XXVVXIV, December 2017

“Tax avoidance is denying money for services and development. This is a system that is

fault. We need more transparency” – Winnie Byanyima

Contact Us:

4-C Mezzanine Floor, Khayaban-e-Itehad

Phase VII, DHA Karachi. Phone: 92-21-35390408

Fax: 92-21-35390410

XXVVXIV, DEC 2017

Editorial

2

3

5

7

How Strong are Anti-Corruption Agencies in Asia Pacific?

With the close of this quarter, Anti-Fraud Hotline (AFH) enters its 8th year of successful operation.

Transparency International Pakistan organized workshops to enhance capacity of CSOs on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16

“Corruption is an insidious plague that has corrosive effects on societies.” – Kofi Anan

TI Pakistan‟s Activities:

TI Pakistan is empowering youth to fight corruption, raise their voice against corrupt practices and hold government accountable

TI Pakistan conducted Citizen Report Card Study to evaluate performance of Local Government in district Jaffarabad, Balochistan.

6

XXVVXIV, December 2017

2

The Anti – Corruption Agencies

(ACA‟s) are permanent bodies

that exist outside of government„s

influence. The report titled „Anti-

Corruption Agencies

Strengthening Initiative‟ is a study

and review of seven countries

from the Asia Pacific including

Pakistan.

Published by Transparency

international, the report reveals

some of the facts and several

harsh realities about Anti-

corruption Agencies of selected

countries in Asia Pacific. The

United Nations Convention

against Corruption (UNCAC) 2003

explains the ACA as “it is

independent body/bodies within

national governance systems are

required to promote and enforce anti-corruption policies and

practices”. The report endeavored

to assess strengths and weakness of

Anti-Corruption Agencies‟ based on

the selected indicators:

The first indicator Legal

Independence and Status

highlights that in most of the Asia

Pacific countries; the appointment

of the head of ACA‟s is not

transparent as the method of

appointment adopted by the

concerned authorities‟ is

inappropriate , lack transparency,

and is politically influenced.

Moreover, with reference to

Pakistan, this important task is

always delayed by the political

dissidence among political parties.

The second indicator examines the

Financial and Human Resources

aspect. Despite having the highest

Strengthening Anti-Corruption Agencies Initiative

The fourth and fifth indicators are prevention, education and

outreach. Pakistan has scored the lowest i.e 56 points among its

regional peers. The performance of NAB rated below average,

while Bhutan ranked high in this regard. Similarly, public

confidence in ACA‟s is another crucial factor to gauge the

progress of ACA‟s. Pakistan scored 50 point, which is the lowest

among the countries included in this study.

The study also points towards inadequate mechanism for

accountability and oversight. For instance, there is no external or

internal accountability mechanism for monitoring and

assessment, NAB only submits an annual report to the president

of the country.

To bring improvement in ACAs performance, Transparency

International has proposed recommendations which focus on

three key zones; to work independently without any pressure,

increase public accountability and trust and last of all to

construct institutional capacity to implement the ACA‟s

mandate.

budget of $27.4 million in 2015-16,

achievements of NAB remained

unsatisfactory, insignificant and

below the mark. While the human

resource department illustrates that

many ACAs lack professional and

technical experts in relevant field

which acts as a great hindrance.

The third indicator Detection and

Investigation relates to detection

and identification of corruption,

thereafter, investigation of it. The

performance of Pakistan‟s National

Accountability Bureau (NAB) on

this indicator is moderate. In last

three years, NAB collected

complaints from 300 to 800, which

is relatively satisfactory. Overall,

the populace to complaint ratio is

diminishing. Moreover, in this

regard, the performance of ACA‟s

in Asia Pacific is unsatisfactory.

Editor: Ms. Faizah Mubarak. Cartoonist: Mr. Zahid Gara

XXVVXIV, December 2017

3

With the close of this quarter,

Anti-Fraud Hotline (AFH) enters

its 8th year of operations. In this

quarter AFH received complaints

from across the country regarding

fraud and corruption in various

USAID funded projects. These

complaints carry critical

information regarding issues in

the implementation of USAID

funded projects. Issues are

primarily divided into categories

such as solicitation of bribe, favors

and kickbacks or service delivery

issue, theft of USAID funded

goods, PPRA violations or

procurement frauds. The

concentration of complaints

related to service delivery issues

remained high, and a few

complaints related to bribery and

theft were also reported to OIG in

this quarter. In addition,

complaints against administrative

problems in the project

implementation were also

reported related to conflict of

interest, embezzlement as well as

improper hiring, whereas

complaints that might indicate

PPRA violation or procurement

fraud did not surface.

AFH also receives complaints that

may not have a USAID nexus to

them, but are related to projects

that are funded by national and

international agencies and NGO‟s.

In these instances, AFH refers

them to respective organizations,

with which OIG has signed a

Memorandum of Understanding.

This quarter, AFH handled 2800 calls, and as a result 117 complaints were

registered. Since its inception, AFH has effectively handled

over 92,000 calls

Complaints that are solely related to Pakistan and do not involve funding of international donors are referred to TI

Pakistan‟s Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (ALAC).

AFH management continued to ensure that the complaints are formulated with utmost professionalism. AFH‟s

multilingual complaint officers, who have gained considerable experience over the passage of project tenure, are

well equipped in keeping the flow of communication with the complainants open and follow ups to get as much

information as possible. AFH complaint officers adhere to the guidelines provided by OIG as to the information

necessary for successful complaint launch, which ultimately supplements the investigative efforts of OIG.

The Hotline remained the primary source of complaint generation, whereas other contact mediums such as emails,

sms, whatsapp also contributed a fair share in this process. Complaints received from various mediums are dealt

with strict confidentiality. Analysis and progress is communicated to USAID/ OIG on weekly and quarterly basis.

This helps in project‟s operational efficiency and outcome.

This quarter AFH received over 2800 calls, and as a result 117 complaints were registered. Since its inception in

January 2011, AFH has effectively handled over 92,000 calls. This huge volume has resulted in the registration of

approx. 8,000 complaints. These figures reflect AFH‟s operational efficacy. The uploaded complaints have played a

pivotal role in assisting OIG in its investigations.

XXVVXIV, December 2017

4

Fraud awareness

and prevention

workshop

July 12, 2016:

The workshop was aimed at

transferring of knowledge

to Sub Grantees of USAID

Implementing partners. The

workshop provided the

participants with an

opportunity to discuss the

issues faced in the

implementation of their

projects, by interacting with

representatives from USAID

OIG, NAB and TI-Pakistan.

July 14, 2016

The workshop was

organized under USAID

Anti-Fraud Hotline‟s

awareness and outreach

campaign. It was primarily

designed to raise awareness

regarding corruption in

USAID projects, and how to

detect, identify and prevent

it in the projects undertaken

by OTI implementing

partners.

Multi-Stakeholder Network on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 16

Transparency International Pakistan organized

Civil Society Capacity Building Workshops on

Sustainable Development Goal 16.

In this quarter, TI Pakistan successfully conducted

03 training workshops on strengthening the

capacity of civil society organizations on

Sustainable Development Goal 16. These

workshops were organized as follow:

1. The first workshop was organized on

November 20th, 2017 at Pearl Continental

Hotel, Karachi

2. The second workshop was arranged on

December 12th at Hotel Mariott, Islamabad

3. The third workshop took place on December

20th at Indus Hotel, Hyderabad.

The primary goal of the workshops was to help

build CSO/NGO capacity on Goal 16, by

discussing how to engage with governments

and other local stakeholders to support the

planning, implementation and accountability of

Goal 16. The aim was to collaborate and

advocate for integrating anti-corruption reforms

in Pakistan‟s commitment towards Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs). The CSO/NGOs

were provided with capacity building on anti-

corruption best practices, learn and share

knowledge on different targets and indicators of

Goal 16 to undertake advocacy around the SDG

16 “to promote peaceful, inclusive societies for

sustainable development, to provide access to

justice for all and to build effective, accountable

and inclusive institutions at all level”.

XXVVXIV, December 2017

5

Governor Sindh, Dr. Ishratul Ebad presenting Integrity Award 2016 to Director General NAB Karachi

Sustainable

Development Goal

(SDG) 16 Workshops

November 20, 2017:

The first workshop was

organized on November

20th, 2017 at Pearl

Continental Hotel, Karachi

December 12, 2017

The second workshop was

organized on December

12th, 2017 at Marriott Hotel,

Islamabad

December 20, 2017

The third workshop was

organized on December

20th, 2017 at Indus Hotel,

Hyderabad

XXVVXIV, December 2017

6

Empowering Youth to Fight Corruption

In this quarter, TI Pakistan started

a new project titled “Promoting

Democratic Values Amongst

Youth” under the grant awarded

by US Consulate, Karachi. The

project envisions giving voice to

young people and the vulnerable

communities in Sindh province,

bringing about a more open,

transparent and a democratic

society that supports the core

democratic values namely

Transparency, Accountability and

Integrity.

In the reporting quarter TI

Pakistan and Greenwich

University Karachi signed an MoU

to set up Youth Integrity Club at

the university. The launching

ceremony took place on

November 9, 2017 and was

attended by over 150 students,

university faculty, representatives

of US Consulate Karachi and TI

Pakistan.

Similarly, two workshops were

organized on topic “Youth

Leadership and Integrity” at

Khairpur Mirus, and Umerkot

Sindh. Around 150 participants

belonging to different grass root

organizations, civil society

members and people from

vulnerable communities attended

the workshop.

A youth advocacy seminar was

conducted at Greenwich

University Karachi on „The Role of

Youth in Combating Corruption‟.

The event aimed at celebrating

International Anti-corruption Day

which takes place on December

9th each year. Speakers elaborated

on the topic of democracy and

anti-corruption and highlighted

that active citizenry and strong

institutions are the hallmark of

any democratic system.

Glimpses from Youth Integrity Club

Activities

XXVVXIV, December 2017

7

Glimpses from ALAC Activities

In this quarter, Transparency

International Pakistan in

collaboration with Helper

Development Organization

conducted a Citizen Report Card

study to evaluate performance of

the local government in district

Jaffarabad, Balochistan. While the

second, Citizen Report Card Study

was conducted on education

focusing on district Okara, Punjab.

In coming weeks, TI Pakistan

intends to share findings of the

study with relevant stakeholders.

Number of training workshops

were organized on Right to

Information Law to raise

awareness and equip citizens with

skills and knowledge on how they

can use RTI to hold government

accountable.

In our effort to enhance social

accountability in the country, a

session between local government

representatives and citizens was

organized in district

Bahawalnagar. Citizens

highlighted that this is for the first

time such an event is organized

where general public can directly

ask question from the local

government representatives. This

Citizen’s Voice Against Corruption

also provided the local

government representatives a

chance to communicate citizens

the budgetary, and human

resource problems they are facing.

Similarly, on the occasion of

International Anti-Corruption

Day, TI Pakistan in collaboration

with local partners organized 17

walks and seminars all over

Pakistan. The message of anti-

corruption was directly

communicated to some 850

individuals including social

workers, students, teachers, media

and lawyers.

XXVVXIV, December 2017

8

International Anti-Corruption Day 2017

Every year, Transparency International Pakistan organizes walks and seminars on International Anti-Corruption

day all over Pakistan. This year, TI Pakistan organized walks and seminars in 17 districts across Pakistan. In

Sindh the programs were organized in Badin, Matiari, Mirpur Khas, and Jacobabad; in Punjab these were

organized in Dera Gazi Khan, Layyah, Vehari, Hafizabad, Chaniot, Toba Tek Singh and Bahawalnagar; in

Balochistan events were organized in Kallat, Jaffarabad, and Pishin; and in KPK walks and seminars were

arranged in Mardan, Nowshera, and Peshawar.

A large number of citizens, civil society members, media personnel, lawyers, students, teachers and religious

leaders participated in these gatherings. During the seminars, the speakers highlighted various aspects of

corruption and its detrimental effects on society and the future of the next generation. The speakers informed the

participants about the Right to Information laws in the country and urged participants to use RTI to promote

transparency and accountability.

District Hafizabad, Punjab District Jaffarabad, Balochistan District Mittiari, Sindh

Pishin, Balochistan District Jacobabad, Sindh Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa