Can Civil Society Curb Corporate Corruption Across the World?
CIVICUS - the international civil society umbrella organization - published its 2017 State of Civil Society Report on June 6, 2017. The new report includes 237 guest essays, including one by Frank Vogl titled:
Civil society and business: meeting a rising challenge to prosperity and security
The article provides an overview of the many initiatives being taken by civil society organizations, such as Global Witness, CoST, Transparency International, EITI, the Open Contracting Partnership, CIPE, and others to work with business to curb corruption. Yet, the article concludes with the suggestion that perhaps, while islands of integrity are indeed being developed, they remain surrounded by seas of corporate corruption.
The article being on a positive note that illustrates the exceptional work that civil society organizations are doing in this area:
Lukas Straumann is a seemingly mild-mannered, low-key Swiss citizen with an iron determination to fight corruption. Straumann, Executive Director of the Bruno Manser human rights and rain forest protection fund, has worked tirelessly to build international action to protect the rainforests of Malaysia and their indigenous peoples from destruction by a formidable government and business partnership.
His work has been aided by courageous journalism, notably by former BBC reporter Clare Rewcastle; investigations by UK-based civil society organization (CSO) Global Witness; years of dedicated work by lm-makers Erik Pauser and Dylan Williams; and the extraordinary bravery of the forest peoples of Sarawak. In a 2016 documentary lm, The Borneo Case, and a 2014 book, Money Logging, Straumann and his partners describe how Abdul Taib bin Mahmud, who served as Governor of Sarawak, Malaysia, for over 30 years, established more than 400 businesses in 25 countries. The work by Straumann and his friends to expose Taib Mahmud’s timber activities drove him from office.