Full Coverage: Corruption & transparency

30.04.2008 Transparency International’s new report calls on leading oil and gas companies for greater transparency in payments made to governments of resource-rich countries. Host governments need to enforce and enact regulations for an equitable exploitation of their oil and gas wealth to help fight poverty, the report adds.

28.03.2008 Zambia has been forced to reallocate resources intended for poverty alleviation to pay a "vulture fund," a company that scammed the impoverished nation to make millions off its cancellation of a 1999 debt, writes an organization promoting African development.

24.03.2008 Tata Consultancy Services has designed a special software to prevent the misuse of funds meant for rural poor under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Over Rs 10 million have been recovered from local politicians and government officials in a village in southern India through the online system.

14.03.2008 The Right to Information Act represents a historic breakthrough in promoting transparency in governance in India. Three years down the line amidst the success stories, there are failures as well. Transparency Review by the Centre for Media Studies highlights the lacunae in the Act and suggests ways to make it more effective.

30.01.2008 UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (OneWorld) - Hundreds of international officials, business leaders, and civil society activists have gathered in Indonesia this week for a major UN conference on corruption. At the same time, a week-long period of mourning began in the country to honor a political leader deemed to be one of the most corrupt in world history.

07.01.2008 UNITED NATIONS, Jan 7 (OneWorld) - Amid fears that ongoing violence could take many more human lives in Kenya, rights activists are calling for the government in Nairobi to allow an independent investigation of the presidential poll results.

27.11.2007 A group of women is fighting social ills in Banda, one of the poorest, caste-ridden and chauvinistic societies in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Dressed in pink saris, these women fear not to wield sticks on the corrupt when need be.

01.11.2007 Bangladesh's emergency government has stepped up its efforts to cleanse its politics of corruption. Special anti-corruption taskforces have been set up all over the country, with more in line.

27.10.2007 A small Indian village in the western state of Gujarat discovers the power of the Right to Information (RTI). After four years of complaints on the lack of health care services, a few straight questions to the Public Information Officer make things move.

22.10.2007 WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (OneWorld) - A Colombian senator pushing for justice and peace has been honored in the United States for his human rights activism, accepting a prestigious award alongside co-honorees from the United States challenging the war in Iraq and Washington, DC's "taxation without representation."

19.10.2007 As the Indian state of Orissa reels under poverty and chronic hunger, five billion Indian rupees from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme have been siphoned off by corrupt state officials. Parshuram Rai, Director, Centre for Environment and Food Security, exposes the rot in the state bureaucracy.

08.10.2007 Monien muiden valtioiden ohella myös Pakistan on implementoinut useita informaatiojärjestelmiä paikallishallintojen seurantaan ja tukemiseen. Hankkeen puhemiehen Daniyal Azizin mukaan järjestelmä on tehokas työkalu hyvän hallinnon edistämiseen sekä tiedon hankkimiseen paikallishallintojen toiminnasta.

22.08.2007 Rural Development Policy Institute and the Practical Action South Asia have hosted a panel discussion on “Disaster Watch” in Pakistan. The speakers stated that the dismal state of governance in Pakistan was largely due to the lack of freedom of information and stressed on the timely access to reliable and authentic information for good governance.

10.08.2007 An Indian government organization - The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) – has recently completed a research which finds that almost 86 per cent of India’s working population lives on less than Rs 20 per day and do not have access to a social cover.

08.08.2007 A new report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) shows that the poor in Asia are lagging behind in development. The rich are growing richer faster than the poor which is also threatening the growth process in one of the most dynamic region's of the world.

17.07.2007 A report on the realization of MDGs in the state of Orissa was released on the halfway date, 07.07.07, at Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. The document has been compiled by the ‘Katha Rakhibaa Sarakar’ (KRS) Campaign and takes stock of the achievements in the first half of the MDG deadline while also setting an agenda for the remaining time.

12.07.2007 UNITED NATIONS, Jul 12 (OneWorld) - When the world's poor nations ask for more foreign aid for development, the rich ones often tell them to ensure good governance first. But the findings of a new study by the World Bank Institute indicate that denying the development needs of poor countries on the grounds of "bad governance" may no longer be valid in many cases.

05.07.2007 ActionAid has criticised UN’s Global Compact for failing to stop corporate human rights violations. Its call for legally binding rules to control corporate activities comes at the eve of the global UN summit on corporate responsibility in Geneva on 5-6 July.

29.05.2007 Transparency International's recent global survey on corruption in judicial systems says 77% Indians believe the judiciary is corrupt. Widespread bribery and denial of fair and impartial trials have heightened people's perception of corruption.

25.05.2007 A recent People’s Report of the UPA, India’s ruling alliance, claims the government has fallen short on its promises to the people. The report has been released by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, the Indian chapter of Global Call for Action Against Poverty.