'What works and why in community-based anti-corruption programs'

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What works and why in community-based anti-corruption programs3.5 Community programs and anti-corruption educationThis section highlights four examples of interesting, successful and innovative community-basedprograms working with schools and universities to sensitise young people to the effects of corruption.What made these education programs successful was their relevance and resonance with the studentparticipants. Each of the programs described below has tapped into an area of interest for students.Using examples of ethics in sport, setting up clubs in schools or working with students from commonfaith backgrounds, these programs have come to where students are at, to foster an understanding ofgovernance and corruption through a topic or subject of interest to the students.Not all of these programs tackle corruption head on or explicitly promoted an anti-corruption message.Some are examples of governance programs, seeking to build a sense of civic pride in students. Theycontribute to building positive awareness and understanding about good governance, localgovernment services and what should be expected from a community that aspires to care for all itsmembers. These types of programs create fertile ground for other anti-corruption programs. Guidingyoung peoples’ interest in civic matters lays the foundations for a future community that can condemnand speak out against corruption and demand better accountability from government, private businessand NGOs._________________________________________________________________________________CASESTUDY NINEBox 3.9 Ethics and Sport – Italy“Learning to respect game rules today means learning to respect civic rules tomorrow”Since 2003 the Transparency International Italia Ethics and Sport project has promoted ethicalbehaviour in sport as a means to foster young people’s respect for civic values and distain forcorruption.The Ethics and Sport Project exalts the positive values conveyed through sport. In sessions andseminars with schools and sports associations, young people identify the positive personal benefits ofsport, such as enhancing skills in teambuilding, group negotiation and cooperation with others.Students and teachers are then guided through discussions on the positive contribution of sport inenhancing social ethics and civic values in young people. An understanding and respect for rules,acceptance of diverse people and fair play for example, all aspects of social ethical behaviour, can bereinforced through principled practices in sport.The project challenges young people to examine the negative impact and destructive force ofcorruption in sport, not only on the playing field, but in breaking down ethical values and in creating anatmosphere of tolerance for corruption in other parts of society.Students were polled on their perspective of doping in sport, with results showing there was sometolerance and acceptance of the use of drugs and corruption that covered up the use of drugs in sport.To respond to the views and issues, TI-Italia engages prominent sport stars to speak with studentsand talk about doping and corruption in sport. Giving the students access to sportspeople who areadmired and identified as being ‘successful’, and stimulating debate about what was acceptablepractice has been a successful method for challenging the mentality of young people, a beginning toguiding them towards an intolerance of corruption in all its manifestations.Key strengths● The attention of young people will be caught when topics of relevance and interest are raised.Sport offers an excellent entry point for discussion that can cover ethics, rules and laws, and rightsand responsibilities.● Good behaviour in sport is a positive analogy that young people can relate to.- 26 -
What works and why in community-based anti-corruption programs● The approach is simple and could be adapted to many contexts, especially where sport plays aprominent role in social networking. The program also lends itself to creative and interactive activities,rather than relying on theoretical or classroom based teachings.● Prominent sports stars, admired and respected by young people, can be influential and positiverole models by promoting an anti-corruption message.Key challenges● The program discovered a degree of young people’s tolerance for corruption in sport wasgrounded in a view that some corruption practices were not ‘that bad’. Discussion about ethics insport needs to be complemented by wider public education about the damaging effects of corruption.● There are challenges in reaching out to sports clubs and associations who may not see a role forthemselves in anti-corruption education.Transparency International Italia_________________________________________________________________________________CASESTUDY 10Many education programs focus on teaching young people about the impact and affect of corruption.However one community-based initiative is demonstrating that young students, including children, canalso be powerful agents of change. Giving children a space to discuss what is important in theircommunity and to make changes to the social problems that they confront has been not only arewarding experience for the students, but has introduced positive changes in the wider community.Box 3.10 Children's Movement for Civic Awareness – IndiaChildren's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) is an innovative program that aims to ‘nourish thespirit of active citizenship, driven by the strength of voluntarism’. CMCA fosters civic andenvironmental consciousness among children through the establishment of school based Civic Clubs.Commencing as a small initiative with 14 schools in 2000, CMCA now boasts Civic Clubs in over 180schools in India.Civic Clubs actively engage young students 12-14 years. Clubs are assigned an external volunteerfacilitator who visits their designated schools at least once every week. Facilitators, who come from avariety of professional and social backgrounds, conduct sessions based on a common annualcurriculum for all Civic Clubs. Schools must also demonstrate support and ownership of the programwith an assigned teacher-coordinator to their students’ club, and regular time given each week forCivic Clubs meetings and activities. Sessions consists of outdoor activities, competitions and classes.Topics covered include how to coordinate and work in a group, civic values, active citizenship, rightsand responsibilities, urban local government, solid waste management, water conservation, traffic androad safety, urban greenery, public health and sanitation and other local issues. During a givenacademic year, one of the service themes is selected as a focal issue for all Civic Clubs.In addition to the school-based activities, civic club members also participate in city level annualcampaigns, surveys and interclub festivals. Each August and September, Civic Club members hit thestreets in fact-finding missions. Armed with questionnaires, children visit households, speaking toadults and collecting information to understand what adults in their city think about local service andgovernance issues. Surveys collected by Civic Clubs have asked citizens about management ofwaste, water resources, road and traffic safety and government services.Civic Clubs have made a difference in their communities in very novel ways. One Civic Club has setup awards for service to the community; another has run a campaign to improve waste deliveryservices. Other clubs have sent out fliers to households regarding waste disposal and safe driving.In recent years the CMCA has seen a growing level of interest from Civic Club members ongovernance issues. One factor for this is the increasing opportunity for Club members to meet with- 27 -
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