Advocacy in a sensitive location in Asia: Furthering anti-corruption work

Not only does government corruption erode public confidence in their government officials, research by the International Monetary Fund finds that corruption costs the world $1 trillion USD in GDP annually. 

You can download this case study from the panel below. To continue reading it on this page, scroll or swipe down.

In a sensitive location in Asia, a Tearfund partner has been building relationships with key government officials for many years in order to address issues of corruption within the government. The Tearfund partner particularly raised awareness about this issue with two national parliamentarians and went on to create a local chapter of the Global Organisation for Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC). The local chapter established a campaign amongst their fellow parliamentarians to end corruption in the government.

To strengthen their campaign by increasing the parliamentarians’ understanding of key processes in anti-corruption and meet with peers from other governments pursuing a similar agenda, the Tearfund partner and local chapter of parliamentarians, attended the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) conference. At this conference, there were many relevant and useful sessions, including a presentation about an initiative to improve national government procurement processes and transparency in contracting from the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP).

Afterwards, the parliamentarians who Tearfund’s partner worked with were promoted to more prominent positions in the national government. The parliamentarians’ increased power and interest in correct procurement processes to prevent corruption, allowed Tearfund’s partner the opportunity to pursue a research project on the national assessment of readiness for procurement and contracting reform. Tearfund’s partner successfully presented the findings of their research about the need for procurement systematisation in this Asian country to the national government’s Commission for Legal Affairs and Special Issues. The partner’s recommendations were welcomed by the government and implemented into government practice. The government’s openness to Tearfund’s partner was due in part to their good relationships with key government officials and convening space for learning for themselves and the parliamentarians through the local chapter of GOPAC at the UNCAC conference. Tearfund’s partner continues to strategically grow its network with key government officials to advance the role of faith-based groups in social and economic justice work.

This short case study, on the theme of corruption, illustrated the impact of using the following advocacy approaches:

• Building relationships
• Government officials: educating
• Government officials: meeting with
• Government officials: lobbying
• Research and analysis

Case studies can be used alongside the Advocacy toolkit, giving practical examples of the approaches it sets out.