This coming Sunday, December 9, the United Nations and anti-corruption organizations around the world will celebrate International Anti-Corruption Day. The joint global campaign, “United Against Corruption,” focuses on how corruption impacts rich and poor countries alike and must be addressed through a unified international approach.
The National Whistleblower Center (NWC), the leading NGO for whistleblower advocacy, frequently works with anti-corruption activists and dedicated governments officials worldwide to help build effective anti-corruption programs as part of its outreach to international whistleblowers.
As part of International Anti-Corruption Day 2018, NWC’s Executive Director, Stephen M. Kohn, will present the keynote address at the International Annual Conference on Integrity, December 6 in Lima, Peru. His address “Trends in preventing corruption: The value of whistleblowing,” will explore issues of fraud in public contracts, governmental and corporate responsibility, among others.
“Whistleblower reward laws are the linchpin of a successful anti-corruption movement. Any country which wants to protect public integrity will look to the U.S. anti-bribery laws and enact whistleblower reward law best practices,” said Kohn who is also a founding partner in the top qui tam whistleblower attorney at the law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP.
Another key anti-corruption event this year is the celebration of Korea’s first Whistleblower Day scheduled to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day. The event, hosted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) of Korea, will recognize the importance of whistleblowers in anti-corruption efforts. NWC President Michael D. Kohn, who participated in the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Symposium in 2009, was asked to address the Whistleblower Day attendees in Korea via video. Kohn’s video message will be shared with the Korean people and participants in a weeklong celebration. The link will be made available once the video has been made public.
“Whistleblowers represent the single most powerful anti-fraud and anti-corruption tool on the planet,” said M. Kohn. He also noted in his address that, “All of the key recommendations I presented [in 2009] are incorporated into the Korean whistleblower protection system. They include confidentiality, guaranteed employment, and monetary rewards paid to whistleblowers.”
Anti-corruption efforts rely on those with information bravely stepping forward to appropriate law enforcement authorities. As a result, protecting and incentivizing whistleblowers lies at the core of all anti-corruption campaigns.
Learn more about international whistleblower protections:
International Whistleblower Toolkit
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About National Whistleblower Center
Founded in 1988, the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) is a U.S.-based non-profit, non-partisan legal advocacy organization that fights to strengthen whistleblower rights and protections in the U.S. and around the world. The NWC often works with anti-corruption activist and dedicated governments officials worldwide to help build effective anti-corruption programs as part of its global outreach to international whistleblowers. More information can be found at www.whistleblowers.org |
