Strengthening Regional Mechanisms for Combating Corruption and Impunity

The project aims to strengthen regional coordination in combating corruption and impunity of public officials through support to whistleblowers, legal assistance to citizens, legislative advocacy, and promotion of positive whistleblowing stories.

The project has a regional approach and will be implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, by chapters/partners of Transparency International in the region. TI BiH will be in charge of overall management and coordination, while all partners will implement individual country-based and regional activities.

Project Activities:

With Endowment support, Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TIBiH) and its partners will:

• Provide safe online and offline channels for citizens, including whistleblowers, to report corruption cases, receive advice on how to safely report corruption, as well as ensure protection of their rights in their actions towards public institutions.

• Raise awareness on citizens’ rights and channels for reporting corruption. Partners will undertake promotional activities informing citizens on their rights and how to report and seek legal assistance. This will include production of online and offline materials distributed across a variety of channels, with greatest focus on social media to reach the most citizens and target youth. Promotional materials will focus on showcasing types of corruption affecting citizens, its consequences, their role in reporting and, as much as possible, previous positive examples of citizen impact in reporting corruption. Partners will aim to reach an aggregate of two million citizens across all countries.

• Offer legal advice and assistance to witnesses and victims of corruption, including whistleblowers. The partners will provide legal assistance to whistleblowers in seeking protection or fulfilling their rights towards institutions, and/or act towards relevant institutions to act on citizen/whistleblower reports. Partners will follow each case to its conclusion and monitor the response of institutions to ensure that they take the necessary steps in each case.

• Publish a regional report on whistleblower protection practices in target countries with recommendations to fill existing gaps. Partners will distribute the key findings and recommendations of the regional report not only to national decision-makers, but to international bodies as well including the EU, Council of Europe/GRECO, OSCE/ODIHR, UN rapporteurs etc.

• Conduct strategic advocacy to improve the legal framework on whistleblower protection, access to information and anti-corruption. Partners will analyze gaps in legislation, draft proposals and trigger policy reforms by building coalitions with other NGOs and issue statements, press releases and reports to public institutions and the legislative. Each partner will tailor its advocacy approach to the country’s needs, gaps and institutional setup. This includes policy briefs, public advocacy campaigns, meetings with stakeholders etc.

• Conduct a public outreach campaign to reclaim narratives surrounding whistleblowers, who are often cast in a negative light. As such, partners will produce and promote at least one human interest story per country in graphic or video format with testimonials of whistleblowers or citizens reporting corruption to ALACs, their experiences, challenges and ultimate impact. Partners will also produce a regional video showcasing third-person testimonials from each country, through the engagement of prominent individuals who will discuss the importance of protecting those who report corruption.

• Maintain and strengthen an existing regional exchange platform through organization of at least five thematic workshops and monthly webinars among project partners to share best practices, mechanisms and tools used to advocate and promote the projects as well as share strategies in combating corruption.

The project has a regional approach and will be implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, by chapters/partners of Transparency International in the region. TI BiH will be in charge of overall management and coordination, while all partners will implement individual country-based and regional activities.