The Citizen’s Advocacy Office and Transparency International Join Forces to Fight Corruption
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| Anti-corruption poster by the Citizens Advocay Office |
Anti-corruption poster by the Citizens Advocay Office
It is the first time Transparency International has signed an agreement with a non-governmental organization in Albania. Its experience in raising global awareness of corruption, implementing political reform and working with civil society organizations will elevate CAO’s role in reducing corruption and making the government pay more attention to what civil society is demanding.
“Take all of the weapons in the TI arsenal and combine them with CAO’s unique knowledge of the battle field conditions in Albania, and you have an effective corruption – fighting machine,” says Harry Birnholz, USAID/Albania Mission Director. “It will be an even stronger watchdog with international resources and stature.”
The Civil Advocacy Office was founded in 2001 with a combination of financial and technical support from the U.S. government. It has expanded from its original awareness-raising mandate to taking on the job as an ombudsman for grievances about government accountability and later, as a monitor for government compliance with laws aimed at reducing corruption. Together with thousands of Albanians the CAO has protested against increased telephone and electricity rates, a proposal to bring garbage from a neighboring EU country to Albanian soil, and corruption in the justice system. They have denounced and succeeded in getting the dismissal of high judges on corruption charges, arrest of well-known traffickers in persons, and brought before the court political parties which are not publicly disclosing their financial resources according to the law.
In TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2004, Albania scored 2.5 against a clean score of 10, ranking 108th out of 146 countries surveyed. The score has not improved since 2002 when Albania was first included in the index.
“In Albania we face an alarming situation, where corruption infects institutions, political parties and the entire society. It is destroying the hopes of Albanians,” says Kreshnik Spahiu, Executive Director of CAO. In cooperation with other organisations, the CAO will multiply efforts to raise awareness among the people of Albania and to create and strengthen public oversight mechanisms that promote transparency and integrity in the public and private sector.
“Corruption is an obstacle to economic development in Albania, as it is in the rest of Southeast Europe,” adds Miklos Marschall, Director of TI’s Europe and Central Asia Department. “By working with a strong local NGO, TI will be able to contribute to anti-corruption efforts at the national level, and to take advantage of the opportunities to reform anti-corruption standards presented by the EU accession processes in the region.”
USAID’s Rule of Law program is helping to build efficient and transparent governments that are closely watched by its citizens. The recent successes of civil society organizations are a positive sign that democracy is evolving in Albania. The fight against corruption is proving to be winnable through aggressive citizen oversight and links with the international community.
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