The future is looking bright for Collective Action as our community and Collective Action Mentoring Programme continues to grow. The programme provides free hands-on support for organisations working with the private sector on corruption issues. Programme leaders Scarlet Wannenwetsch and Liza Young look back on the first year and reflect on what we – not just our mentees! – have learned.

We look back on a successful year of building the programme and fruitful exchange with our mentees. Both have exceeded our expectations and highlighted once again the importance of building a strong community of like-minded organisations that can help advance the use of Collective Action to address business integrity challenges.

2023: a year of growth

In 2023 we are excited to see the programme expand as we welcome five new organisations to the group. We look forward to supporting and collaborating with:

• CoST Infrastructure Transparency Initiative chapter in Malawi
• Fight Against Facilitation Payments Initiative (FAFPI)
• Alliance Nationale des Consommateurs et de l’Environnement (ANCE Togo)
• Transparency International Mauritius (TIM)
• Transparency International Sri Lanka

We also look forward to the new perspectives and approaches these organisations will bring to our quarterly Collective Action community discussions and meetings.

Stronger together in the fight against corruption

The key takeaway of the programme's first year has been the need to create more dedicated spaces and opportunities for Collective Action practitioners to exchange and learn from one another.

Initially, the programme was designed to provide one-on-one tailored mentoring for individual organisations. It soon expanded to enable regular exchange between the mentees, which includes via a dedicated and secure online portal to allow mentees to exchange working documents, tools and other relevant information.

This expansion in the scope of the mentoring programme responds to the mentees’ call for more opportunities for engagement during the first in-person mentees' workshop. The workshop took place in Basel, Switzerland, in July 2022, on the margins of our International Collective Action Conference.

Building bridges and facilitating synergies

Shortly after the first in-person meeting, we received a message and picture from two of our mentees who met along the Abidjan waterfront in the Ivory Coast to exchange on their respective projects in the country.

Noah Arshinoff from the Canadian Centre of Excellence for Anti-Corruption (CCEAC) met with Aman Baptiste Ado from the Réseau Ivoirien des Jeunes Leaders pour l'Intégrité (RIJLI). They quickly realised they were working with the same partner on different anti-corruption Collective Action projects. This conversation also allowed Noah and Aman to discuss their respective approaches to working with small and medium enterprises in the Ivory Coast, paving the way for potential collaboration in the future. 

Looking ahead

We look forward to more stories and examples of collaboration in the coming year. We also want to thank all of our Collective Action mentees for their active engagement and openness to share and help build this community. We look forward to continuing to build together in 2023 and the years to come. 

Want to find out more about our Collective Action Mentoring Programme? Find it on the B20 Collective Action Hub, our platform for information and engagement on anti-corruption Collective Action.

Keen to keep up with our Collective Action community? Subscribe to the Collective Action quarterly newsletter.

The Mentoring Programme is funded by the Siemens Integrity Initiative.