NWC Advocates for Increased International Whistleblower Protection

On February 6, 2014, National Whistleblower Center Executive Director, Stephen Kohn, was a guest panelist at a forum regarding "Accountability in Government" held by the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Representatives of 19 countries including, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jordan, Latvia, Lesotho, Macedonia, Nigeria, Slovakia, Tanzania, and Venezuela attended the program.

Mr. Kohn’s presentation,"Whistleblower Protection: Key To Transparency and Accountability" is linked here. In his presentation, Mr. Kohn stressed the need for increased international whistleblower protections and how NGOs and citizens of foreign countries can use the new protections created under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to battle corruption.

Mr. Kohn stated, "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enhances the ability of citizens and NGOs to prevent bribery of government officials." He also urged the representatives to carefully review Chapters 6, 7, 8 and checklist 7 in The Whistleblower’s Handbook for potential international application.