Activity Type: Research

Citizen Action Network for Accountability (CANA)

The Citizen Action Network for Accountability in the Philippines works to improve public services provided in our communities in general and to the poorest and most marginalized in particular.

CANA believes simply that more we ordinary people can understand and engage the government, the more accountable and effective we can all hold it to be.

Latest Work

Citizens force city to improve quality control of public works: A simple story on how citizen action compelled the government to repair a foot bridge previously declared complete yet unusable during rainy days.

Citizens encouraged to monitor government projects, spending: A national broadcast report in Filipino featuring CANA’s views and work in encouraging citizen action to fight corruption and demand for good governance.

Facebook: Citizen Action Net • Twitter: @CitizenActionPH

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Borde Político A. C. – Borde Jurídico

Founded in 2012,  Borde Político is a NGO created with the purpose of developing digital tools for monitoring the performance of the Mexican Congress.

Through this platform, citizens can better know the work of their representatives and find interactive tools designed to function as simple mechanisms for consulting, displaying or disseminate relevant information related to both Chamber of the Mexican Congress.

Since 2013, through a specialized project named Borde Jurídico, the transparency effort extended to observe the work of the Judiciary Branch.

Its team consists of 13 people, which includes political scientists, designers, lawyers, philosophers and programmers is dedicated to digitize, illustrate and make available, in real time, information generated in the Congress and the Supreme Court. The digital platforms developed by Borde Político aim to encourage citizen contributions and debate to political processes and legislation.

In addition, Borde Político is part of the Opening Parliament Alliance (Mexico) and has established important partnerships to work on matters of open budget and legislative budgets with renowned civil society organizations in Mexico such as Fundar and Métrica Pública.

Twitter: @bordepolitico /@bordejuridico • Facebook: Borde Político, Borde Jurídico • Youtube: Borde Político, Borde Jurídico

Fin al abuso (1st Campaign)

The project measures the amount of money annually stolen and diverted from education in Mexico, and holds a permanent campaign to advertise and display what could have been done in the education field in Mexico with the money that is lost to corruption. Additionally, “Fin al abuso” encourages citizens to join electronic campaigns and take legal action to demand that money spent on education is rightly used.

First campaign

Following up a three years movement named “Where is my teacher?”, Fin al abuso is leading a group of organizations demand for a single, complete and reliable registry of basic education teachers. The obligation to submit such registry was established in the enactment of the Mexican Federal Spending Decrees for 2010, 2011, and 2012; however, it does not exist so far.

Fin al Abuso, has detected (by name) 22,353 people, who are paid an income as teachers or principals, yet are not teaching. These people are the so-called “union commissioners” (UC) teacher union workers whose salaries cost Mexicans at least 1.7 billion pesos every year.

 Mexicanos Primero

“¡Fin al abuso!”  denounced this wrongdoing in 2012 and invited Mexicans to join the demand of more money to be allocated for education and less to be given to the Teachers Union.

The campaign collected signatures at public spaces, universities and forums; and had broad media presence in Mexico City, Tepic, Tijuana, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

In three months 230,240 citizens signed the campaign and 115 NGOs supported the initiative.

With each collected signature a letter demanding public resources to be well used was sent to the President of Mexico, the presidents of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the Ministers of Education and of Finance. If these Union Commissioners are essential to the SNTE (teachers’ union), then they should be paid from union dues deducted from teacher salaries. Those who signed received a reply from the federal authorities.

SEP (Secretariat of Public Education) and the SNTE reacted differing only in regards to the number of UC: SEP reported that there were “only” 12,704 commissioners whilst the SNTE admitted having over 160,000 commissioners.

In a second conference, Fin al Abuso published a document supported by the National Bar Association of Mexico (Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados de México) concluding that the payment of UC from the federal treasury is illegal.

 

 Twitter: @Finalabuso    •   YouTube: MexicanosPrimero  • Facebook: FinAlAbuso

Public control and effective governance

The general aim of the project was to develop an effective and functional partnership between the structures of the civil society and the municipal administrations through better transparency and accountability of the local administrations. In order to achieve its goals the project aimed at: improving the organizational structures at administrative level and improving the procedures for civil control over the municipal strategies for development. Some of the main activities of the project include: 1. analyses and evaluation of eight strategies for development in eight selected municipalities; 2. defining the role, which the civil society plays in the development and realization of the strategies by analyzing good practices in other countries in the EU; 3. educational seminars for the representatives of the civil society on how can they influence the strategies in order to increase the transparency and accountability of the process. 4. realization of a conference for the dissemination of the project results.

Openly about the finances of the 9th Saeima elections

The project collected publicly available information on party revenues and expenditures, covering the following data: amount of advertising placed, recoreded via monitoring electronic media and press; partially collected information on the outdoor advertising placed by parties; public events organized by parties; analysis of declaration submitted by parties; analysis of information on donors available from public data bases.

Restricting Corruption in a Transition Society (Legal Aspects)

The goals of the projects were: to identify the most corruption-sensitive areas in Estonia; to find the most efficient legal means to restrict corruption; to offer solutions increasing the transparency of decision-making. The project identified and analysed legal aspects of restricting corruption. Other countries’ experience and its possible applications in Estonia were summarised in the course of the project.

Monitoring the legal practice of the Supreme Court of Cassation

The major aim of the project is to establish and maintain the transparency and effectiveness of the Supreme Court of Cassation. The project aims to examine thoroughly the decisions taken by the Supreme Court of Cassation for the period of 2002, 2003 and 2004, which will permit an assessment of the activities of the institution. Subsequently, an objective analysis of the research results will be made, as the point is to draw major conclusions from the review of the decisions of Supreme Court of Cassation.

National Integrity System

The project sought to:
– Undertake a survey regarding the basic state pillars and bring recommendations how to reduce corruption in this institutions;
– Publish the survey in National Integrity System Study in English language;
– Promote results of National Integrity System Study through mass media;
– Stimulate broader public discussion on anti-corruption issues;
– Strength the rule of the law;
– Improve accountability and transparency of the public sector.
Activites of the project included:
– Investigation of the corruption phenomenon on the ground i.e. in 11 basic state pillars (Government, Parliament, Judiciary, Prosecutors, Police,);
– Printing of the National Integrity System Study;
– Media presentation;
– Distribution of the Study.

Enhancing Whistleblower Protection

The main objective of the report was to analyse the Estonian legal framework on whistleblower protection as well as its application. The report consists of 5 chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of whistleblower protection rules and their practical application. The Estonian cultural context, especially its transitional background (still existing influence of Soviet system) as well as the small society characteristics-these are the points discussed. The second chapter focuses on the evaluation of the extent of whistleblower protection ruled regarding the scope of whistleblower legislation, disclosure channels, remedies etc. The final chapter lists key results as well as recommendations made based on the analysis as well as key informant interviews.

Organized crime, corruption and the movement of people across borders in the new enlarged EU: A case study of Estonia, Finland and the UK

This project investigated the problem of corruption by organized crime in relation to border controls and immigration using as a case study the Estonian and Russian border; particular attention was given to the issues concerning the ‘Development Plan of Border Guards’ and the planned cooperation in relation to Organized Crime and Combating Corruption.

The civil society and the regional administration in the South-West region – a model for partnership

The project aimed to facilitate the mechanisms for partnership between the structures of the civil society and the local and regional administrations in the South-west region of Bulgaria. The main project goal was: better transparency, more accountability and control over the work of the administration. Some of the project activities included: 1. analyses, development of recommendations and educational seminars; 2. development and maintenance of an information web site; 3. activities for capacity building for monitoring the activities of the local and regional administration; 4. development of recommendations for improvement of the legal framework, strategic documents or public services provided by the targeted administrations; 5. activities for information and publicity.

Local anti-corruption network project: Monitoring for transparency and good governance at local level

The project aimed to provide a tool for communication, information and knowledge sharing among the NGOs located in different Bulgarian municipalities in order to increase their monitoring and control capacity as a mechanisms for combating corruption practices. Within the framework of the project a survey of the anti-corruption initiatives of municipal councils, municipal administrations, civic organizations and local mass media was carried out.

Corruption research 2004

The objective of this project was to map perceptions of corruption. The research sample was 1000 respondents. Among the findings: 68% of respondents sensed bribery as a usual phenomenon. Bribery is tolerated more by men. Respondents’ opinion was that the most corruption can be found in public administrations and private sector communication. In the opinion of the respondents the most corrupted areas are administrations, the police, the justice system and the customs.

Research About Corruption Distribution in Estonia

The survey was carried out in December 2001. 1008 respondents were involved in research all over Estonia. The objective of this project was to investigate how people understand corruption in the society and the distribution of corruption, and also to compare how these changed in comparison to a previous survey conducted in 1998. Results indicated that respondents have quite an adequate understanding about corruption and corruptive behaviour. Accordin to the results, the biggest change occured among people who had some kind of contact with corruption – number of respondants who experienced corruption decreased. In 1998 the percentage of respondants with no personal contact with corruption was 69,4%, whereas in 2001 it was 83,5%. This decrease was identified especially in the category of people with occasional contact with corruption (17,7% in 1998 and 6,1% in 2001); the percentage of individuals with frequent contact with corruption remained largely the same.

A Citizen within a Rule of Law

The project focused on watchdog activities of local anti-corruption activists; email conference for experience exchange was set up and workshops and seminars organized, focusing on real cases and practical know-how. An anti-corruption advice center for individual citizens was implemented, including the support of a lawyer.

National Integrity System 2004

The project sought to:
– Undertake a survey regarding the basic state pillars and bring recommendations how to reduce corruption in this institutions;
– Publish the survey in National Integrity System Study in English language;
– Promote results of National Integrity System Study through mass media;
– Stimulate broader public discussion on anti-corruption issues;
– Strength the rule of the law;
– Improve accountability and transparency of the public sector.
Activites of the project included:
– Investigation of the corruption phenomenon on the ground i.e. in 11 basic state pillars (Government, Parliament, Judiciary, Prosecutors, Police,);
– Printing of the National Integrity System Study;
– Media presentation;
– Distribution of the Study.

Estonian Courts

The project had two phases. The aim of the first phase of the project was to get information on how citizen-friendly and comprehensible are the courts of justice in Estonia. The initial analysis was based on the questionnaires filled in by the volunteer observers who attended the court sessions. The second phase of the project was concentrated on a legal analysis of corruption related cases handled in Estonian courts in the period of years 2002-2008 handled in Estonian courts in the period of years 2002-2008.

The main goal of this project was to analyze corruption cases handled in courts, in order to determine the areas that need more comprehensive attention independent from the authority of the state. The main question that this projects aimed to answer was as follows:

How have corruption crimes been handled in Estonian courts in a period where corruption as a phenomenon receives more and more domestic and international attention? The project analyzed the ability of the judicial system to react in an adequate manner to the need to have more efficient control over corruption; it also tried to map the main shortcomings of this activity. The analysis is based on files of existing finished (archived) court cases of corruption crimes handled in Estonian courts in the period of years 2002-2008 and also on national statistics regarding crime.

The determining and analyzing of the court cases related to corruption crimes took place as follows. First, a query was sent to the Ministry of Justice in order to attain an overview of all handled and archived corruption crimes in Estonian courts in the period of years 2003-2008. 2 The goal of this was to receive an exact list of all corruption crimes handled in Estonian courts in the specified time period, available and classified as criminal official misconduct.After that, archived court cases were requested from Estonian courts and were reviewed according to the methodology developed earlier.

The following courts were visited in order to attain the materials: Harju County Court, Järva County Court, Lääne-Viru County Court, Narva City Court, Pärnu County Court, Tallinn City Court, Viru Circuit Court. A total of 282 court cases were reviewed, detailing 978 different crimes that persons were charged with. The study included 417 persons (accused at trial), divided into 387 men (93%) and 30 women (7%). The age of these persons was relatively high (median value being 40.5 years of age), exceeding significantly the average age of criminals, the latter being in the early adulthood.

Conclusions: The official anti-corruption activity of Estonia until now considers primarily the simpler kind, i.e. low-level corruption. The Penal Code now includes more qualifications of crimes considered corruption crimes. That change has taken place in various chapters of the Penal Code and this makes it more difficult to attain an integral picture of the amount and dynamics of corruption crimes.

Partnership between the citizens and the municipal administration – a guarantee for transparency and accountability

The project aimed at increasing the capacity of the structures of the civil society in four municipalities in the fight against corruption. The capacity building refers to the capabilities of the civil society organizations to implement models and methods for monitoring and control over the public services provided by the municipal administrations . The project main activities included: 1. development of a local civil society partnership network; 2. survey of best practices in Bulgaria with regard to services of general interest provided by the local authorities 3. development of a web site for the partnership network in order to facilitate the communication between the target groups as well as to ease the monitoring process; 4. analyses of the existing deficiencies in the provision of services of general interest in the selected four municipalities and development of action plans for improvement; 5. realization of round tables with representatives from the civil society sector and the administration in order to discuss and improve the action plans; 6. monitoring over the implementation of the provided recommendations in the action plans; 6. analysis of the results of the project and dissemination of the good practices achieved.

The holistic approach in fighting corruption in the judicial system

The major goal of the project was to conduct a national survey on corruption in the judicial system. This pilot survey was used as a model for similar surveys on a regional level in the subsequent years. Some of the main activities included: 1. research of the most common corruption practices resulting from legislative and judicial inadequacies; 2. interviews with prosecutors, judges and citizens; 3. publication of the surveys’ results including recommendations for countering corruption within the judicial system and for establishment of internal control mechanisms for restriction of the phenomenon; 4. monitoring of corruption signals related to the judicial system and publication of the results in the press; 5. closing conference ot the main research topic.

Transparent State

The goal of the project is to increase the transparency of public spending and of public activities in general. It achieves this goal primarily by providing data on public spending in a much more accessible way than usually and by checking governmental and semi- governmental bodies if they abide the law on freedom of electronic information (2005. XC. Law). It also produced a ranking of public institutions according to transparency.

Curbing system leakages: the health sector and licensing in Estonia

The Baltics social audit measured the public’s perception of the social phenomenon of corruption and their concrete experience with corrupt practices in the health care and licensing sectors. Final sample was 3388 households, 7526 people. The goal was to help reduce system leakages that result from petty corruption and to suggest actionable steps to improve the situation in the health and licencing sectors.

Results

  • Licensing 91% of applicants paid for the licence/permit.
  • 8% of applicants gave unofficial payment or gift for licence/permit.
  • Mostly paid inspector or admin staff Rating of government health services and perception of corruption in the services – corruption high/v high – 33% and Corruption not high/v high – 38%
  • Suggestions for change to government health services – 39% willing to pay to have the change in government health services.
  • Suggestions for change to family doctor services – 31% willing to pay for the change in family doctor service.
  • Suggestions for change to specialist doctor services – 40% willing to pay for the change in specialist doctor services. 59% of households answered they would be willing to pay to avoid a waiting list for surgery or other hospital treatment.

Study: „Access to the Public Information in Estonia“

The aim of the study was to analyze access to public information in Estonia. The Public Information Act (2000) was analyzed by comparing it with the relevant legislation of other countries. Four hundred requests for information were sent out to various public institutions and the responses to the request were analyzed.

Town Hall Bulletins without Censorship

A survey of over 500 volumes of town halls bulletins issued by over the 100 town halls in the Czech Republic was implemented; the aim of the survey was to identify important features such a bulletin should contain to fulfil the conditions of the free access to information, information on public funds spending and balanced reporting. It revealed only about 26% of the bulletins allowed for critical opinions to be published, the censorship was widespread and the political parties in the local governments used the bulletins for their own PR. The project outputs involved: detailed survey, analysis identifying rights and obligations related to publishing town hall bulletins and recommendations for improvements of legal regulations; codex of balanced town hall bulletin and ten basic rules for its publishing and a leaflet for the citizens “Apply your rights”.

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