This week, the international whistleblower protection crisis took center stage at the 11th Conference of the States Parties (CoSP 11) to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The National Whistleblower Center’s (NWC) International Liaison, Kate Reeves, delivered a speech at the 6th plenary session calling on state parties to amend longstanding weaknesses in whistleblower protections.
NWC outlined two major issues with the current system: 1. Whistleblowers are not protected from the start and must endure reprisal before relief; 2. There is no enforcement mechanism requiring states to investigate whistleblower tips. Currently, whistleblower remedies are executed only as a “retroactive, rather than a preemptive strategy,” forcing those brave enough to report corruption to suffer harsh retaliation before receiving any relief. Even if that relief is granted, whistleblowers often face years-long cases with minimal resolution to the concerns they raised. UNCAC does not formally recognize any enforcement mechanism that requires state parties to act on whistleblower tips.
“The company is not investigated or put under trial for the wrongdoing the whistleblower reported. In this perverse system, it is the whistleblower who is put on trial,” Reeves stated.
The UN’s treatment of whistleblowing as labor disputes results in the neglect of one of the most effective anti-corruption strategies: informed insiders. To leverage insider knowledge and protect whistleblowers, Reeves urged states to implement “The Three I’s”: incentivization, identity protections, and investigations that lead to enforcement. This method has been proven effective by US whistleblower laws like the Dodd-Frank Act and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which have collected sanctions on otherwise undetectable transnational crimes and delivered the largest whistleblower awards in history. By offering confidentiality and potential awards for tips that lead to sanctions, whistleblowers are empowered from victims into powerful tools in the fight against corruption.
Reeves concluded with calling on states to fulfill their commitment to the mandates of the UNCAC: “The National Whistleblower Center urges that this sentiment be formally recognized in future CoSPs, and we welcome collaboration with states interested in championing this cause.”
As CoSP 11 came to a close, the debate highlighted a growing divide between the UN’s anti-corruption commitments and the protections actually afforded to whistleblowers. The National Whistleblower Center’s proposals—calling for enforceable protections, confidentiality, incentives, and mandatory investigations—offered a concrete roadmap for closing that gap. Whether state parties choose to embrace these reforms may determine whether whistleblowing is treated as a central pillar of global anti-corruption enforcement or remains a practice that leaves those who come forward bearing the greatest risks while corruption goes unchecked.
A video of Reeves’ full plenary remarks is available to watch online.
