ti pakistan‟s activities · balochistan events were organized in kallat, jaffarabad, and pishin;...
TRANSCRIPT
XXVVXIV, December 2017
“Tax avoidance is denying money for services and development. This is a system that is
fault. We need more transparency” – Winnie Byanyima
Contact Us:
4-C Mezzanine Floor, Khayaban-e-Itehad
Phase VII, DHA Karachi. Phone: 92-21-35390408
Fax: 92-21-35390410
XXVVXIV, DEC 2017
Editorial
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How Strong are Anti-Corruption Agencies in Asia Pacific?
With the close of this quarter, Anti-Fraud Hotline (AFH) enters its 8th year of successful operation.
Transparency International Pakistan organized workshops to enhance capacity of CSOs on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16
“Corruption is an insidious plague that has corrosive effects on societies.” – Kofi Anan
TI Pakistan‟s Activities:
TI Pakistan is empowering youth to fight corruption, raise their voice against corrupt practices and hold government accountable
TI Pakistan conducted Citizen Report Card Study to evaluate performance of Local Government in district Jaffarabad, Balochistan.
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XXVVXIV, December 2017
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The Anti – Corruption Agencies
(ACA‟s) are permanent bodies
that exist outside of government„s
influence. The report titled „Anti-
Corruption Agencies
Strengthening Initiative‟ is a study
and review of seven countries
from the Asia Pacific including
Pakistan.
Published by Transparency
international, the report reveals
some of the facts and several
harsh realities about Anti-
corruption Agencies of selected
countries in Asia Pacific. The
United Nations Convention
against Corruption (UNCAC) 2003
explains the ACA as “it is
independent body/bodies within
national governance systems are
required to promote and enforce anti-corruption policies and
practices”. The report endeavored
to assess strengths and weakness of
Anti-Corruption Agencies‟ based on
the selected indicators:
The first indicator Legal
Independence and Status
highlights that in most of the Asia
Pacific countries; the appointment
of the head of ACA‟s is not
transparent as the method of
appointment adopted by the
concerned authorities‟ is
inappropriate , lack transparency,
and is politically influenced.
Moreover, with reference to
Pakistan, this important task is
always delayed by the political
dissidence among political parties.
The second indicator examines the
Financial and Human Resources
aspect. Despite having the highest
Strengthening Anti-Corruption Agencies Initiative
The fourth and fifth indicators are prevention, education and
outreach. Pakistan has scored the lowest i.e 56 points among its
regional peers. The performance of NAB rated below average,
while Bhutan ranked high in this regard. Similarly, public
confidence in ACA‟s is another crucial factor to gauge the
progress of ACA‟s. Pakistan scored 50 point, which is the lowest
among the countries included in this study.
The study also points towards inadequate mechanism for
accountability and oversight. For instance, there is no external or
internal accountability mechanism for monitoring and
assessment, NAB only submits an annual report to the president
of the country.
To bring improvement in ACAs performance, Transparency
International has proposed recommendations which focus on
three key zones; to work independently without any pressure,
increase public accountability and trust and last of all to
construct institutional capacity to implement the ACA‟s
mandate.
budget of $27.4 million in 2015-16,
achievements of NAB remained
unsatisfactory, insignificant and
below the mark. While the human
resource department illustrates that
many ACAs lack professional and
technical experts in relevant field
which acts as a great hindrance.
The third indicator Detection and
Investigation relates to detection
and identification of corruption,
thereafter, investigation of it. The
performance of Pakistan‟s National
Accountability Bureau (NAB) on
this indicator is moderate. In last
three years, NAB collected
complaints from 300 to 800, which
is relatively satisfactory. Overall,
the populace to complaint ratio is
diminishing. Moreover, in this
regard, the performance of ACA‟s
in Asia Pacific is unsatisfactory.
Editor: Ms. Faizah Mubarak. Cartoonist: Mr. Zahid Gara
XXVVXIV, December 2017
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With the close of this quarter,
Anti-Fraud Hotline (AFH) enters
its 8th year of operations. In this
quarter AFH received complaints
from across the country regarding
fraud and corruption in various
USAID funded projects. These
complaints carry critical
information regarding issues in
the implementation of USAID
funded projects. Issues are
primarily divided into categories
such as solicitation of bribe, favors
and kickbacks or service delivery
issue, theft of USAID funded
goods, PPRA violations or
procurement frauds. The
concentration of complaints
related to service delivery issues
remained high, and a few
complaints related to bribery and
theft were also reported to OIG in
this quarter. In addition,
complaints against administrative
problems in the project
implementation were also
reported related to conflict of
interest, embezzlement as well as
improper hiring, whereas
complaints that might indicate
PPRA violation or procurement
fraud did not surface.
AFH also receives complaints that
may not have a USAID nexus to
them, but are related to projects
that are funded by national and
international agencies and NGO‟s.
In these instances, AFH refers
them to respective organizations,
with which OIG has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding.
This quarter, AFH handled 2800 calls, and as a result 117 complaints were
registered. Since its inception, AFH has effectively handled
over 92,000 calls
Complaints that are solely related to Pakistan and do not involve funding of international donors are referred to TI
Pakistan‟s Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (ALAC).
AFH management continued to ensure that the complaints are formulated with utmost professionalism. AFH‟s
multilingual complaint officers, who have gained considerable experience over the passage of project tenure, are
well equipped in keeping the flow of communication with the complainants open and follow ups to get as much
information as possible. AFH complaint officers adhere to the guidelines provided by OIG as to the information
necessary for successful complaint launch, which ultimately supplements the investigative efforts of OIG.
The Hotline remained the primary source of complaint generation, whereas other contact mediums such as emails,
sms, whatsapp also contributed a fair share in this process. Complaints received from various mediums are dealt
with strict confidentiality. Analysis and progress is communicated to USAID/ OIG on weekly and quarterly basis.
This helps in project‟s operational efficiency and outcome.
This quarter AFH received over 2800 calls, and as a result 117 complaints were registered. Since its inception in
January 2011, AFH has effectively handled over 92,000 calls. This huge volume has resulted in the registration of
approx. 8,000 complaints. These figures reflect AFH‟s operational efficacy. The uploaded complaints have played a
pivotal role in assisting OIG in its investigations.
XXVVXIV, December 2017
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Fraud awareness
and prevention
workshop
July 12, 2016:
The workshop was aimed at
transferring of knowledge
to Sub Grantees of USAID
Implementing partners. The
workshop provided the
participants with an
opportunity to discuss the
issues faced in the
implementation of their
projects, by interacting with
representatives from USAID
OIG, NAB and TI-Pakistan.
July 14, 2016
The workshop was
organized under USAID
Anti-Fraud Hotline‟s
awareness and outreach
campaign. It was primarily
designed to raise awareness
regarding corruption in
USAID projects, and how to
detect, identify and prevent
it in the projects undertaken
by OTI implementing
partners.
Multi-Stakeholder Network on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 16
Transparency International Pakistan organized
Civil Society Capacity Building Workshops on
Sustainable Development Goal 16.
In this quarter, TI Pakistan successfully conducted
03 training workshops on strengthening the
capacity of civil society organizations on
Sustainable Development Goal 16. These
workshops were organized as follow:
1. The first workshop was organized on
November 20th, 2017 at Pearl Continental
Hotel, Karachi
2. The second workshop was arranged on
December 12th at Hotel Mariott, Islamabad
3. The third workshop took place on December
20th at Indus Hotel, Hyderabad.
The primary goal of the workshops was to help
build CSO/NGO capacity on Goal 16, by
discussing how to engage with governments
and other local stakeholders to support the
planning, implementation and accountability of
Goal 16. The aim was to collaborate and
advocate for integrating anti-corruption reforms
in Pakistan‟s commitment towards Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). The CSO/NGOs
were provided with capacity building on anti-
corruption best practices, learn and share
knowledge on different targets and indicators of
Goal 16 to undertake advocacy around the SDG
16 “to promote peaceful, inclusive societies for
sustainable development, to provide access to
justice for all and to build effective, accountable
and inclusive institutions at all level”.
XXVVXIV, December 2017
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Governor Sindh, Dr. Ishratul Ebad presenting Integrity Award 2016 to Director General NAB Karachi
Sustainable
Development Goal
(SDG) 16 Workshops
November 20, 2017:
The first workshop was
organized on November
20th, 2017 at Pearl
Continental Hotel, Karachi
December 12, 2017
The second workshop was
organized on December
12th, 2017 at Marriott Hotel,
Islamabad
December 20, 2017
The third workshop was
organized on December
20th, 2017 at Indus Hotel,
Hyderabad
XXVVXIV, December 2017
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Empowering Youth to Fight Corruption
In this quarter, TI Pakistan started
a new project titled “Promoting
Democratic Values Amongst
Youth” under the grant awarded
by US Consulate, Karachi. The
project envisions giving voice to
young people and the vulnerable
communities in Sindh province,
bringing about a more open,
transparent and a democratic
society that supports the core
democratic values namely
Transparency, Accountability and
Integrity.
In the reporting quarter TI
Pakistan and Greenwich
University Karachi signed an MoU
to set up Youth Integrity Club at
the university. The launching
ceremony took place on
November 9, 2017 and was
attended by over 150 students,
university faculty, representatives
of US Consulate Karachi and TI
Pakistan.
Similarly, two workshops were
organized on topic “Youth
Leadership and Integrity” at
Khairpur Mirus, and Umerkot
Sindh. Around 150 participants
belonging to different grass root
organizations, civil society
members and people from
vulnerable communities attended
the workshop.
A youth advocacy seminar was
conducted at Greenwich
University Karachi on „The Role of
Youth in Combating Corruption‟.
The event aimed at celebrating
International Anti-corruption Day
which takes place on December
9th each year. Speakers elaborated
on the topic of democracy and
anti-corruption and highlighted
that active citizenry and strong
institutions are the hallmark of
any democratic system.
Glimpses from Youth Integrity Club
Activities
XXVVXIV, December 2017
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Glimpses from ALAC Activities
In this quarter, Transparency
International Pakistan in
collaboration with Helper
Development Organization
conducted a Citizen Report Card
study to evaluate performance of
the local government in district
Jaffarabad, Balochistan. While the
second, Citizen Report Card Study
was conducted on education
focusing on district Okara, Punjab.
In coming weeks, TI Pakistan
intends to share findings of the
study with relevant stakeholders.
Number of training workshops
were organized on Right to
Information Law to raise
awareness and equip citizens with
skills and knowledge on how they
can use RTI to hold government
accountable.
In our effort to enhance social
accountability in the country, a
session between local government
representatives and citizens was
organized in district
Bahawalnagar. Citizens
highlighted that this is for the first
time such an event is organized
where general public can directly
ask question from the local
government representatives. This
Citizen’s Voice Against Corruption
also provided the local
government representatives a
chance to communicate citizens
the budgetary, and human
resource problems they are facing.
Similarly, on the occasion of
International Anti-Corruption
Day, TI Pakistan in collaboration
with local partners organized 17
walks and seminars all over
Pakistan. The message of anti-
corruption was directly
communicated to some 850
individuals including social
workers, students, teachers, media
and lawyers.
XXVVXIV, December 2017
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International Anti-Corruption Day 2017
Every year, Transparency International Pakistan organizes walks and seminars on International Anti-Corruption
day all over Pakistan. This year, TI Pakistan organized walks and seminars in 17 districts across Pakistan. In
Sindh the programs were organized in Badin, Matiari, Mirpur Khas, and Jacobabad; in Punjab these were
organized in Dera Gazi Khan, Layyah, Vehari, Hafizabad, Chaniot, Toba Tek Singh and Bahawalnagar; in
Balochistan events were organized in Kallat, Jaffarabad, and Pishin; and in KPK walks and seminars were
arranged in Mardan, Nowshera, and Peshawar.
A large number of citizens, civil society members, media personnel, lawyers, students, teachers and religious
leaders participated in these gatherings. During the seminars, the speakers highlighted various aspects of
corruption and its detrimental effects on society and the future of the next generation. The speakers informed the
participants about the Right to Information laws in the country and urged participants to use RTI to promote
transparency and accountability.
District Hafizabad, Punjab District Jaffarabad, Balochistan District Mittiari, Sindh
Pishin, Balochistan District Jacobabad, Sindh Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa