[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":526},["ShallowReactive",2],{"publication-assessment-corruption-risks-construction-reconstruction-and-renovation-civilian":3,"related-assessment-corruption-risks-construction-reconstruction-and-renovation-civilian":100},[4],{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"date_created":8,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":20,"link_internal":21,"link_external":22,"featured":19,"topics":23,"languages":7,"type":25,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":27,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"image":28,"countries":39,"tags":61,"pdf":62,"authors":99},2414,"published",null,"2025-08-21T23:52:10.000Z","2026-05-23T20:08:10.000Z",2838,"assessment-corruption-risks-construction-reconstruction-and-renovation-civilian","Assessment of corruption risks in the construction, reconstruction and renovation of civilian infrastructure of Ukraine","The report analyses corruption risks in Ukraine's civil infrastructure restoration efforts. It highlights 10 key priority risks and suggests mitigation measures. The priority risks are:\n\n\n- Absence of clear criteria and excessive discretion in the selection and prioritisation of projects\n- Absence of a comprehensive legal framework for the recovery process in relation to experimental projects\n- Weak oversight of project documentation quality\n- Lack of a well-defined legal procedure for analysing construction material prices, combined with insufficient oversight by procuring entities\n- Deficiencies in the organisation of supporting services during construction projects\n- Legal uncertainty around requirements for justifying direct contracts\n- Unjustified qualification criteria and barriers to accessing information\n- Lack of effective controls over the procedure for changing substantial terms of subcontract agreements\n- Absence of integrated electronic system for recording payments for completed construction works\n- Lack of state architectural and construction supervision over the implementation of reconstruction projects\n\n\nThe report was jointly published by Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention and State Audit Service together with the Basel Institute on Governance, with support from Switzerland.\n\nThe Basel Institute took part in the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fblog\u002Fmitigating-corruption-risks-ukraines-restoration-new-report\">launch event\u003C\u002Fa> in Kyiv, which included Members of Parliament, representatives of the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, the Antimonopoly Committee, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, as well as representatives of local self-government and the private sector.","","English, Ukrainian",2025,"National Agency on Corruption Prevention of Ukraine; State Audit Service of Ukraine; Basel Institute on Governance","2025-07-24",false,[14],[],[],[24],"Ukraine",[26],"Report","The report analyses corruption risks in Ukraine's civil infrastructure restoration efforts. It highlights 10 key priority risks and suggests mitigation measures. The report was jointly published by Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention and State Audit Service together with the Basel Institute on Governance, with support from Switzerland.",{"id":29,"storage":30,"filename_disk":31,"filename_download":32,"title":33,"type":34,"created_on":8,"modified_on":8,"charset":7,"filesize":35,"width":36,"height":37,"duration":7,"embed":7,"description":7,"location":7,"tags":7,"metadata":38,"focal_point_x":7,"focal_point_y":7,"tus_id":7,"tus_data":7,"uploaded_on":8},"27b6305a-8dc6-4673-8e25-da2a9aa604f6","local","27b6305a-8dc6-4673-8e25-da2a9aa604f6.jpg?itok=QuczWa1i","Pages-from-Restoration-risk-report-UA.jpg?itok=QuczWa1i","Cover page of Ukraine restoration risk report","image\u002Fjpeg",55889,500,707,{},[40],{"id":41,"publications_id":42,"countries_id":56},1139,{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":8,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":29,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":45,"link_internal":46,"link_external":47,"featured":19,"topics":48,"languages":7,"type":49,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":27,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":50,"tags":51,"pdf":52,"authors":55},"03bebfd8-0b40-4a2a-820d-b9d9c13b9de6","3d9ff205-1640-4f34-b5b6-86977f51bbd6",[14],[],[],[24],[26],[41],[],[53,54],2467,2468,[],{"id":57,"name":24,"code":58,"latitude":59,"longitude":60},225,"UA",48.37943,31.16558,[],[63,82],{"id":53,"publications_id":64,"directus_files_id":74},{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":8,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":29,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":65,"link_internal":66,"link_external":67,"featured":19,"topics":68,"languages":7,"type":69,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":27,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":70,"tags":71,"pdf":72,"authors":73},[14],[],[],[24],[26],[41],[],[53,54],[],{"id":75,"storage":30,"filename_disk":76,"filename_download":77,"title":77,"type":78,"folder":79,"uploaded_by":43,"created_on":8,"modified_by":7,"modified_on":8,"charset":7,"filesize":80,"width":7,"height":7,"duration":7,"embed":7,"description":81,"location":7,"tags":7,"metadata":7,"focal_point_x":7,"focal_point_y":7,"tus_id":7,"tus_data":7,"uploaded_on":8},"e831a371-f8fd-46e3-9eb6-d1373c05e842","e831a371-f8fd-46e3-9eb6-d1373c05e842.pdf","Restoration-risk-report-UA.pdf","application\u002Fpdf","67f22e04-d26f-4baa-b91f-acc5f89d87f5",2733798,"Download report (Ukrainian)",{"id":54,"publications_id":83,"directus_files_id":93},{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":8,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":29,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":84,"link_internal":85,"link_external":86,"featured":19,"topics":87,"languages":7,"type":88,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":27,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":89,"tags":90,"pdf":91,"authors":92},[14],[],[],[24],[26],[41],[],[53,54],[],{"id":94,"storage":30,"filename_disk":95,"filename_download":96,"title":96,"type":78,"folder":79,"uploaded_by":43,"created_on":8,"modified_by":7,"modified_on":8,"charset":7,"filesize":97,"width":7,"height":7,"duration":7,"embed":7,"description":98,"location":7,"tags":7,"metadata":7,"focal_point_x":7,"focal_point_y":7,"tus_id":7,"tus_data":7,"uploaded_on":8},"7f8f5ba5-ccf4-4df9-aa79-6dea443bf8db","7f8f5ba5-ccf4-4df9-aa79-6dea443bf8db.pdf","Research-Summary-1408-%282%29.pdf",4151924," Download summary (English)",[],[101,134,162,193,225,252,297,368,402,473],{"id":102,"slug":103,"title":104,"status":6,"nid":105,"year":16,"body":106,"external":19,"topic":107,"language":108,"type":109,"date_published":110,"image":111,"citation":14,"publisher":112,"link_internal":113,"link_external":114,"authors":115,"countries":116,"tags":119,"pdf":124,"topics":127,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":128,"area":129,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":131,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":132,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":133},2408,"progress-ukraines-anti-corruption-efforts-july-2025-update","Progress in Ukraine's anti-corruption efforts - July 2025 update",2831,"This document takes stock of recent progress (March to June 2025) in strengthening Ukraine’s anti-corruption ecosystem. It builds on a series of previous reports and is published ahead of the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference, held in Rome 10–11 July 2025.\n\nThe report highlights key developments, including in the context of Ukraine's European integration, and touches on:\n\n\n- the status of the national Anti-Corruption Strategy;\n- the nascent reform of Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency;\n- the risks related to the selection of members for the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ);\n- criminal justice developments, including the first audit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau;\n- the reform of the State Register of Corrupt Officials; and\n- considerations in the area of recovery and reconstruction.\n\n\nThis document is a joint publication of Transparency International Ukraine and the Basel Institute on Governance.\n\n*Disclaimer: This publication has been produced with the support of Switzerland. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Basel Institute on Governance and TI Ukraine and do not necessarily reflect the views of the development partner.*",[14],"English",[26],"2025-07-10","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F62e0b2f6-7c4b-4b45-a575-227909626032?width=600&height=840","Transparency International Ukraine; Basel Institute on Governance",[],[],[],[117],{"countries_id":118},{"id":57,"name":24},[120],{"tags_id":121},{"id":122,"name":123},982,"Anti-corruption",[125,126],2455,2456,[24],[24],[130],"Anti-Corruption & Prevention","2025-07-10T08:37:12.000Z","2026-05-23T20:08:07.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fprogress-ukraines-anti-corruption-efforts-july-2025-update",{"id":135,"slug":136,"title":137,"status":6,"nid":138,"year":16,"body":139,"external":19,"topic":140,"language":108,"type":141,"date_published":142,"image":143,"citation":14,"publisher":112,"link_internal":144,"link_external":145,"authors":149,"countries":150,"tags":153,"pdf":156,"topics":158,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":159,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":160,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":161},2396,"progress-ukraines-anti-corruption-efforts-march-2025-update","Progress in Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts - March 2025 update",2786,"This document takes stock of recent progress (June 2024 to February 2025) in strengthening Ukraine’s anti-corruption ecosystem. It is published ahead of the Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum, hosted by the OECD in Paris in March 2025.\n\nDespite the turbulent geopolitical context and the drastic reduction of US government assistance, Ukraine has maintained a strong commitment to anti-corruption efforts. This report highlights key developments, including:\n\n\n- impressive enforcement achievements;\n- the development of Ukraine's new Anti-Corruption Strategy;\n- slow progress in delineating the functions of the Accounting Chamber and the State Audit Service;\n- tools that could be utilised more fully to raise resources for the state; and\n- promising draft legislative reforms regarding Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency.\n\n\nThis document is a joint publication of Transparency International Ukraine and the Basel Institute on Governance.\n\n*Disclaimer: This publication has been produced with the support of Switzerland. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Basel Institute on Governance and TI Ukraine and do not necessarily reflect the views of the development partner.*",[14],[26],"2025-03-26","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fa7e12656-18b5-4182-97c0-c78b11539c92?width=600&height=840",[],[146],{"url":147,"caption":148},"route:\u003Cnolink>"," Ukrainian version",[],[151],{"countries_id":152},{"id":57,"name":24},[154],{"tags_id":155},{"id":122,"name":123},[157],2437,[24],"2025-03-26T11:05:23.000Z","2026-05-23T20:08:02.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fprogress-ukraines-anti-corruption-efforts-march-2025-update",{"id":163,"slug":164,"title":165,"status":6,"nid":166,"year":167,"body":168,"external":19,"topic":169,"language":15,"type":171,"date_published":172,"image":173,"citation":14,"publisher":112,"link_internal":174,"link_external":175,"authors":179,"countries":180,"tags":183,"pdf":184,"topics":186,"featured":19,"languages":188,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":190,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":191,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":192},2293,"enhancing-ukraines-anti-corruption-measures-safeguard-recovery-update-ukraine-recovery","Enhancing Ukraine’s anti-corruption measures to safeguard the recovery – update for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023",2471,2023,"This document takes stock of recent progress in strengthening Ukraine's anti-corruption ecosystem with a view to safeguarding reconstruction projects. It covers:\n\n\n- Institutional capacity \n- Judicial and Constitutional Court reform\n- Asset recovery\n- Public procurement\n\n\nIt is a joint publication of Transparency International Ukraine and the Basel Institute on Governance, published and distributed at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 in London.",[170],"Asset Recovery",[26],"2023-06-20","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fc548a92e-d758-4a66-9a5b-7dfd86364a08?width=600&height=840",[],[176],{"url":177,"caption":178},"https:\u002F\u002Fti-ukraine.org\u002Fen\u002F"," Ukrainian version published soon on TI-Ukraine website",[],[181],{"countries_id":182},{"id":57,"name":24},[],[185],2331,[187,24],"Asset Recovery and Enforcement",[108,189],"Ukrainian","2023-06-20T21:52:26.000Z","2026-05-29T22:23:15.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fenhancing-ukraines-anti-corruption-measures-safeguard-recovery-update-ukraine-recovery",{"id":194,"slug":195,"title":196,"status":6,"nid":197,"year":198,"body":199,"external":19,"topic":200,"language":15,"type":201,"date_published":202,"image":203,"citation":14,"publisher":112,"link_internal":204,"link_external":211,"authors":212,"countries":213,"tags":216,"pdf":217,"topics":219,"featured":19,"languages":221,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":222,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":223,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":224},2250,"strengthening-ukraines-anti-corruption-and-judicial-infrastructure-safeguard-recovery","Strengthening Ukraine’s anti-corruption and judicial infrastructure to safeguard the recovery",2329,2022,"This document takes stock of recent progress in strengthening Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure in the face of increased attacks on infrastructure and increased reconstruction efforts. It covers:\n\n\n- Competitions for the heads of anti-corruption agencies\n- Institutional capacity of anti-corruption agencies\n- Improving the legislative framework\n- Implementation of judicial and Constitutional Court reform\n\n\nIt is a joint publication of Transparency International Ukraine and the Basel Institute on Governance, published and distributed at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington D.C. in December 2022.",[170],[26],"2022-12-07","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F518405c9-9070-4b7d-a4ec-63fb6c0911cc?width=600&height=840",[205,208],{"url":206,"caption":207},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fukraine-recovery-conference-anti-corruption-critical-condition-sustainable-recovery"," View July 2022 recommendations",{"url":209,"caption":210},"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fdont-let-a-kleptocrats-war-destroy-ukraines-reconstruction-2245"," Related blog: Don’t let a kleptocrat’s war destroy Ukraine’s reconstruction",[],[],[214],{"countries_id":215},{"id":57,"name":24},[],[163,218],2294,[187,220,24],"Corruption Prevention and Public Governance",[108,189],"2022-12-07T23:04:10.000Z","2026-06-02T14:09:03.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fstrengthening-ukraines-anti-corruption-and-judicial-infrastructure-safeguard-recovery",{"id":226,"slug":227,"title":228,"status":6,"nid":229,"year":198,"body":230,"external":19,"topic":231,"language":108,"type":232,"date_published":233,"image":234,"citation":14,"publisher":235,"link_internal":236,"link_external":238,"authors":242,"countries":243,"tags":244,"pdf":245,"topics":248,"featured":19,"languages":249,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":250,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":251,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":206},2201,"ukraine-recovery-conference-anti-corruption-critical-condition-sustainable-recovery","Ukraine Recovery Conference: Anti-corruption as a critical condition for sustainable recovery",2244,"These recommendations were issued jointly by the Basel Institute on Governance and Transparency International Ukraine on the occasion of the Ukraine Recovery Conference on 4–5 July 2022 in Lugano, Switzerland.\n\nEvery reconstruction effort brings with it massive corruption potential. Anti-corruption has been high on Ukraine’s political agenda before the war. But even with significant reforms since 2014, the country is far from ready to withstand the inevitable attack by kleptocrats, organised criminal groups and corrupt officials at all levels who see a golden opportunity in Ukraine’s tragedy.\n\nIn the recommendations, we highlight the need to: \n\n\n- prioritise the leadership selection process and reforms of Ukraine’s formidable anti-corruption institutions, including courts;\n- use transparent procurement systems for reconstruction efforts;\n- strengthen asset recovery systems so that money stolen through corruption in the past can be used to help fuel reconstruction efforts.\n",[170],[26],"2022-07-01","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F0da3730e-f213-4644-b74b-bca477b16f1e?width=600&height=840","Basel Institute on Governance; Transparency International Ukraine",[237],{"url":209,"caption":210},[239],{"url":240,"caption":241},"https:\u002F\u002Fti-ukraine.org\u002Fnews\u002Fantykoruptsiya-yak-krytychna-umova-stalogo-vidnovlennya\u002F"," View recommendations (Ukrainian)",[],[],[],[246,247],2239,2240,[187,24],[108],"2022-07-07T16:27:26.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:59.000Z",{"id":253,"slug":254,"title":255,"status":6,"nid":256,"year":257,"body":258,"external":19,"topic":7,"language":7,"type":259,"date_published":260,"image":261,"citation":262,"publisher":263,"link_internal":264,"link_external":268,"authors":269,"countries":278,"tags":279,"pdf":288,"topics":290,"featured":19,"languages":292,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":44,"date_created":293,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":294,"main_points":7,"short_version":295,"subtitle":7,"link":296},2438,"how-technology-can-support-border-corruption-investigations","Tackling the complexity of border corruption: How technological tools such as the project FALCON dashboard can support investigations",2953,2026,"Corruption at land and sea borders facilitates smuggling, sanctions evasion, tax offences and the entry of counterfeit, substandard or unsafe goods into countries including EU member states. This report conceptualises border corruption as a complex system of actors, events and illicit exchanges that is difficult to detect and investigate.\n\nDrawing on research from the Horizon Europe FALCON (Fight Against Large-scale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) project, it explores how innovative technological tools – illustrated by the “FALCON dashboard” – can help investigators manage, visualise, interpret and report large volumes of heterogeneous data in support of more effective investigations.\n\n### About this report\n\nYou may share or republish this report under a Creative Commons [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002Fdeed.en) licence.\n\nThis report was written as part of the FALCON project. FALCON is funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Program Grant Agreement ID 101121281. The Basel Institute on Governance, as an associated partner without the right to receive funds directly from the European Research Executive Agency, has received funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).\n\nThe contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the European Research Executive Agency or SERI.",[26],"2026-04-20","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F83e615dd-a58e-4dec-a3d3-40b0cfe4cd32?width=600&height=840","Costa, Jacopo, and Marco San Biagio. 2026. “Tackling the complexity of border corruption: How technological tools such as the project FALCON dashboard can support investigations”. Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fhow-technology-can-support-border-corruption-investigations","Basel Institute on Governance",[265],{"url":266,"caption":267},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fqg38","Read Quick Guide to border corruption",[],[270,274],{"authors_id":271},{"id":272,"name":273},304,"Jacopo Costa",{"authors_id":275},{"id":276,"name":277},585,"Marco San Biagio",[],[280,284],{"tags_id":281},{"id":282,"name":283},859,"Corruption risks",{"tags_id":285},{"id":286,"name":287},1377,"Technology",[289],2493,[291],"Prevention Research and Innovation",[108],"2026-06-01T22:10:25.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:57.000Z","Corruption at land and sea borders facilitates smuggling, sanctions evasion, tax offences and\nthe entry of counterfeit, substandard or unsafe goods into countries including EU member\nstates. It is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that poses significant challenges to law\nenforcement. Based on a literature review and empirical research including interviews and\ncase studies, this report conceptualises border corruption as a dynamic system of actors,\nevents and illicit exchanges. It also assesses how new technologies and innovations can\nstrengthen investigations.\n\nBorder areas are spaces that bring together a variety of public and private actors, regulatory\nfunctions and illicit activities. Corruption is structurally embedded, making it difficult to detect\nand investigate. Investigations in this context require the integration and interpretation of large\nvolumes of heterogeneous data spanning administrative records, financial transactions,\ncorporate structures, border crossing data and information from social media.\n\nThis level of complexity can result in information overload, fragmented analysis and limited\ncapacity to extract actionable insights for planning law enforcement operations. Additionally,\nissues with reporting and information sharing can hinder collaboration between field operatives\nand their line managers and superiors, who have critical responsibilities in terms of case\nmanagement and financial planning.\n\nBuilding on research conducted within the Horizon Europe FALCON (Fight Against Largescale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) project, the report presents one of the\nproject’s technological outputs as an example of how technology can be leveraged: the\nFALCON dashboard. Currently in the piloting phase, this innovative tool has been designed to\nsupport investigations into border corruption and related offences by enabling the systematic\ncollection, integration, visualisation and analysis of investigative information and evidence.\nThis report demonstrates how the FALCON dashboard can assist investigators in managing\nhybrid data sources (manual and automated), constructing and navigating evidence graphs,\nand identifying key actors and relational patterns. The tool also lets investigators track the\nevolution of their investigations over time. Particular attention is paid to the dashboard’s\ncapacity to reduce visual saturation, enable multi-level analysis and facilitate targeted queries,\nthereby enhancing sense-making and investigative prioritisation.\n\nAlthough the FALCON dashboard itself is not yet publicly available, its presentation in this\nreport provides inspiration for similar technological innovation. The report argues that tools\nsuch as the FALCON dashboard can bolster investigative capabilities by enhancing analytical\nclarity, operational efficiency and communication between investigators, supervisors,\nprosecutors and other relevant stakeholders. However, it also prompts the need for further  reflection on broader challenges relating to data quality, interoperability, institutional\ncoordination and data protection.\n\nOverall, the study provides a conceptual and practical framework for understanding how\ntechnological platforms can support evidence-based, adaptive responses to border corruption.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fhow-technology-can-support-border-corruption-investigations",{"id":298,"slug":299,"title":300,"status":6,"nid":301,"year":257,"body":302,"external":19,"topic":7,"language":7,"type":303,"date_published":304,"image":305,"citation":7,"publisher":263,"link_internal":306,"link_external":313,"authors":314,"countries":335,"tags":348,"pdf":359,"topics":361,"featured":19,"languages":363,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":44,"date_created":293,"user_updated":364,"date_updated":365,"main_points":7,"short_version":366,"subtitle":7,"link":367},2439,"corruption-risk-management-latam-timber-value-chain","Preventing corruption in the timber value chain: Risk management experiences in Latin America",2927,"Corruption in the timber value chain is a major challenge for environmental sustainability and governance in Latin America.\n\nThis report presents the application of a corruption risk management approach by environmental authorities in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, implemented through technical assistance from the Basel Institute on Governance’s [Green Corruption programme](http:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fgreen-corruption).\n\n[**Download the report here**](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002F2026-04\u002F260401_Preventing-corruption-in-the-timber-value-chain_Latam.pdf)\n\n### Key corruption risks\n\nThe report describes the main corruption risks identified in collaboration with five environmental authorities responsible for integrity in the timber value chain, covering:\n\n- The granting of forestry rights\n- The issuance and use of timber transport waybills\n- The control and supervision of authorised actors.\n\nThe main corruption risks identified involve:\n\n- Improper agreements between public servants and third parties\n- Abuse of authority\n- Undue influence or pressure from superiors\n\n### Mitigation measures\n\nPlanned mitigation measures fall into four main categories:\n\n- Regulatory improvements, including updating procedures, closing implementation gaps and improving efficiency\n- Strengthened supervision, such as file tracking systems and alerts to reduce discretion\n- Enhanced communication, including multicultural approaches for Indigenous and rural communities\n- Cross-cutting measures to promote integrity such as awareness-raising, ethical reflection and training\n\nGiven common patterns across natural resource sectors, these measures may be relevant for other environmental agencies, though they should be adapted to local contexts.\n\n### Lessons learned\n\nThe experiences in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru highlight the importance of tailoring risk management approaches to national contexts, ensuring institutional leadership and fostering inter-institutional collaboration. They also underline the value of peer learning and cross-border exchange.",[26],"2026-04-02","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fa4345633-502b-4784-b391-b3ca6bafb2c5?width=600&height=840",[307,310],{"url":308,"caption":309},"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fprotecting-forests-through-corruption-prevention-videos-on-promising-initiatives-in-bolivia-ecuador-and-peru-2726","Learn more about protecting forests through corruption prevention",{"url":311,"caption":312},"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fjoining-forces-to-protect-the-amazon-forest-and-its-communities-from-corruption-2717","Read related news",[],[315,319,323,327,331],{"authors_id":316},{"id":317,"name":318},586,"Aldo Bautista",{"authors_id":320},{"id":321,"name":322},587,"Mirtha Muniz",{"authors_id":324},{"id":325,"name":326},588,"Karla Coronado",{"authors_id":328},{"id":329,"name":330},589,"Patricia Torres",{"authors_id":332},{"id":333,"name":334},590,"Francisco Bustamante",[336,340,344],{"countries_id":337},{"id":338,"name":339},171,"Peru",{"countries_id":341},{"id":342,"name":343},28,"Bolivia",{"countries_id":345},{"id":346,"name":347},60,"Ecuador",[349,353,357],{"tags_id":350},{"id":351,"name":352},1303,"Environment",{"tags_id":354},{"id":355,"name":356},1373,"Corruption prevention",{"tags_id":358},{"id":282,"name":283},[360],2494,[362],"Green Corruption",[108],"b0662e2a-864d-4888-a1b7-4342b7570b30","2026-06-02T21:18:25.000Z","Corruption in the timber value chain represents a major challenge for environmental sustainability\nand governance in Latin America. This report introduces the application of a **corruption risk\nmanagement approach** by environmental authorities in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. This\napproach was implemented within the framework of technical assistance provided by the Green\nCorruption programme of the Basel Institute on Governance.\n\nCorruption refers to the misuse of entrusted power for private gain, often leading to increased\ninequality, poverty and social division. The concept of “green corruption” addresses the impact of\ncorruption as a major driver of environmental devastation and increased risk of harm to the\nenvironment and natural resources. Corruption risk refers to the possibility of a corrupt act\noccurring, but does not necessarily mean that a corrupt act has taken place. Mitigation measures\n– based on identified corruption risks, their impacts and likelihoods – are typically a prioritised set\nof recommended actions to address weaknesses, allocate resources, seek external support or\noffset the impact of negative conditions.\n\nUtilising the Green Corruption programme’s corruption risk management approach,\nrepresentatives of the environmental authorities identified corruption risks within the timber value\nchain related to **three key risk contexts**:\n1. The granting of forestry rights\n2. The issuance and use of timber transport waybills\n3. The control and supervision of authorised actors.\n\n**Priority areas of concern** included documentary procedures, physical inspections and the\nadministrative sanctioning procedure.\n\n**Specific corruption risks** identified involved:\n- the potential for improper agreements between public servants and third parties;\n- abuse of authority; and\n- undue influence or other improper pressures from hierarchical superiors within organisations.\n\nThe majority of planned **mitigation measures** can be grouped into four categories:\n- **Regulatory improvement**, to be accomplished by reviewing and updating administrative procedures, closing implementation gaps and other opportunities for corruption and improving operating efficiency.\n- **Strengthened supervision** through the implementation of file tracking systems and alerts as well as the use of verification formats in the approval of forestry rights and the issuance of timber transport waybills, and other practices that reduce the discretion of operational units.\n- **Enhanced communication strategies** to support information exchange and joint action within the timber value chain. Specifically, a multicultural strategy was developed as a way of reducing the vulnerability to corruption for Indigenous and rural farming communities.\n- **Cross-cutting measures** to promote integrity through awareness-raising, ethical reflection and training for public servants and other actors in the timber value chain.\n\nThis document concludes with lessons learned and recommendations, highlighting the\nimportance of tailoring the approach to recognise the unique context of each country, its\ninstitutional leadership in risk management and the contribution of inter-institutional collaborative\nwork. The risk management experiences in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru also highlight the value of\npeer learning and the exchange of experiences, including across national borders.\n\nIn summary, this publication offers a practical approach for implementing corruption risk\nmanagement as an effective tool to reduce the likelihood of corrupt or unethical behaviour and to\nstrengthen the institutional framework for the timber value chain in Latin America.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fcorruption-risk-management-latam-timber-value-chain",{"id":369,"slug":370,"title":371,"status":6,"nid":372,"year":257,"body":373,"external":19,"topic":7,"language":7,"type":374,"date_published":375,"image":376,"citation":7,"publisher":377,"link_internal":378,"link_external":384,"authors":388,"countries":389,"tags":390,"pdf":395,"topics":397,"featured":19,"languages":398,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":44,"date_created":399,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":400,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":401},2444,"recommendations-combatting-border-corruption-falcon-policy-brief","Recommendations for combatting border corruption (FALCON Policy Brief)",2946,"Corruption at borders poses a significant threat to the integrity of the European Union’s external borders, undermining security, trust, and governance. And border corruption is not static — it evolves in response to new controls, technologies and enforcement strategies. This means that even well-designed measures may lose effectiveness over time.\n\nA new Policy Brief by the FALCON (Fight Against Large-scale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) project outlines actionable recommendations for EU policymakers and officials involved preventing and combatting border corruption.\n\nThe brief identifies four priority areas:\n\nreducing discretionary face-to-face interactions at border crossing points through digitalisation;\\\ndeveloping harmonised, risk-based digital infrastructures that can detect corruption-prone patterns;\\\nlimiting manual data handling to close opportunities for manipulation; and\\\nstrengthening the conceptual alignment between anti-trafficking and anti-corruption strategies.\n\nIt argues that effective reform requires corruption-sensitive implementation frameworks, enhanced inter-agency coordination and a shift toward anticipatory governance.\n\nThe Basel Institute on Governance is an associated partner of the FALCON project. [Jacopo Costa](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fabout-us\u002Fpeople\u002Fdr-jacopo-costa) contributed to the Policy Brief and related research.\n\n_FALCON is funded under the Horizon Europe Framework Program Grant Agreement ID 101121281. The Basel Institute on Governance receives funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)._",[26],"2026-03-25","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fbc5fa519-a9aa-472c-aed6-91849cddb2aa?width=600&height=840","FALCON - Fight Against Large-scale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks",[379,381],{"url":266,"caption":380},"Related Quick Guide to border corruption",{"url":382,"caption":383},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fwp-58","Related Working Paper on corruption at the port of Rotterdam",[385],{"url":386,"caption":387},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.falcon-horizon.eu\u002F2026\u002F03\u002Ffalcon-policy-brief-recommendations-for-combatting-border-corruption\u002F","Related FALCON news",[],[],[391,393],{"tags_id":392},{"id":282,"name":283},{"tags_id":394},{"id":122,"name":123},[396],2498,[291],[108],"2026-06-01T22:10:26.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:58.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Frecommendations-combatting-border-corruption-falcon-policy-brief",{"id":403,"slug":404,"title":405,"status":6,"nid":406,"year":257,"body":407,"external":19,"topic":408,"language":108,"type":409,"date_published":410,"image":411,"citation":14,"publisher":412,"link_internal":413,"link_external":414,"authors":421,"countries":438,"tags":443,"pdf":466,"topics":468,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":469,"user_updated":44,"date_updated":470,"main_points":471,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":472},2433,"addressing-conflicts-interest-and-corruption-indonesias-energy-transition","Addressing conflicts of interest and corruption in Indonesia’s energy transition",2936,"This U4 Issue analyses Indonesia's ambitious energy transition and highlights how political finance, weak regulations and a \"revolving door\" of personnel between public office and the private sector create vulnerabilities. The publication was produced by U4 and the Basel Institute on Governance through its Green Corruption programme.\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002F2026-02\u002FAddressing-conflicts-of-interest-and-corruption-in-indonesia-s-energy-transition_U4-Issue.pdf\">Download publication here\u003C\u002Fa>.\n\n### About the paper\n\nConflicts of interest and corruption in Indonesia's political economy pose significant risks to its energy transition, including the Just Energy Transition Partnership. Existing legal and institutional frameworks are fragmented, inconsistently applied, and often fail to address the risk of state capture by powerful political and economic actors, especially in the extractive and energy sectors.\n\nThe reliance on fossil fuel industries for political financing and the monopolistic nature of state-owned entities further complicate the shift to a low- or no-carbon system, despite the country's ambitious renewable energy targets.\n\nPotential pathways to greater anti-corruption resilience lie in improvements to beneficial ownership transparency and strengthening regulation, monitoring and sanctioning of conflict of interest violations.\n",[362],[26],"2026-02-24","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fd97f2ca5-300d-45c9-9de9-33152b72f96c?width=600&height=840","U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre",[],[415,418],{"url":416,"caption":417},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.u4.no\u002Fpublications\u002Faddressing-conflicts-of-interest-and-corruption-in-indonesia-s-energy-transition"," View on U4 website",{"url":419,"caption":420},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.u4.no\u002Fblog\u002Fimproving-anti-corruption-resilience-in-indonesia-s-energy-transition"," Read related U4 blog",[422,426,430,434],{"authors_id":423},{"id":424,"name":425},581,"Robert Forster",{"authors_id":427},{"id":428,"name":429},582,"Aled Williams",{"authors_id":431},{"id":432,"name":433},523,"Lakso Anindito",{"authors_id":435},{"id":436,"name":437},579,"Dr Amanda Cabrejo le Roux",[439],{"countries_id":440},{"id":441,"name":442},99,"Indonesia",[444,446,450,454,458,462],{"tags_id":445},{"id":122,"name":123},{"tags_id":447},{"id":448,"name":449},818,"Anti-money laundering",{"tags_id":451},{"id":452,"name":453},804,"Natural resources",{"tags_id":455},{"id":456,"name":457},1371,"Public governance",{"tags_id":459},{"id":460,"name":461},1236,"Compliance",{"tags_id":463},{"id":464,"name":465},973,"Corruption",[467],2489,[362],"2026-02-27T15:11:31.000Z","2026-05-23T20:08:18.000Z","- Corruption and conflicts of interest are embedded in the energy transition process due to the strong links between political power, private wealth (especially from extractive industries) and public office holders.\n- Existing anti-corruption regulations are often vague, fragmented across different legal instruments, and suffer from inconsistent enforcement, which creates loopholes susceptible to manipulation.\n- Progress in renewable energy uptake is slowed by the enduring influence and interests of fossil fuel incumbents who benefit from subsidies that keep coal an artificially cheap and viable energy source.\n- The Just Energy Transition Partnership is vulnerable to misallocations due to concentrated decision-making power, limited transparency in project selection and insufficient involvement of national anti-corruption bodies and civil society in its planning.\n- Improving transparency of beneficial ownership and strengthening the monitoring and sanctioning of conflict of interest violations are possible pathways to build greater anti-corruption resilience, though these institutional efforts alone are insufficient to fully address state capture dynamics.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Faddressing-conflicts-interest-and-corruption-indonesias-energy-transition",{"id":474,"slug":475,"title":476,"status":6,"nid":477,"year":257,"body":478,"external":19,"topic":479,"language":108,"type":482,"date_published":483,"image":484,"citation":14,"publisher":485,"link_internal":486,"link_external":487,"authors":491,"countries":500,"tags":505,"pdf":518,"topics":520,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":521,"sort":7,"user_created":43,"date_created":522,"user_updated":364,"date_updated":523,"main_points":524,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":525},2432,"political-economy-weeds-embracing-complexity-anti-corruption-work-lessons-learned-anti","Political economy in the weeds: Embracing complexity in anti-corruption work – lessons learned from anti-corruption programme in Malawi",2910,"In this joint paper with Adam Smith International, authors Claudia Baez Camargo and Renee Kantelberg show how anti-corruption efforts require more than mere technical fixes, such as capacity building for civil society alone, to drive lasting change.\n\nAnti-corruption work is often embedded in complex, politically charged environments. This requires thinking and working politically. Engaging with complex social and economic systems also means recognising that change is not linear or even predictable. What to do then?\n\nOur years of anti-corruption research have demonstrated the centrality of having local stakeholders be in the driver’s seat for identifying priorities and finding solutions. This is how we have worked in Malawi in the Malawi Anti-Corruption Civil Society Support (MACCSS) project, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and implemented with Adam Smith International.\n\nThis publication shares practical lessons and successes in applying this approach in the MACCSS project. It illustrates our joint efforts to navigate uncertainty and ground anti-corruption efforts in trust, resilience and local leadership. The key takeaways for practitioners who design or implement anti-corruption programmes (paraphrased) are:\n\n\n- **Embrace complexity.** Change is adaption and pivoting to reality, which is not linear. In governance programmes, unexpected developments and temporary reversals are signs that systems are shifting.\n- **Local ownership matters.** When partners are in the driver’s seat, impact and sustainability improve. This is true even if the route diverges from initial plans.\n- **Facilitation over funding.** Hands-on mentoring and relationship brokering build deeper capabilities than unidirectional training, grants and results frameworks.\n- **Learning by doing.** Regular reflection converts experience into strategy; failures become data for adaptation.\n- **Build trust and coalitions.** Reform depends on a collective effort with credible institutions and sister anti-corruption programmes. It also requires nurturing emergent anti-corruption networks, rather than merely building the capacity of individual actors.\n- **Resilience grows from below.** Sustainable accountability takes root when communities see anti-corruption as linked to livelihoods and services, not as an abstract governance agenda.\n- **Gender and inclusion strengthen legitimacy.** Integrating gender and social inclusion (GESI) principles by addressing corruption in mining, infrastructure and agriculture – sectors critical for women and marginalised groups – broadens both the reach and credibility of anti-corruption efforts.\n\n\nUltimately, the MACCSS experience reinforces a simple but profound insight: **anti-corruption work is not about perfect plans but about adaptive partnerships.** Change happens through relationships, experimentation and persistence. The task is not to eliminate uncertainty, but to navigate it with integrity and learning at the core. ",[480,481],"Prevention","Research and Innovation",[26],"2026-01-28","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fe9075f1f-8dbe-4009-980b-baaae82f9c49?width=600&height=840","Adam Smith International",[],[488],{"url":489,"caption":490},"https:\u002F\u002Fadamsmithinternational.com\u002Farticles\u002Fpolitical-economy-in-the-weeds-embracing-complexity-in-anti-corruption-work\u002F#resource:all"," View on Adam Smith International website",[492,496],{"authors_id":493},{"id":494,"name":495},572,"Dr Claudia Baez Camargo",{"authors_id":497},{"id":498,"name":499},580,"Renee Kantelberg",[501],{"countries_id":502},{"id":503,"name":504},153,"Malawi",[506,508,512,516],{"tags_id":507},{"id":122,"name":123},{"tags_id":509},{"id":510,"name":511},1375,"Civil society",{"tags_id":513},{"id":514,"name":515},1372,"Training",{"tags_id":517},{"id":282,"name":283},[519],2488,[291],"\u003C!-- image -->\n\n## POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE WEEDS\n\n## EMBRACING COMPLEXITY IN ANTI-CORRUPTION WORK\n\nBy Renee Kantelberg and Claudia Baez-Camargo\n\n## Introduction\n\nThe Malawi Anti-Corruption Civil Society Support (MACCSS) programme provides a powerful case for understanding how anti-corruption  (AC)  efforts  unfold  in  complex,  politically  charged  environments.  Jointly  funded  by  the  UK  Foreign, Commonwealth  and  Development  Office  (FCDO)  and  USAID,  MACCSS  (2024-2026)  combines  grants  and  technical assistance worth £1.75 million to strengthen civil society's role in promoting accountability. The initiative works through a  portfolio  of  civil  society  issue-focused  interventions  with  national  and  district  partners  across  sectors  such  as agriculture, mining, constituency development funds, justice and infrastructure.\n\nMalawi serves as both an opportunity-rich testing ground for systems-change initiatives and a cautionary case illustrating the constraints and pressure points such reforms face. This blend of promise and challenge renders Malawi pivotal for understanding governance transformations in comparable contexts. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with corruption deeply embedded in its political and bureaucratic systems. Decades of clientelist politics, weak enforcement institutions  and  low  public-sector  pay  have  entrenched  behaviours  where  access  to  state  resources  is  viewed  as  an entitlement to extract rents for their own benefit and that of particular interests. In the wake of the September 2025 elections, these longstanding dynamics continue to shape the operating environment. Consequently, MACCSS's mandate remains unchanged: to equip committed civil-society organisations from national bodies to rural district groups with the knowledge, networks, and confidence to serve as policy-reform champions, watchdogs, and mobilisers of citizen voice and national advocacy priorities.\n\nAt first glance, the logic of working with civil society in contexts where state capacities are weak is straightforward: if CSOs are  trained  in  strategic  advocacy,  intervention  design,  operational  planning  and  media  engagement,  they  will become  effective  in  exposing  and  preventing  corruption,  thus  fulfilling  their  assumed  watchdog  function.  Yet  the experience of implementation shows that capacity alone does not guarantee influence and that change is difficult and non-linear. The real story of MACCSS lies in how its partners are learning to 'work in the weeds' - embracing uncertainty, adapting to shifting power dynamics, and building alliances that make accountability and anti-corruption transformation possible.\n\n## The Strategy: Ambition and Assumptions\n\nMACCSS's design draws from the classic anti-corruption playbook, which is reflected in the programme's strategy (Theory of  Change),  which  suggests  that  enhancing  CSO  technical  and  organisational  capacity  results  in  greater  citizen engagement and oversight and, ultimately, in reduced opportunities and incentives for corruption.\n\nConsequently, capacity building is pursued through three interdependent strands:\n\n- ∞ Financial resources - seed funding \u002F grants £10,000 - £50,000 to locally designed interventions.\n- ∞ Technical support -  training and mentoring in advocacy, media work, Political Economy Analysis, Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI), and thematic areas such as mining or procurement.\n- ∞ Organisational strengthening -  support  for  financial  management,  grant  compliance,  safeguarding,  MEL,  and other core systems essential for sustainable CSO operations.\n- ∞ Learning - facilitation and convening of peer exchanges where national and district level partners jointly reflect, share evidence and refine strategies.\n\nJust observing the above, it would be tempting to assume that technical support and trainings are enough to build stronger organisations and that the recipients of the support will automatically be able to translate skills into action and\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n## ASI\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\nresults.  Experience,  however,  shows  that  this  logic  fails  to  grasp  the  incremental  and  iterative  nature  of  building competencies, while also underestimating the political nature of corruption and the depth of systemic inertia. What MACCSS is revealing is that effectiveness depends less on training or resources than on learning by doing, building relationships, moving with opportunities and the capacity to adapt.\n\n## Working in the Weeds: Navigating Complexity and Adapting Practice\n\nAn overarching lesson from the MACCSS programme is that in practice, progress is messy and contested, which should not be surprising. As in many other countries, power in Malawi is acquired, shared and maintained through networks of patronage,  built  and  cemented  on  non-transparent  deals  that  cut  across  the  state,  business  and  political  parties. Corruption  trickles  down  to  the  grassroots,  where  public  service  providers  and  street  level  bureaucrats  routinely manoeuvre the prerogatives stemming from their official mandates to extract benefits and resources for themselves and their social networks.  Therefore, corruption in Malawi is woven into the political settlement itself and embedded in social norms that normalise and lend acceptability to corruption. As a result, when anti-corruption efforts begin to bite, they often provoke pushback: investigations stall, whistle-blowers face intimidation, and reform champions are side-lined or even threatened. The experience of the Zuneth Sattar case, in which high-level prosecutions led to institutional backlash, illustrates how success can generate its own resistance.\n\nCivil society faces additional constraints. Many organisations operate on shoestring budgets and remain dependent on donor funding, which is often project-based and problematises the continuity of their endeavours. Corruption fatigue also reflects public scepticism among intended beneficiaries that activism will not change anything. Legal restrictions on public-interest litigation, slow access to information, and the risk of regulatory reprisals further limit civic space. At district level, organisational inertia is strong: as one partner admitted, 'this is how we have always done things.'\n\n## From capacity building to facilitated partnership\n\nHere the lessons of MACCSS validate those of many other FCDO governance programmes in that conventional grant making  and  capacity  building  too  often  produces  donor-compliant  but  citizen-disconnected  CSOs.  Grants  managed without attention to the contextual conditions and needs can constrain flexibility, distort incentives, and monetise the engagement. MACCSS learned from this and adopted a facilitated partnership approach , deploying mixed local teams to broker relationships among civil society, media and AC institutions, and FCDO sister programmes while encouraging CSO implementing partners to be in the driver's seat in deciding priorities, providing them a safe space to innovate and to build their capacities through learning by doing. The focus shifted from funding activities to nurturing trust, reflection and adaptive learning within a cohort of champions.\n\nERROR! NO The Accountability Working Group (AWG) - made up of our core partner organisations, together with regular learning exchanges, sits at the centre of our work. MACCSS understands its role as a facilitation hub; encouraging trust building, peer exchanges and the emergence of coordinated action, decidedly moving away from focusing and insisting on preestablished  good  governance  practices  and  an  emphasis  on  procedures  and  delivery  mechanisms.  MACCSS-hosted convenings bring together partner CSOs, journalists \u002F media, communities and duty bearers to co-create interventions, share evidence and reflect on progress along with challenges. The emphasis is on brokering relationships and supporting iterative experimentation, not on enforcing rigid workplans. Mentoring and technical accompaniment are complemented by targeted and demand-led training, and small, flexible funding support is provided to pilot critical ideas whose design evolves as lessons and proof of concept emerge. Learning by doing and reflection\n\nFor MACCSS and its partners real capacity is being built iteratively, through cycles of action and reflection. The MACCSS Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation and Learning (MREL) system promotes 'utilisation-focused' learning loops following the self-reinforcing logic of implementation, analysis, discussions and, adaptation. Quarterly Pause and Reflect meetings with the AWG provide a collective space to share not only achievements but also setbacks, echoing MACCSS core principle that mistakes are data and information that tell us something to consider . These reflection processes strengthen partners' confidence  and  sense  of  agency.    Gradually,  shifts  are  becoming  visible:  district  networks  collaborating  instead  of competing;  local  journalists  and  activists  pooling  evidence  from  civil  society  work;  civil  servants  recognising  that transparency can strengthen, not threaten, their legitimacy. These may seem like small wins, yet they build the bottomup resilience that sustains reform beyond donor and MACCSS project cycles.\n\nEmbracing uncertainty\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n## ASI\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\nWorking this way demands tolerance for ambiguity and deviation from plans. Anti-corruption work that matters will always provoke contestation. MACCSS is still unfolding, but it demonstrates that technically skilled support and facilitation, pace that  is  set  by  the  stakeholders  themselves,  moving  on  needs  and  emerging  gaps  as  well  as  patience  and  political awareness are all more effective than rigid top-down management. Progress depends less on control than on cultivating curiosity and responsiveness with a relational approach that puts partners always in the driving seat. MACCSS recognises that grants alone can distort incentives encouraging compliance rather than collaboration.\n\nBy combining seed funding with tailored technical mentoring and facilitation, partners gain the freedom to adapt their strategies as contexts shift, as was experienced during the September 2025 election period when political will and action waned. Yet,  partners  acted  strategically  during  that  election  period  to  influence  the  Anti-Corruption  agenda  through political manifestos, providing evidence where doors opened by politicians. An indicative example of the success achieved through these means was the fact that the AWG was able to get several key questions into the 2025 Presidential Debate that reflected on issues related to corruption in specific sectors.\n\nSetbacks and detours are expected in the process, just as opportunities are; embracing the political landscape mix (and pivoting) is what partners know and do so well.\n\n## Key Lessons Learned\n\n- 1. Embrace complexity. Change is adaption and pivoting to reality, which is not linear. In governance programmes, unexpected developments and temporary reversals are signs that systems are shifting.\n- 2. Local ownership matters. When partners are in the driver's seat, as in MACCSS's co-creation of interventions, impact and sustainability improve, even if the route diverges from initial plans.\n- 3. Facilitation over funding. Hands-on mentoring and relationship-brokering build deeper capabilities than unidirectional training, grants and results frameworks.\n- 4. Learning by doing. Regular reflection converts experience into strategy; failures become data for adaptation.\n- 5. Build trust and coalitions. Engagement with credible institutions such as the Ombudsman, with champions in the state and in FCDO sister programmes, and leaning on the collective experience of the AWG, altogether shows that reform depends on collective effort, on nurturing emergent anti-corruption networks, rather than on building the capacity of individual actors.\n- 6. Resilience  grows  from  below. District  alliances  illustrate  that  sustainable  accountability  takes  root  when communities see anti-corruption as linked to livelihoods and services, not as an abstract governance agenda.\n- 7. Gender and inclusion strengthen legitimacy. Integrating GESI principles by addressing corruption in mining, infrastructure,  agriculture,  sectors  critical  for  women  and  marginalised  groups  broadens  both  the  reach  and credibility of anti-corruption efforts.\n\nERROR! NO Implications for Malawi and Beyond MACCSS demonstrates the  value  of working  politically  and  adaptively in  anti-corruption  programming  with  local stakeholders driving the agenda and the development of local approaches that work in Malawi for and by Malawians. Technical solutions and training alone cannot overcome entrenched incentives; transformation emerges from iterative learning, trust-building, and responsiveness to context. For donors, this means funding models that prioritise flexibility, process,  reflection  and  a  willingness  to  be  surprised  by  unexpected  gains  as  much  as  outputs  and  indicators.  For practitioners, it means patience, humility and a willingness to depart from the usual approaches and find out how to 'work with the grain' of local systems rather than against them.\n\nAs Malawi moves ahead of the 2025 elections result, the programme continues to focus on citizen energy with CSOs and media bringing collectively concrete accountability demands. The long-term vision is a network of capable, connected CSOs and local champions who can sustain anti-corruption momentum with decreasing external support.\n\nUltimately, the MACCSS experience reinforces a simple but profound insight: anti-corruption work is not about perfect plans but about adaptive partnerships. Change happens through relationships, experimentation and persistence. The task is not to eliminate uncertainty, but to navigate it with integrity and learning at the core.\n\n\u003C!-- image -->","2026-01-28T17:05:36.000Z","2026-06-02T21:22:46.000Z","- **Embrace complexity.** Change is adaption and pivoting to reality, which is not linear. In governance programmes, unexpected developments and temporary reversals are signs that systems are shifting.\n- **Local ownership matters.** When partners are in the driver’s seat, impact and sustainability improve. This is true even if the route diverges from initial plans.\n- **Facilitation over funding.** Hands-on mentoring and relationship brokering build deeper capabilities than unidirectional training, grants and results frameworks.\n- **Learning by doing.** Regular reflection converts experience into strategy; failures become data for adaptation.\n- **Build trust and coalitions.** Reform depends on a collective effort with credible institutions and sister anti-corruption programmes. It also requires nurturing emergent anti-corruption networks, rather than merely building the capacity of individual actors.\n- **Resilience grows from below.** Sustainable accountability takes root when communities see anti-corruption as linked to livelihoods and services, not as an abstract governance agenda.\n- **Gender and inclusion strengthen legitimacy.** Integrating gender and social inclusion (GESI) principles by addressing corruption in mining, infrastructure and agriculture – sectors critical for women and marginalised groups – broadens both the reach and credibility of anti-corruption efforts.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fpolitical-economy-weeds-embracing-complexity-anti-corruption-work-lessons-learned-anti",1780676562275]