advisors working with PTF are all volunteers, most of whom are retired former senior officials at the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other agencies. PTF has affiliated regional organizations based in Munich, Germany and Manilla, Philippines and it pursues further regional goals through special committees for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. PTF’s Board of Directors, Management Team, and Advisors represent many nationalities and have a common passion for supporting CSOs in their work to secure transparency, accountability, and integrity in the public sector. Under the new strategy, PTF intends to strengthen its selection criteria for projects financed by its own grants, as well as the funds for which it bids to sharpen its focus on anti-corruption and empowerment of local civil society. Selection criteria will include: alignment with mission, focus countries and sectors, sustainable and qualified CSO recipients, impact as assessed by a realistic monitoring framework, sustainability, and clear value added for PTF. The 2023 to 2026 strategy stresses an increased focus by PTF on its knowledge work by producing a multi-year knowledge plan that will incorporate an annual flagship [...]

The Information Platform for Public Infrastructure in Malawi (IPPI) has been officially accredited as an Infrastructure Data Standard publisher by the Open Contracting Partnership by Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standards (OC4IDS). As a result, Malawi is now the third African country, following Ghana and Uganda, to have an authorized infrastructure monitoring tool. The IPPI was developed, with the support of UNIK Multimedia Technologies (UNIK), as part of the “Strengthening the Capacity of CSOs to Promote Transparency and Accountability in Public Infrastructure Projects in Malawi” project. The project is being managed by Partnership for Transparency, National Construction Industry Council, CoST Malawi, African Institute of Corporate Citizenship, and Integrity Platform and is funded by the European Union. UNIK, operating out of Lilongwe, Malawi, was contracted to perform the technical updating of the platform. Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera is a strong proponent of CoST Malawi and the IPPI was officially launched with a speech delivered by the President on July 12, 2022. He obliged procurement entities to upload all relevant and up-to-date documents and project information on the IPPI by August 31, 2022. A tremendous effort was put into raising awareness of public officials about the IPPI and procuring entities, civil society organizations, and media representatives were trained on how to use the platform. As a result, within the first six months of its launch, the IPPI has data from approximately 145 projects, worth 3.5 trillion Kwacha ($3.44 billion). This project data was uploaded by 36 registered procuring entities. The expectation is that the milestone of achieving OC4IDS accreditation will ensure that more projects are uploaded onto the platform and that the data uploaded can be used to achieve greater transparency and accountability in public infrastructure procurement. This photo shows President Lazarus Chakwera with representatives of CoST Malawi. (Photo courtesy of the State House Malawi – Office of the President)

Hundreds of millions of people have to pay bribes when using public services. This situation has not
improved for more than a decade. There is a strong case for rethinking the current anti-corruption
approaches in which funding for anti-corruption and good governance programs is overwhelmingly
allocated to government efforts (supply side) with relatively little given to non-state actors (demand side).
Increasingly evidence has shown that civil society can make a meaningful difference in the furtherance of
anti-corruption aims.

As COVID-19 swept the globe, the Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) adjusted our operations to meet the moment and directly support civil society efforts to both assist and monitor emergency response programs, ensuring help reached those who needed it most. PTF’s COVID-19 response portfolio has included support for civil society organization (CSO) partners in four countries, working on five projects designed to encourage citizen engagement in monitoring COVID-19 relief programs. These projects have not only successfully achieved their stated objectives, but demonstrate the way in which CSO involvement enhances the efficacy of government response programs which may prove essential in future vaccination campaigns.

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.