International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award recognizes 8 winners in 2024

19th November 2024 - The Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, an annual event organized under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, organized by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center, Qatar and in support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), announced today that eight individuals and organizations have been honored as winners across the award&rsquo;s five categories.

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This event represents the 8th edition of this prestigious award, with previous ceremonies having taken place in Vienna, Geneva, Kuala Lumpur, Kigali, Tunis, Doha, and Tashkent.&nbsp; 
Since its inception in 2016, the award has honored the achievements of 59 recipients from various countries.

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The International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award ceremony took place this year in San Jos&eacute;, Costa Rica. In honor of the occasion, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar; His Excellency Rodrigo Chaves Robles, President of the Republic of Costa Rica; Dr. Alexander Zuev, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and other distinguished guests revealed a 12-meter statue in La Sabana Park just before the ceremony commenced. During the unveiling, His Highness the Amir of Qatar presented a certificate of appreciation to H.E President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, acknowledging his dedication&mdash;and that of the Costa Rican people&mdash;to combating corruption.

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At a ceremony graced by the presence of His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, and His Excellency Mr. Stephan Brunner Neibig, First Vice President of the Republic of Costa Rica, representatives from the United Nations and esteemed ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, and other distinguished guests. Held at the Costa Rica Convention Center, the ceremony was attended by more than 500 participants.

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Each category winner was honored with a certificate and trophy.

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On the margins of the Award ceremony was a session of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award Winners Network from the Americas and another panel session of the winners of the 2024 International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award.

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This year&rsquo;s event was delivered with the partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica, the Procuradur&iacute;a General of the Republic of Costa Rica and the Ministry of Sport of the Republic of Costa Rica.&nbsp;

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The International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is given to recipients according to five distinct categories, which are: Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement, Academic Research and Education, Youth Creativity and Engagement, Innovation or Investigative Journalism, and Safeguarding Sports from Corruption. Recognized in the 2024 International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award ceremony were:&nbsp;

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&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Dr. Muna D. Buchahin (Mexico) - Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement&nbsp; 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Professor Robert Klitgaard (USA) - Academic Research and Education&nbsp; 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Professor Alberto Vannucci (Italy) - Academic Research and Education&nbsp; 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Ms Khadija Sharife (South Africa) - Innovation / Investigative Journalism 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Dr. Rodrigo Arias Grillo (Spain) - Safeguarding Sports from Corruption 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Professor Ilias Bantekas (Greece) - Safeguarding Sports from Corruption. 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Mr. Gayo James Mpuya (Tanzania) - Youth Creativity and Engagement 
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Mejor Mexico (Mexico) - Youth Creativity and Engagement

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Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement

Dr. Muna D. Buchahin has spent over 30 years combating corruption, making a significant impact through her leadership in forensic auditing. As Director of Forensic Audit at Mexico&rsquo;s Superior Audit Office (2009-2018), she led major investigations, including the &quot;Master Scam,&quot; which exposed a $600 million corruption network involving officials and institutions. Her investigations, along with the crimes and violations she uncovered, sparked widespread public outrage.

In 2008, Dr. Muna D. Buchahin founded the Mexico Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), promoting anti-fraud education. She has authored two influential books: Auditor&iacute;a Forense (2014) and La Casa Sucia (2024), both addressing corruption in public administration.

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Academic Research and Education

Professor Robert Klitgaard has been involved in anti-corruption work since the 1980s. He authored sixteen books, including &ldquo;Controlling Corruption&rdquo;, which played a key role in launching the global Anti-Corruption movement, and &ldquo;Tropical Gangsters&rdquo;, recognized by &ldquo;The New York Times&rdquo; as one of its &quot;Books of the Century.&quot;&nbsp; 
Professor Klitgaard has consulted for prominent international organizations like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund as well as national and local governments. His work has had a global influence, providing practical tools for reform and shaping Anti-Corruption initiatives in countries like Colombia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and China.

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Professor Alberto Vannucci has dedicated his career to combating corruption as a professor, researcher, and thought leader for 36 years. He has authored 185 scientific contributions, including the influential books Corrupt Exchanges and The Hidden Order of Corruption. 
He has led key anti-corruption projects funded by the European Commission and the Italian Ministry for University and Research, and he also founded Italy&rsquo;s first university master&rsquo;s program on organized crime and corruption. 
His work with NGO&rsquo;s and international organizations has driven impactful anti-corruption policies, including Italy&#39;s first ethical code of conduct for politicians, which was recognized by the European Commission as a best practice &nbsp;in this field.

 
Innovation / Investigative Journalism

Ms Khadija Sharife has worked as a researcher, writer, and activist, focusing on anti-corruption efforts over the last 20 years. She helped creating and leading The Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), a legal NGO that supports African whistleblowers. 
As an investigative journalist, she has focused on exposing complex financial schemes in the developing world that affect the public interest. These schemes involve the use of intricate financial vehicles to steal billions of dollars, and she has also uncovered illicit kickbacks and bribery in countries such as Azerbaijan, Congo, and Zimbabwe.

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Safeguarding Sports from Corruption

Dr. Rodrigo Arias Grillo, is a champion of integrity, has dedicated over 14 years to combating corruption in the sports sector, holding key roles in The Spanish Professional Football League (LaLiga), The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), and Sportia Law. He has collaborated with major organizations like the International Olympic Committee, UNODC, and Interpol.&nbsp; 
Among his significant accomplishments are the creation of a global network of Integrity Officers spanning all 211 FIFA member associations, spearheading integrity initiatives for over 40 football associations across the globe, leading more than 20 integrity investigations, and launching a vibrant community platform designed for Integrity Officers to exchange best practices. Moreover, he led regional workshops during the 2019 FIFA Women&rsquo;s World Cup and drove national integrity initiatives in Latin American countries.

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Professor Ilias Bantekas&rsquo; extensive career as an academic and authority in sports law, international criminal law, and anti-corruption, with a focus on integrity and ethics over 25 years. 
His academic work includes numerous publications, including 250 peer-reviewed articles and 21 books on anti-corruption, human rights, and sports integrity, which have contributed to reforms in sports governance. 
Additionally, he has worked as a senior policy advisor for the governments of Greece and Montenegro, where he contributed to co-design Greece&#39;s National Sports Integrity System and served as a senior consultant on sports ethics in Montenegro. He has also supported civil society initiatives in Greece to raise awareness of anti-corruption among youth through community projects.

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Youth Creativity and Engagement

Mr. Gayo James Mpuya is a cartoonist best known for founding the &quot;Kingo&quot; cartoon strip and comic magazine in 1982. His work skillfully combines humor with serious commentary on contemporary issues, particularly anti-corruption, to raise awareness. 
Mr. Mpuya has collaborated on several impactful campaigns, including &ldquo;Kingo/Twaweza&rdquo; which expanded outreach by focusing on governance and accountability, and &ldquo;Taswira Yetu&rdquo; which produced Tanzania&#39;s first investigative TV series on public service accountability. Additionally, he launched the &ldquo;Say No to Corruption&rdquo; campaign and developed the &ldquo;Fight Corruption Through Art&rdquo; initiative, creating comic stories and radio plays in collaboration with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) in Tanzania.

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Mejor Mexico (Mexico) founded in 2016, Mejor M&eacute;xico is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a better future free from corruption in Mexico, with a focus on young adults (ages 18-29) as key agents of change. Through its &#39;ConversAcciones&#39; workshops, it has engaged over 4,000 participants across 24 states, to discuss corruption and develop community solutions.

Key projects include a comic strip on police bribery, an awareness campaign targeting parents, and various initiatives such as board games and social media campaigns. Notably, the &#39;Soborno Inconsciente&#39; project, created by students from Universidad Insurgentes, won second place in the International Finance Corporation&rsquo;s Innovation in Education and Employability Competition for addressing parental influence on children&#39;s attitudes toward corruption.

 
END OF PRESS RELEASE

His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani honour the winners of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award

19 December 2023 - Tashkent -&nbsp;The Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, an annual event organized under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center of Qatar in support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), today announced nine individuals or organizations as winners in the award&rsquo;s five categories.&nbsp;

This event marks the 7th iteration of this award, following ceremonies in Vienna, Geneva, Kuala Lumpur, Kigali, Tunis, and Doha. Since 2016, the Award has celebrated the work of 51 winners from 39 countries, with 14 from Africa, 14 from Europe, 8 from the Americas, 7 from Asia, 5 from the Middle East region, and 3 from Oceania. Of the winners since 2016, 17 have been entities, 12 have been women, and 22 have been men. &nbsp;

This year, the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award ceremony was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. To commemorate the Award, His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Representatives from UNODC and a number of visiting dignitaries unveiled a 12m statue outside the Tashkent City Congress Hall immediately prior to the ceremony. At the statue unveiling ceremony, His Highness the Amir of Qatar presented a certificate of appreciation to His Excellency Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in recognition of his commitment, and the commitment of the people of Uzbekistan, to the fight against corruption.

The winners of each category were awarded with a certificate and trophy in a ceremony attended by His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, His Excellency Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, alongside representatives from UNODC, distinguished ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, and visiting dignitaries. Over 1,200 people were in attendance during the ceremony held at Tashkent City Congress Hall.&nbsp;

On the margins of the Award ceremony was the First Meeting of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award Winners Network and the accompanying Integrity Champions Forum, held over two days with 6 high-level sessions.&nbsp;

This year&rsquo;s event was delivered with the support of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.&nbsp;

The International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is given to recipients according to five distinct categories, which are: Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement, Academic Research and Education, Youth Creativity and Engagement, Innovation / Investigative Journalism, and Safeguarding Sports from Corruption. Recognized in the 2023 International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award ceremony were:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Mr Jose Ugaz (Peru) - Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Dr Jon S.T. Quah (Singapore) - Academic Research and Education&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Dr Sunčana Roksandić (Croatia) - Academic Research and Education&nbsp;</li>
	<li>All 4 Integrity (Portugal) - Youth Creativity and Engagement</li>
	<li>Ms Damaris Aswa (Kenya) - Youth Creativity and Engagement</li>
	<li>Ms Clare Rewcastle-Brown (UK) - Innovation / Investigative Journalism</li>
	<li>Mr Phil Mason (UK) - Innovation / Investigative Journalism</li>
	<li>Mr Waihiga Mwaura (Kenya) - Safeguarding Sports from Corruption</li>
	<li>Mr Shantanu Guha Ray (India) - Safeguarding Sports from Corruption.</li>
</ul>

Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement

Mr. Jose Ugaz is a Peruvian criminal defense attorney who has served as ad-hoc State Attorney of Peru in several corruption cases, most notably the Fujimori-Montesinos case in 2000, one of the biggest corruption cases in Latin American history. In 14 months, Ugaz&rsquo;s office opened more than 200 separate cases against 1500 members of then-President Fujimori&rsquo;s crime network. As a result of these actions, all the leaders of this criminal organization were convicted, including Fujimori and the former head of the country&rsquo;s intelligence services, Vladimiro Montesinos. During his time as State Attorney of Peru, $205mn in assets were frozen abroad, and $75mn of stolen funds was successfully recovered.&nbsp;

In 2002, he became President of PROETICA, Transparency International&rsquo;s chapter in Peru, and later held positions on the boards of Transparency International and its chapters in Brazil and Ukraine. In 2011, he was elected chair of the International Board of Transparency International for the 2014.2017 period. Mr. Ugaz has also served as a member of the UN Peacekeeping Mission and the UN Election Observer Mission for El Salvador, and from 2004-2006, served at the World Bank&rsquo;s Institutional Integrity Office, the World Bank&rsquo;s anti-corruption unit.&nbsp; 
Mr. Ugaz is an international speaker and author of several books about corruption and has been nominated as an eminent practitioner by international lawyer rankings.

Academic Research and Education

Dr Jon S.T. Quah has been working in the field of anti-corruption since 1977. Before his retirement, he was Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, focusing on corruption and governance in Asian countries. &nbsp;He is the author of 120 publications related to the fight against corruption, the most well-known of which is his 2013 publication: Curbing Corruption in Asian countries: An Impossible Dream? His recommendations for an effective approach to anti-corruption call for a single completely independent anti-corruption agency and the cultivation of political will to fight corruption. This two-pronged approach is taught extensively across the world.&nbsp;

Dr Quah has been a consultant to the UN, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Macau Government, and the World Bank, among others.

Dr Sunčana Roksandić is an associate professor and Chief of the Department of Criminal Law, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb. Her research and teaching focuses on the study of organized corruption on national, transnational and international level, and she introduced the Economic Criminal Law and Transitional Justice course within her faculty. She is the winner of the annual award of the Society of University Teachers and Scientists of the University of Zagreb for the best young scientist in the field of social sciences, and recipient of the 2023 Acknowledgment of Appreciation of the Center for Forensic Examinations, Research and Expertise for her exceptional contribution to scientific cooperation aimed at combating crime in Croatia.&nbsp;

Dr Roksandic is a president of the Council for implementation of the Code of conduct of highest government officials in Croatia and a member of the GONG Council, an NGO focused on enhancing democratic processes and institutions. She is also a member of the International Chamber of Commerce Croatia - Special working group on anti-corruption.&nbsp;

Youth Creativity and Engagement

All 4 Integrity, an anti-corruption organization based in Portugal, is the creator of the first ever Anti-Corruption Literacy in Schools program, RED Escolas, for grades 7 to 12. This program, which started in Portugal, has been offered in Ireland, France, Brazil, China, Angola and Mozambique, and will soon be implemented in the US, Chile, and Argentina. To date, the RED Escolas programme has reached 8,900 students and 278 teachers in 126 schools. The success of this programme has led the Portuguese ministry of education and the National Anti-Corruption Authority of Portugal to invite All 4 Integrity to join several taskforces to help advance a culture of integrity in the country.&nbsp;

Alongside the REDEscolas programme, All 4 Integrity also organizes and delivers the Pr&eacute;mio T&aacute;gides, an anti-corruption award open to the Portuguese diaspora globally under the High Patronage of the President of Portugal, and the Tech4Integrity Initiative which promotes the mobilization of tech and data firms on issues of open data, transparency dashboards and advanced anti-corruption Artificial Intelligence tools. &nbsp;Their latest initiative, The Academy, is a network of scholars and professionals from around the country who customize hands-on anti-corruption and transparency trainings for the private sector to promote a culture of organizational integrity. &nbsp;

Ms Damaris Aswa is the founder of Youth 4 Integrity Building, an NGO that aims to bring young people together to amplify their voice against corruption. Through this organization, Ms Aswa empowers individuals and communities with the necessary tools to uphold integrity, democracy, and social justice at a local level. Ms Aswa is also a founding member and advisory committee member of Democracy Moves, a global movement for democracy led by young people with 250 active members. Furthermore, she currently serves as an Anti-Corruption Syndicate at Voice1 Africa. She has directly provided training on integrity issues for over 100 teachers, 500 integrity club members, and 1000 students in secondary schools across Kenya, and has developed an integrity handbook and student anti-corruption guidebook. She has also developed an anti-corruption app, IntegrityLink, which was released in 2023. &nbsp;

Innovation / Investigative Journalism

Ms Clare Rewcastle-Brown is one of the primary investigators who uncovered the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. The evidence she uncovered and publicized led to a number of high-profile prosecutions, including those of former prime minister Najib Razak and his accomplices. &nbsp;She is the founder of the Sarawak Report, an investigative website cataloguing and publicising corruption cases both in Malaysia and globally. Alongside her work related to 1MDB, her other expos&eacute;s have focused on the questionable links between politics and business in the UK, and the influence of wealthy individuals on political decision-making. &nbsp;Her current investigative series, London Laundromat, highlights the issue of money laundering through the financial system in London. &nbsp;

Ms Rewcastle-Brown&rsquo;s work has been recognized by Fortune Magazine, in which she was listed in 2016 as one of the World&rsquo;s 50 Most Influential Figures, while in 2018 she received the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners&rsquo; Guardian Award for International Fraud Reporting.

Mr Phil Mason was a UK Civil Servant for 35 years, where he spearheaded the anti-corruption work of the Department for International Development. He was one of the first anti-corruption experts to highlight the importance of anti-corruption measures not only in the country receiving international aid, but also in the country or organization delivering this aid. &nbsp;Under his guidance, the Department for Overseas Development established aid-funded UK law enforcement units to investigate and recover stolen assets in the UK originating from developing countries, as well as to pursue bribery by British companies in developing countries.&nbsp;

He was part of the negotiating team of UNCAC where he proposed the structure and content of the provisions on prevention, and he also headed the Department for International Development&rsquo;s overseas territory department as well as the anti-corruption team. He was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to the UK&rsquo;s international anti-corruption policy.&nbsp;

Safeguarding Sports from Corruption

Mr Waihiga Mwaura began his career as an investigative reporter in the sports arena, after which he moved to investigations related to public service and governance. &nbsp;He is the recipient of the 2021 Media Council Investigative Journalism award, the 2018 BBC Komla Dumor award, and the 2015 Mo Amin Award. In 2021, his investigative work contributed to the conviction of a Kenyan Sports Minister for corruption and mismanagement within his ministry.

His journalistic endeavours have uncovered a series of wrongdoings, including doping scandals, irregular athlete nationality transfers and misappropriation of sports funding by Kenyan officials during the Rio Olympics, where he also declined a substantial illegal payment. Additionally, he uncovered a corruption scandal amounting to 190 million Kenyan Shillings at a prominent Kenyan University in 2019. More recently he has dedicated his efforts to exposing the trafficking of African workers by unscrupulous agents to other countries.

Mr Shantanu Guha Ray is an Indian investigative journalist whose work has resulted some of India&rsquo;s most public expos&eacute;s. He uncovered and publicised massive corruption in the Indian Cricket Board related to spot fixing and match fixing in domestic and international cricket. He also wrote a book on this topic, Fixed: Cash and Corruption in Cricket.

Alongside investigations into sports corruption, Mr Guha Ray&rsquo;s other work has uncovered corruption in other fields, such as the mislabeling and export of blood diamonds from the mines of Angola and Botswana to diamond dealers in India. He also uncovered a programme of systematic corruption in the allocation of coal extraction contracts orchestrated by members of an Indian political party, which resulted in misappropriated government funds estimated at USD $10 billion. &nbsp;

END OF PRESS RELEASE

His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev honour the winners of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award

International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award recognizes 7 winners in 2022

08 December 2022 - The 6th Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, an annual event organized by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center of Qatar in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, today announced seven individuals and organizations from around the world as winners.&nbsp;

The International Anti-Corruption Excellence awards were held this year in Doha, Qatar. To commemorate the Award, His Highness the Amir and a number of visiting dignitaries unveiled a 14m tall version of the statue outside the Sheraton Hotel in Doha immediately prior to the ceremony.&nbsp;

This year, alongside the existing four categories the Award also introduced a new fifth category to be celebrated, titled &lsquo;Safeguarding Sports Against Corruption&rsquo;. Winners of this award will have either demonstrated a commitment to increasing awareness and knowledge of how corruption affects sports or will have made a significant impact in this field through their opposition and denouncement of the corrupt actors who seek to manipulate sports for their own illicit gain.&nbsp;

The winners of each category were awarded in a ceremony held in the Al Dafna Hall within the Sheraton Hotel in Doha. Recognized during the International Anti-Corruption Excellence awards were Mr John Githongo (Kenya) in the Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement category, Dr. Ernesto Savona (Italy) and Dr. Sope Williams-Elegbe (Nigeria and United Kingdom) in the Academic Research and Education category, Youth Against Corruption (Lebanon) and Koalisi Anti-Korupsi Indonesia (Indonesia) in the category of Youth Creativity and Engagement, Mr Hopewell Chin&rsquo;ono (Zimbabwe) in the category of Innovation and Investigative Journalism, and Dr Lisa A. Kihl (USA) in the new category of Safeguarding Sports From Corruption.&nbsp;

Mr John Githongo is a Kenyan journalist, activist, and anti-corruption fighter who has been working to shine a light on graft in the Kenyan government since 1995 when he began writing for the East African newspaper on corruption issues. &nbsp;In 1999 he was elected to the Global Board of Transparency International, a role he still maintains. In 2008 he founded the Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi trust, a grassroots advocacy group aimed at increasing the knowledge of the Kenyan public on issues related to corruption.&nbsp;

Among his many accomplishments, Mr Githongo is best known for his work in uncovering the Anglo Leasing corruption scandal, a scheme in which government contracts were awarded and paid to fictitious companies with the proceeds from the criminal activities being funneled back to prominent government officials. As a result of his reporting, the former president, vice president, justice minister, transport minister, and finance minister were all investigated for their roles in the scheme.&nbsp;

Due to the fallout of his reporting, Githongo was forced to flee Kenya after receiving death threats. He lived in exile in the United Kingdom until returning to Kenya in 2008 to continue his anti-corruption activism. Since then, he has worked with Kenyan citizens, particularly the younger generations, through his Trust to educate and empower them to fight against corruption.

Dr. Ernesto Savona, a recipient for his contributions to the field of corruption studies within the category of Academic Research and Education, is Professor of Criminology at Universit&agrave; Cattolica of Milan and University. He is the author of over 240 papers on transnational and economic crime, and since 1999 has served as the director of the NGO TransCrime. He is a consultant to the United Nations, the European Union and various national governments and the US Ministry of Justice and is a visiting scholar at Yale University and Oxford University. He is a member of the Criminological Council at the Council of Europe and the editor of a number of prestigious journals related to transnational crime.

Dr. Sope Williams-Elegbe is a Professor and Head of Department of Mercantile Law, and the deputy director of the African Procurement Law Unit, Stellenbosch University. She is an editor of the Journal of African Law (Cambridge University Press), the African Public Procurement Law Journal (Stellenbosch University) and the Global Legal Review (IWI). In 2014, she assisted the UN to draft the guidelines for open government in Africa, and in 2015 she was an EU/UNODC consultant to the Bureau of Public Procurement in Nigeria. She was nominated as an anti-corruption champion by UNODC in 2019 and by the Open Contracting Partnership in 2021. She is currently a member of Transparency International&rsquo;s Working Group on Debarment and Exclusion.&nbsp;

Youth Against Corruption (YAC) is a Lebanese NGO which aim to educate young Lebanese citizens on corruption issues. They organize events such as the YACathlon, a sports festival to spread the word about anti-corruption issues, and the YACathon, a national anti-corruption event which encourages young people to find solutions to various corruption issues. They also organize the YACcelerator, a programme which provides support and resources to help young people turn their ideas on how to tackle corruption into reality. YAC also maintains a database of anti-corruption resources related to energy, waste, health, jobs, and many other important issues in order to increase public awareness of how the government is spending public funds.&nbsp;

Koalisi Anti-Korupsi Indonesia (KAKI) is a platform for Indonesia&rsquo;s private sector to create, adopt, and spread anti-corruption and compliance policies. Companies must complete the 75-point checklist before becoming KAKI certified and once approved by the expert committee, the company is KAKI certified for 3 years. KAKI has over 30 member companies and combined member assets of over $126bn. The aim is to foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and integrity within Indonesian business practices to safeguard against corruption. &nbsp;

Mr. Hopewell Chin&rsquo;ono is a Zimbabwean journalist who has worked in both print and broadcasting journalism in Zimbabwe since 2003 and is now a documentary filmmaker and a fellow at Harvard University. He has been arrested twice for his journalism exposing government corruption and is currently awaiting trial for his latest arrest. In 2020 Chin&rsquo;ono reported on Covid-19 procurement fraud, which led to the arrest and sacking of Health Minister Obadiah Moyo. He is a popular voice on social media, sharing his anti-corruption reporting with over 500,000 followers.&nbsp;

Dr Lisa A Kihl is an associate professor of sport management at the University of Minnesota, USA. Her research focuses on corruption in sport, athletes&#39; roles in sport governance, corporate social responsibility, and leadership. She is the director of the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations and former president of the North American Society for Sports Management. She is the author of over 70 papers on sports corruption and management and a leading voice against corruption in global sport.

Over the past six years, the Award has honoured 42 winners, comprised of 16 entities, 9 women, and 17 men. These winners have come from 5 continents, with 12 winners from Africa, 10 from Europe, 7 from the Americas, 5 from Asia, and 3 from Oceania.

**Ends**

HIS HIGHNESS THE AMIR OF THE STATE OF QATAR SHEIKH TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL THANI HONOURS THE WINNERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION EXCELLENCE AWARD

09 December 2020 - The 5 th Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, an annual event organized by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center of Qatar in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and supported this year by the Presidency of the Republic of Tunisia and the National Anti-Corruption Commission of Tunisia, announced seven individuals and organizations from around the world as winners.

The International Anti-Corruption Excellence awards were held this year in Tunis, Tunisia, the first time these awards have been hosted in an Arab country. This is following similar events held in Vienna, Geneva, Kuala Lumpur and Kigali since 2016. Each previous event has been delivered in partnership with host governments, with a statue commemorating the award constructed in each

City to uphold the spirit of the awards into the future. This year His Excellency Dr Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, United Nations Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption and His Excellency Judge Imad Boukhreis, Head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission of Tunisia, unveiled a 12m tall version of the statue outside the Palais des Congr&egrave;s in Tunis immediately prior to the ceremony.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the winners of each category were awarded in-absentia, and appeared during the event via videolink. Further, His Excellency Mr Kais Saied, President of the Republic of Tunisia, as well as His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, Her Excellency Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, and His Excellency Mr. Alexander Zouev, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions spoke at the event via video message, while H.E. Dr Hatem Ali, Regional Representative of UNODC for GCC countries, His Excellency Dr Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri and His Excellency Judge Imad Boukhreis delivered their messages in-person.

Recognized during the International Anti-Corruption Excellence awards were the Perdana Leadership Foundation (Malaysia) in the Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement category, Dr. Adam Graycar (Australia) and Dr. Michael Levi (United Kingdom) in the Academic Research and Education category, ONG Tolotsoa (Madagascar) and the Center for the Study of Democracy (Bulgaria) in the category of Youth Creativity and Engagement, and Mr. Riad Kobaissi (Lebanon) and Instituto Observat&oacute;rio Pol&iacute;tico e Socioambiental (Brazil) in the category of Innovation.

THE PERDANA INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION CHAMPION FOUNDATION is a foundation established to preserve, research and disseminate information on the past Prime Ministers of Malaysia. The foundation&rsquo;s main aim is to increase awareness of Malaysia&rsquo;s intellectual heritage based on its belief that past leadership can provide important resources and insights for future development and to initiate greater understanding and co-operation through research and idea-sharing, while inspiring a positive change in the values of individuals and organizations throughout the world One of the achievements of the Perdana Foundation is the Perdana International Anti-Corruption Champions Fund, an initiative developed to assist honest public servants and their families across the world who have been the victims of corruption.

The fund, inaugurated by Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad, has assisted a number of individuals who have been targeted by corrupt individuals and &nbsp;criminal organizations because of their dedication to carrying out their roles with integrity and honesty.

Dr. Adam Graycar, a recipient for his contributions to the field of corruption studies within the category of Academic Research and Education, is the author of over 250 corruption-related scholarly publications. Alongside this, he is an editor of a number of prestigious academic journals, has two doctorates from the University of New South Wales, and is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. He also works closely with international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank and teaches specialist courses on corruption-related issues in leading universities in Asia, Europe, and North America.

His latest book, &lsquo;Understanding and Preventing Corruption&rsquo;, is a guide to the issues of public and private sector corruption, outlining the nature and dimensions of corruption problems and providing a set of practical strategies to prevent corruption and encourage growth.

Dr. Michael Levi has degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, Southampton and Cardiff Universities and has been Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University since 1991. He has been conducting international research on the control of fraud and organized crime, corruption and money laundering, and the financing of terrorism since 1972, and has conducted a wide range of studies on these, publishing widely on these subjects as well as editing major journals.

In addition to his academic post, he is a Senior Research Fellow at the Rand Europe and an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute. His pioneering research has led to his election to the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellowship of the Learned Society of Wales, and he is actively involved in global public policy involving business and crime. He is the current president of the United States National White-Collar Crime Research Consortium and has also recently collaborated with the IMF on the process of money laundering evaluation.

ONG Tolotsoa is an NGO from Madagascar, created in 2010, whose work focuses on the development, improvement, and promotion of democracy through the civic engagement of young people and students. The organization brings together volunteer students spread over seven towns in Madagascar. These young people carry out voluntary civic activities aimed at consolidating democracy and contributing to the development of Madagascar, and their work has quickly become one of the main levers of social and economic development in Madagascar. Through the activities of ONG Tolotsoa, young people can become aware of the importance of their contribution in the development of their country.

ONG Tolotsoa are also responsible for the creation of the anti-corruption educational board game iTsyCoolKoly. The game makes players aware of the different forms of corruption that exist in Madagascar, and the different penalties incurred by those who participate in corrupt activities. Additionally, because the game confronts players with real-world examples, it also encourages players to act with integrity in their everyday lives.

The Center for the Study of Democracy was founded in 1989 as a public policy institute that promotes the reform process in Europe through impact on policy and civil society. The organization&rsquo;s mission is to build bridges between scholars and policymakers, and it does so by engaging scholars to publish research related to countering corruption, good governance, crime and security, and civil society development.

Originally a think-tank, the Center for the Study of Democracy has evolved into a policy development organization focused on increasing transparency in Bulgaria and the wider European region. CSD has pioneered advancements in several areas traditionally perceived in Bulgaria as untouchable, such as anti-corruption institutional reform and national security. The effect of this is a new culture of cooperation and trust, in what has historically been an environment of fragmentation and opacity.

Mr. Riad Kobaissi, has been a media figure for over a decade in Lebanon. Long before Lebanese journalists embraced the culture of investigative journalism, Mr. Kobaissi was a pioneer in this field, who reshaped the media sphere in the region with his research and television reports about corruption in Lebanese administrations. His work lifting the cover on corruption and holding government figures to account in Lebanon has inspired young men and women in various fields, in particular journalism students, to fight for transparency and integrity in their country.

He does this by presenting state of the art, research-based content on television, exposing layers of corruption that have for years been hidden in various public institutions. His use of innovative journalistic methods have empowered a generation of Lebanese citizens to stand against oligarchs, politicians, security heads, and high-ranking officers, and to demand truth from their leaders and public servants.

Instituto Observat&oacute;rio Pol&iacute;tico e Socioambiental, created in 2018 in Brazil, assists civil society in the inspection of public spending, and empowers the people, groups, and organizations that are fighting for institutional reforms and public awareness. The institute uses innovative technology solutions to improve the monitoring of investigation processes, to establish detection networks, and to create partnerships between non-governmental organizations, universities, public authorities and other entities. The OPS Institute works to instill the belief in Brazilian citizens that being an active participant in social control is fundamental for Brazil to flourish and develop.

One way in which the institute uses innovative technology is through the ops.net.br inspection website which provides data in an accessible way to the public, along with guidance on how to use it. This access has empowered citizens to understand how public resources are used in the Brazilian National Congress, and also the ability to report irregularities. Additionally, OPS uses its voice through its New Voter Project, which uses technology to bring political awareness to the country&#39;s children and adolescents, teaching them the importance of choosing political candidates &ldquo;with a magnifying glass&rdquo;.

**Ends**

INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION EXCELLENCE AWARD RECOGNIZES 7 WINNERS IN 2020

The Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame honoured the winners of 4th edition of HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani InternationalAnti-Corruption Excellence Award in a ceremony at Kigali Convention Centre.

The Amir of Qatar and the Rwandan president honored Dr Maria Krambia-Kapardis from Cyprus and &nbsp;Dr Alban Koci from Albania who won in the Academic Research and Education Category, Jean Jacques Lumumba from the Democratic Republic of Congo and &nbsp;International Youth Musicians Association won the Youth Creativity and Engagement Category, Elnura Alkanova and SEMA won for their Innovative work and Kenneth Kaunda for the Lifetime Achievement award.

The United Nations Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center (ROLACC) HE Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri hailed the continued support of the Amir to the United Nations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

In a speech, Dr Marri said this support stems from the Amir&rsquo;s belief in the importance of the justice and the rule of law in building civilisations.

Dr Marri referred to the past civilisations, starting from the Greek civilisation, to the Roman civilisation, the Islamic civilisation and then the Renaissance of Europe which were all established on the basis of justice and the rule of law, noting that those civilisations ended only when they were unable to implement justice and respect the rule of law.

Dr Marri highlighted the prominent role carried out by Rwandan President Paul Kagame in transferring his country, within 15 years, from a country suffering from civil wars and famine to the eighth developing economy in the world.

Addressing the Rwandan President, Dr Marri added, &ldquo;You have fought corruption and so you have made a strong economy in which growth continues ... You have fought corruption and so you have been able to bring in a foreign investor looking for a state of law that preserves his rights from influential people. You have made the Rwandan miracle&rdquo;.

The award ceremony was attended by Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime John Brandolino, and a number of members of the Supreme Committee and the Advisory Council choosing the award winners and a number of international personalities.

H.E THE AMIR OF THE STATE OF QATAR, H. E RWANDAN PRESIDENT HONOR WINNERS OF ANTI-CORRUPTION AWARD

The Award is designed to showcase creative and outstanding achievements of anti-corruption projects from across the globe and publicly acknowledge these exceptional efforts. Ultimately, it acts as a tool to honour those who have shown dedication to tackling corruption, and use this to inspire others to replicate similar efforts.

THE SHEIKH TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL THANI INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION EXCELLENCE AWARDS HAS OPENED NOMINATIONS

Eight winners are recognised at the 3rd annual International Anti-Corruption Excellence Awards at the Putrajaya International Convention Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The award has been established to shine a light on the fight against corruption across the world.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 7th December 2018: Today in Malaysia, organizations, individuals and entities from Asia, North America, Africa, Oceania and Europe were recognised at the Third annual Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Award 2018. Held to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day on the 9th December, the winners were presented their award by His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar and Their Excellencies Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prime Minster of Malaysia along with the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Mr. Yury Fedotov, and the Attorney General of the State of Qatar Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al-Marri.

The annual award ceremony took place this year at the Putrajaya International Convention Center in Malaysia, and acknowledged the outstanding contributions towards the prevention of and the fight against corruption that are being made around the world. The winners from Liberia, Australia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, USA and Mexico were presented their Award in support of The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and its anti-corruption mandates, specifically, the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

Before the ceremony, a 12m high statue of an open hand, the symbol of the ACE Award and a representation of the transparency and openness required of governments around the world, was unveiled in Dataran Putra, opposite the Prime Minister&rsquo;s office. The unveiling was attended by HH The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad, as well as Mr. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Dr Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, Attorney General of the State of Qatar. After a long and thorough selection process, the High-Level Committee of the ACE Award, with recommendations from the Assessment and Advisory Board, chose eight recipients across four categories: Anti-Corruption Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement, Anti-Corruption Innovation, Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity and Engagement, and the Anti-Corruption Academic Research And Education.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in his speech during the award ceremony stated, &ldquo;It is about time for Malaysia to join the list of developed and capable countries. Let the world know that we are a strong nation that respects democracy and the rule of law.&rdquo; He continued, saying, &ldquo;this event, organized in Malaysia, is an important recognition by the international community of our efforts in combating corruption.&rdquo;

HE Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, UNODC Regional Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption and Attorney General of Qatar, stated during the ceremony that &ldquo;The war on corruption can be won only when those fighting believe that it can be won. The corrupt cannot fight corruption. The importance of [Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad&rsquo;s] work in Malaysia can be observed in his long history of fighting against corruption, which has helped to bring this country to its present position and economic strength.&rdquo;

In the Anti-Corruption Innovation category, PNG Phones Against Corruption (from the island state of Papua New Guinea) was recognised for its innovative mobile platform for reporting corruption. The text message service has resulted in over 6000 reports of corrupt activity. Since its launch on 15 August 2010, PNG Phones Against Corruption has been responsible for the opening of over 250 cases being investigated by the Papua New Guinea authorities, with five of those awaiting trial. The initiative is responsible for the arrest of two Papua New Guinea government bureaucrats for mismanagement of over $2m of official funds.

Sharing the Anti Corruption Innovation Award is Ghanaian Dr Roger Oppong Koranteng. Dr Koranteng is the Lead Trainer and Governance and Anti-Corruption Adviser for the Africa Commonwealth Secretariat, and has used his position to bring together the heads of African Anti-Corruption offices to peer-review anti-corruption initiatives, set performance benchmarks and exchange best practices. A bilateral information-sharing agreement between Ghana and Nigeria is a direct result of the work spearheaded by Dr Koranteng. He has responsibility for governance, anti-corruption, democratic and oversight institutions in all the 52 commonwealth countries.

This year there are two shared winners in the Anti-Corruption Academic Research And Education category, the first of whom is Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey from the republic of Liberia. In the fight against corruption, it is vital to begin educating the next generation of citizens as early as possible. This was the aim of Dr Pailey, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford, when she wrote her children&rsquo;s books Gbagba and Jaadeh. The books introduce children to the effects of corruption on everyday life, and have been made into short films, and even songs. Dr Pailey has spoken at a number of prestigious events on the subject of corruption, including a 2016 TED talk on Corruption in Africa, as well as at a number of conferences and seminars across the world.

The second awardee in this category is Professor Jason Sharman, holder of the Sir Patrick Sheehy professorship in International Relations at the University of Cambridge. Before joining the University of Cambridge, Professor Sharman received his Undergraduate degree from the University of Western Australia, followed by a PhD from the University of Illinois, and has worked at the University of Brisbane and Griffith University in Australia. His work includes investigations into the corrupt practices used by despots to hide illicit funds, alongside in-depth studies on money laundering and asset recovery. His publications have been reviewed by the Economist, the Financial Times and the Australian Institute of International Affairs, among others.

The first awardee for the Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity And Engagement category, Fernanda Angelica Flores Aguirre, is a Mexican community activist who epitomises battling corruption from its inception; her first introduction to community action was at home, when she participated in the Lions Club of Mexicali at the age of six in the program that her grandfather and her parents headed, called &quot;Receive the Gift of Sight.&rdquo; Through this, they provided eye examinations, lenses and even sight operations to people of limited resources throughout Mexico.

From these beginnings, Ms Aguirre has expanded her community outreach, working in fields as varied as voter registration and motivation, gender equality in politics, and youth programmes designed to give voice to the younger generation. She is currently finishing an MBA in order to further improve the effectiveness of her anti-corruption programmes.

The second award in the category of Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity and Education is the organisation Accountability Lab, an organisation based in Washington DC with the aim to promote fairness and accountability in as many countries as it can reach. They run an &lsquo;Accountability Incubator&rsquo;, a flagship program for young civil society leaders that invites them to build sustainable, effective tools for accountability, participation and social impact in their societies, as well as Integrity Idol, a global campaign run by citizens in search of honest government officials, as well as the Integrity Fellowship, a month-long fellowship where the fellows are given opportunities to work with and learn from exemplary civil and public servants.

The final award was conferred upon two winners in the category of Anti-Corruption Lifetime Achievement. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is a Nigerian Civil Servant who argues for actions instead of words as the only way to end corruption. His actions focus on his home country of Nigeria, and the corruption that has robbed the state of huge sums of money while stagnating development. He cites improving the foundations of leadership, institutions and individuals as the key requirements for anti-corruption success in any nation, saying &ldquo;If things are not done in the right way, cutting corners will always continue.&rdquo; His fearless work has resulted in the prosecution of a number of prominent politicians.

The second winner of this prestigious category is Mr. Leonard Frank McCarthy. There are perhaps only a handful of people who can be credited with shaping the global economy, and Mr. Leonard Frank McCarthy is one of them. As Vice-president of the World Bank, he has spearheaded initiatives designed to increase the organization&rsquo;s ability to address fraud and corruption. Under his leadership, integrity due-diligence has become a standard of World Bank investigations, and under his guidance the World Bank Preventative Services Unit was created, to ensure that potential corruption could be stopped before it had even begun.

&ldquo;The fight against corruption is not something that can be accomplished in just one day,&rdquo; commented Eduardo Vetere, Vice President of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, during the press conference after the award. He continued; &ldquo;It is a slow, day by day process in which not only government officials but the entire public have to cooperate and collaborate.&rdquo;

Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohammed, Director of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti- Corruption (GIACC) spoke about the progress made by Malaysia under the present government in tackling corruption. &ldquo;The government of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken great steps towards improving elements such as accountability, efficiency and transparency, instilling a comprehensive approach to fighting corruption within Malaysia.

To celebrate the Award and International Anti-Corruption Day, a twelve-meter sculpture by Ahmed Al Bahrani, a contemporary Iraqi artist and sculptor, was unveiled outside the Prime Ministers office in Datarang Putra. The sculpture serves as a bold visual statement against the battle against corruption.

Delivering the same strong message as the previous two awards in Vienna and Geneva, the steel composition of a raised hand signifies the international communities&rsquo; efforts to combat corruption and the unwavering strength and resolve of those presently engaged in this fight. The interlinked lines represent a globalised world, united in the fight against corruption, while the see-through construction symbolizes the importance of transparency. The small triangles that intertwine throughout the statue represent each of the countries around the world and how by coming together, positive changes can be made.

HE Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, UNODC Regional Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption, announced the establishment of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani the Emir of the State of Qatar, at the 8th Annual Conference of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) in November 2015 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Awards are open to submissions from around the world, submitted by third party entities to nominate any organisations, groups and persons of any nationality who demonstrated significant commitment and contributions toward the prevention and control of corruption. The evaluation process was initiated by a call for nominations, which were then submitted through an on-line nomination process.

- ENDS -

GLOBAL ANTI-CORRUPTION HEROES CELEBRATED AT INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION EXCELLENCE AWARD

The Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Awards has opened nominations for its third edition, welcoming submissions from all around the world to nominate organizations, groups and individuals of any nationality, demonstrating a significant commitment and contribution toward the prevention and control of corruption. Commitment and contribution toward the prevention and control of corruption.

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN TO RECOGNISE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION HEROES.

Geneva, Switzerland&ndash; December 8, 2017: &nbsp;Today in Geneva, organisations, individuals and entities from Asia, North America and Europe, were recognised at the International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Award 2017. To coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day, the winners were presented their award by His Highness Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, The Special Representative of the Emir of the State of Qatar and Their Excellencies Mr. Michael M&oslash;ller, the Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva and The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director, Mr. Yury Fedotov. &nbsp;

The annual Award ceremony took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) and acknowledged outstanding contributions towards the prevention of and the fight against corruption around the world. The winners from China, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, the USA and India were presented their Award in support of The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and its anti-corruption mandates, specifically, the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).&nbsp;

Mr. Michael M&oslash;ller, the Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva said: &ldquo;We have set ourselves a goal to transform the world within the span of a single generation through the 2030 Agenda. In the 21st century corruption simply has no place. Today&rsquo;s awards are part of our journey to create this world.&rdquo;

&nbsp;&ldquo;Like a powerful tsunami, corruption&rsquo;s effect spills out into vulnerable societies, harming people and communities,&rdquo; commented UNODC Executive Director Mr. Yury Fedotov during his speech at the Awards ceremony. He continued; &ldquo;Corruption is the great facilitator of other crimes. It enables virtually every form of transnational organised crime: from drug trafficking to human trafficking, and from migrant smuggling to wildlife and forest crime.&rdquo;

After a long and thorough selection process, the High-Level Award Committee with recommendation from the Assessment Advisory Board, chose six recipients across four categories, including: Anti-Corruption Lifetime / Outstanding Achievement, Anti-Corruption Innovation, Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity and Engagement, and the Anti-Corruption Academic Research And Education.

In the Anti-Corruption Innovation category, I Paid A Bribe from India was recognised for their innovative online platform in reporting corruption; the site is now the largest crowd-sourced anti-corruption platform in the world. Since its launch on 15 August 2010, I Paid A Bribe (IPAB) has received around 15 million visits, recorded over 36,000 bribes amounting to approximately $430 million USD, from over 1,000 cities and towns. It has also been implemented across Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and North America to an additional 30 countries, with three more countries in the process of launching their own IPAB sites. &nbsp;

Two shared accolades in the Anti-Corruption Academic Research And Education category. Professor Xiumei Wang of the People&rsquo;s Republic of China, has played a pivotal role in creating, directing and promoting anti-corruption practices and protocols in her role both as an academic and government advocate. She was the first person in China to get a doctorate in international criminal law, the first to create a cooperation between a Chinese university and the UN focusing on anti-corruption, and is recognised today for her strong research background and applied experience.&nbsp;

The second awardee in this category is Professor Thomas H. Speedy Rice from the USA; he has made significant contributions to the growth of knowledge in anti-corruption through education-related work. Rice has been actively engaged in the educational efforts of the UNCAC through the UNODC Anti-Corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD) and been a principle coordinator of global educational workshops.

The award for Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity And Engagement epitomises battling corruption from its inception; SPAK, I am a Woman Against Corruption received its Award, an Indonesian Anti-Corruption Movement. Acting as a positive platform for enabling changes in perception and practices, the movement focuses on promoting anti-corruption through a family-based approach, training more than 1,300 agents to strengthen and raise public awareness. At the centre of all SPAK&rsquo;s outreach are nine core values; honesty, fairness, cooperation, independence, discipline, responsibility, persistence, courage, and caring. These are translated into various forms of tools, including games, that help the SPAK Agents share their knowledge to drive change in an easy and fun way.

The final award was conferred upon two winners in the category of Anti-Corruption Lifetime Achievement. First Professor Gherardo Colombo from Italy for his dedication and contributions to anti-corruption for more than forty years. Professor Colombo has advocated anti-corruption from his role as a magistrate opposing corruption and white collars crimes, then as an educator for young people, teaching to respect the law and rules, to protecting the rights and the dignity of the people, and helping to instilling personal responsibility.

The second winner is Professor Muhyieddeen Touq, who has devoted his professional career to politics, diplomacy and governance matters. His legacy will be remembered for his role in chairing the ad-hoc committee for the negotiation of UNCAC that led to its ratification by 183 countries. The UNCAC is the only comprehensive globally binding anti-corruption convention and its robust review of implementation mechanism now covers all State Parties to the Convention. The UNCAC implementation is a benchmark to governments&rsquo; commitment to fight corruption across the world.

HE Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, UNODC Regional Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption, said: &quot;Switzerland is one of the key countries that supports human rights, cares about humanitarian issues and fights racism. This is why we&#39;ve chosen Geneva to host this year&#39;s ceremony.&quot; Dr. Ali concluded his speech by thanking the guests and announcing the winners and presenting the Awards to them.

To celebrate the Awards and International Anti-Corruption Day, a commissioned five meter sculpture by Ahmed Al Bahrani, a contemporary Iraqi artist and sculptor, was unveiled at the Place des Nations in front of the UNOG, serving as a bold visual statement against the battle against corruption. Delivering the same strong message as the inaugural Award in Vienna last year, the steel composition of a raised hand signifies the international communities&rsquo; efforts to combat corruption and the unwavering strength and resolve of those presently engaged in this fight. The interlinked lines represent a globalised world, united in the fight against corruption and the see-through construction, denotes the importance of transparency. The small triangles that intertwine throughout the statue also represent each the countries around the world and how by coming together, we can make positive change.&nbsp;

The International ACE Award was established by The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center (ROLACC Doha). HE Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri, UNODC Regional Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption, announced its establishment, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, The Emir of the State of Qatar, at the 8th Annual Conference of International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) in November 2015 in St. Petersburg, Russia.&nbsp;

The Award was open to submissions from around the world, submitted by third party entities to nominate any organisations, groups and persons of any nationality, demonstrating significant commitment and contributions toward the prevention and control of corruption. The evaluation process was initiated by a call for nominations, which were then submitted through an on-line nomination process.

- ENDS -&nbsp;

NEWS