On June 5-6, the World Bank Group hosted the 2nd meeting of the International Corruption Hunters Alliance (ICHA) to engage members on new technological tools and resources that can support the collective fight against global corruption.
“Technology can help us move faster and with greater accuracy to detect and catch fraud and corruption,” said Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank Group President, in his opening address to more than 300 senior anti-corruption officials and heads of enforcement organizations who participated in the meeting at the World Bank headquarters. “We could develop a compendium of resources that support integrity in financial centers which could serve as a useful information resource for all members of the Alliance.”
Building on the network of corruption fighters that was launched in 2010, ICHA 2012 is driving the fight against corruption to a new level defined by technological tools, new bilateral and multilateral partnerships, a broader range of enforcement action and a wealth of investigative, forensic and preventive knowledge that is now accessible to all Alliance members.
“To succeed in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of fraud and corruption, we need to create a community of practice that can leverage the tools, knowledge and expertise needed to fight transnational crimes and expedite actions by national anticorruption authorities,” said Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice President. “Last week, the World Bank’s Sanctions Board announced the debarment of eight companies based on our investigations in a number of countries in Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East. Our investigations were facilitated to a large extent by the power of this international alliance.”
The ICHA 2012 program focused on the introduction of new approaches such as crowd sourcing and citizen engagement, the use of open source data to support forensic investigations and evidence gathering, as well as bringing a corruption prevention perspective through the experiences of a number of countries and international organizations. In conjunction with the core program, the World Bank Group hosted a Technology EXPO to showcase technology that can be tailored to the specific needs of corruption fighters.
“Our focus this week was to learn from each other and prioritize the challenges and opportunities that can trigger collective action against global corruption,” said Stephen Zimmermann, Director of Operations at the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency. “Our work with members of the Alliance will continue to ensure that we are one step ahead and that our progress in fighting crime is not undermined.”
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