The EU Office of Transparency International has launched a new website to search for and access media articles about corruption.

Transparency International (TI) is a Berlin-based global movement that aims to tackle corruption, with a presence in more than 100 countries. Its non-confrontational, step-by- step approach relies on building strong relationships. Transparency is, of course, its core objective: to shed light on rules, plans, processes and actions.

As part of this strategy, the EU office of TI has launched a new website called the European Corruption Observatory, currently in Current phase. Developed in partnership with the Journalism Fund and funded by the European Commission, this online database aims “to foster awareness around transboundary corruption trends and allows citizens, journalists and civil society to search for and access articles about corruption cases published by different media sources.”

How does it work?
The website contains a database of media articles about corruption and corruption cases in the European Union, collated from free online media outlets based across Europe. Through the search engine, users can monitor articles with a clear link to corruption and can filter information based on the type of corruption, the sector and/or country where it occurred.

Why does it matter?
These kinds of projects are about raising awareness of corruption among the public and policy-makers, as investigations and reports made by journalists are of foremost importance to emphasise systemic risks and new trends. According to TI, “the cross-border dimension of corruption in the EU is one of those trends, particularly in the areas of public procurement, political party financing and lobbying.” The abuse of power for private gain has multiple impacts on society, institutions, the economy and humanity as a whole. These consequences include systems and institutions losing credibility.

The first step to solving any problem is acknowledging it. Thus, raising awareness of corruption is at the core of TI’s strategy to fight it. This new tool will help gather quantitative and qualitative information about corruption, its origins, and the inner workings of known schemes. While the project is at an early stage, it is very promising for the future – all the more so in the context of corruption continuing to make newspaper headlines around the world.

A participant in the UN Global Compact, CourtHeath seeks to raise awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the Global Compact with business and government organisations in Victoria.

UNGC Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

To gain insights into corruption around the world, check out the Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 developed by TI:
http://www.transparency.org/cpi2015

For more information:
http://www.transparency.org
http://www.transparencyinternational.eu/
https://www.corruptioneurope.com/

Caption:  Transparency International has released an app for accessing corruption-related articles. [Images used under license from Shutterstock]