Mentoring Support Program “Capacity-Strengthening of Local Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Ukraine” (2019-2021)
In the autumn of 2019, Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (ACREC NaUKMA) launched a unique project of Mentoring Support for Non-Corruption Organizations in the Regions of Ukraine entitled “Capacity-Strengthening of Local Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Ukraine” .
The key objective of this program is to strengthen the development of institutional, organizational, analytical and expert capacities of regional and local anti-corruption NGOs in Ukraine.
The project selected the 20 most promising NGOs in the field of anti-corruption from cities such as Lviv, Drohobych, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Poltava, Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Chernihiv, Kremenchuk, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Nikopol, Sumy, Ukrainka, Khmilnyk, and Kyiv (city-level).
According to the program, cooperation and mentoring of regional NGOs is carried out within three key areas:
1. Mentoring: development of instructions for the general work of the organization, weekly counseling (telephone, Skype, meetings); assistance in the preparation of policy documents, drafts and procedures for working with local governments. We will also help address the specific needs of NGOs to increase their expertise and organize necessary training.
2. Training: passing the Anti-Corruption Interdisciplinary Studies Certification Program and the “Anti-Corruption Studies” master’s program to increase the professionalism and efficiency of their activity.
3. Networking: meetings with local, regional and national anti-corruption NGOs and anti-corruption experts to increase participating organisations’ impact and build new relationships to advocate change.
The main result of the project should be to strengthen and achieve a higher level of development of the organizational and professional potential of the participating organizations, which will have a positive effect on the implementation of anti-corruption reforms, alongside strengthening the rule of law and good governance at the local level in Ukraine.
The project also plans to achieve more specific objectives. In particular, we will promote the following:
1. Twenty representatives will participate in and successfully pass the Anti-Corruption Interdisciplinary Studies: Certification Program;
2. Five representatives of NGO-participants will join the “Anti-Corruption Studies” master’s program;
3. All 20 regional NGOs involved in the project will establish ongoing communication and among themselves and with 10 influential anti-corruption organizations at the national level.
This project is intended to run for 2 years, and cooperation with each NGO participating in the program is enshrined by the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation.
The Mentor Support Program “Capacity-Strengthening of Local Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Ukraine” is funded by the MATRA Support Program from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
Research project “Civil Society against Corruption in Ukraine”, conducted with Leiden University (2018-2019)
Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (ACREC), together with Leiden University (the Netherlands), launched their first joint research project in Ukraine, the main task of which is to find out which factors explain the successes and challenges of civil society’s anti-corruption activities in Ukraine.
To achieve this goal, the political role of civic organizations and activists, their educational strategies and organizational forms were explored. As a result of the project implementation, the following publications appeared: literary reviews, two working papers, two analytical notes and a book.
While working on the project, both desk surveys and fieldwork (primary data collection) were conducted; predominantly qualitative research methods were used. Fieldwork consisted of conducting semi-structured interviews with anti-corruption activists and civic organizations and focus groups, as well as surveys.
The planned duration of the project was 18 months. The project was divided into several large blocks: the first – research activities (work with literature, empirical, field and desk research); the second was the exchange of information (including workshops, meetings of researchers, exchange of scientists between Ukraine and the Netherlands, etc.); the third was the writing of publications.
The consortium of researchers consisted of the University of Leiden and the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
ACREC Scientific Colloquium
The Anti-Corruption Research and Education Center held the Scientific Colloquium for Young Corruption Researchers and Center interns on 8th February 2019. ACREC team and our experts Oleksandra Keudel and Nina Onopriychuk conducted it.
The main goal of the colloquium was to discuss the design of three completely different scientific studies, combining the common anti-corruption perspective and the desire to minimize corruption in various spheres of life in Ukraine.
In particular, we discussed the issues of corruption risks in the field of land management, reflected on the prospects and limits of interaction between the public and law enforcement agencies in detecting corruption crimes, and also gave recommendations on designing a theme on the impact of women’s political engagement on the level of corruption in Ukraine.
Presenters: administrative director of ACREC Andrii Biletskyi as well as ACREC interns Nataliia Shpak and Olya Teplitskaya.
Anticorruption online course “The United Nations Convention against Corruption: Global Corruption, Good Governance, Ukraine and the United States”
International Anti-Corruption Online Course “The United Nations Convention against Corruption: Global Corruption, Good Governance, Ukraine and the United States” is an online training course for law students interested in studying the issues of preventing corruption that is being implemented in six law schools of Ukraine: National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, National University Odesa Law Academy, National University of Ostroh Academy, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Poltava Law Institute, Chernivtsi National University.
The course is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) New Justice Program.
Anti-Corruption Interdisciplinary Studies: Certification Program 2018-2019
“Anti-Corruption interdisciplinary studies” are devoted to the comprehensive study of corruption as a social and legal phenomenon and ways of its prevention. We invited theorists and practices in the field of combating corruption from Ukraine, the Netherlands and Germany to read lectures for this program. The program is intended for representatives of anti-corruption bodies and activists of the public sector, assistants of people’s deputies, experts of The National Agency for Prevention of Corruption, officials of executive authorities and local self-government, journalists, teachers, who wish to improve their qualifications in this field, lawyers of private companies, as well as students.
The program is supported by the “Open Society Foundations”.
A project Anti-Corruption Walks Kyiv
Anti-Corruption Walks Kyiv is an innovative educational tool in the form of interactive city guided tours.
The key objective of the project is to increase the level of political education and to create a zero tolerance of citizens for corruption. In our work, we aim to inspire tour participants with positive success stories that will contribute to a gradual change in the discourse of corruption in Ukraine. Equally important is encouraging citizens to engage in civic activism and volunteer work in the field of preventing corruption in our country.
We do this through anticorruption tours of the cities, which last from 1 to 2 hours on the favorite routes of residents and visitors of the capital. Each route includes 5-8 stations linked to various locations related to the demonstration cases of corruption and anti-corruption. In addition to the informative component, tours include role-playing games, contests and tasty prizes for quizzes.
Online Course “Researching Corruption: How Does It Work?”
The course answers the question of what corruption is, how to research and measure it. The following specialists participated in the development of the course: Oksana Huss, PhD student at the Institute for the Development and Peace of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Niklas Kossow, doctoral student and researcher at the European Anti-Corruption Research Centre, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, a professor, a political scientist, a journalist, an expert on the fight against political corruption, and other Ukrainian and international experts.
Summer intensive “How To Research Corruption? Analytics That Affects The Anti-Corruption Policy” 2018
Weekly course on design and writing the effective anti-corruption analytics from Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
The curriculum was based on practical cases and concentrated theory needed to complete practical tasks during the education. After learning the theory and interdisciplinary methods of studying corruption, participants implemented gained knowledge by analyzing of the scientific literature and preparing of an effective analytical text in the field of anti-corruption policy.
This intensive encouraged participants to discuss and develop their own topics of analytical articles, policy papers, essays, research, master’s and doctoral studies.
Lecture of Professor Alina Mundjiu-Pippidi: Anti-Corruption Without Manipulation And Populism, 04/03/2018
On 3th of April 2018, an open lecture-discussion of the head of the European Research Centre For Anti-Corruption and State-Building at Hertie School of Management (Berlin) Alina Mundjiu-Pippidi took place in Kyiv. Professor Pippidi suggested moving away from an anti-corruption reform in the “betrayal” / “victory” format, but to think about what indicators of the effectiveness of reforms are and how to talk about them in order to avoid manipulation and populism.
The event also featured a presentation by Alina Mundjiu-Pippidi’s book “Transitions to Good Governance: Creating the Virtuous Circles of Anticorruption”.
Alina Mundjiu-Pippidi is a professor, political scientist, journalist, expert in the field of fighting against political corruption. She is the Head of The European Research Centre For Anti-Corruption and State-Building in Hertie School of Management in Berlin. She is the author of the monographs: “A Quest for Good Governance” (Cambridge University Press, 2015), “Tale of Two Villages” (CEU Press, 2010). She is also a consultant to various government and international organizations. One of her latest work is the report of the World Bank on the development of the International Monetary Fund. Alina Mundjiu-Pippidi is currently a lecturer in a free online course on “Researching Corruption: How Does it Work?”, which has started in May 2018 on the Prometheus educational platform.
Questions to discuss:
– how to measure progress in the fight against corruption
– what indicators are objectively reflecting the results – implementation of anti-corruption reforms
– how to effectively communicate the successes in the fight against corruption
– whether the positive anti-corruption cases of European countries are a benchmark for Ukraine
– how to prevent corruption in anti-corruption studies
– how to develop effective anti-corruption strategies
Comprehensive study program “The Toolkit of Anti-Corruption Activist”
As part of a two-day training, 30 activists from the Eastern regions of Ukraine had the opportunity to gain knowledge and a powerful arsenal of anti-corruption tools from the best Ukrainian specialists and to establish a strong network connection with other Program participants.
This program was implemented within the framework of the Enhance Non-Governmental Actors and Grassroots Engagement (ENGAGE) Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Pact in Ukraine.
Anti-corruption talks 05/12/2017
Representatives of the Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre (ACREC) are extremely pleased to present you the initiative of ACREC in the framework of the Anti-Corruption Walks Kyiv – the first Anti-Corruption Talks.
On the 5th of December 2017, our guest was Oleg Sukhov, journalist of the Kyiv Post. The topics of the debate ranged from events related to NABU and NAPC to a more comprehensive discussion of anti-corruption measures.
Anti-Corruption Interdisciplinary Studies: Certification Program 2017-2018
ACREC introduces the first interdisciplinary anti-corruption education program in Ukraine.
The opening of the specialized educational program “Anti-Corruption Interdisciplinary Studies” was held on 14th of September at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
This is the first interdisciplinary anti-corruption educational program in Ukraine which is aimed to provide systematic knowledge in the field of prevention of corruption. The uniqueness of the program is, first of all, that the courses involve acquainting students not only with the legal aspects of the prevention of corruption, but also the study of the political, economic, social and psychological aspects of this negative phenomenon. Program participants have a unique opportunity to learn how to effectively apply anti-corruption tools. The main form of teaching is the interactive forms of learning, in particular: lectures-discussions, work in small groups, simulations, case-study, etc.
The Certificate Education Program is a joint project of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre, implemented with the support of the Open Society Foundations.
Summer School “Investigation of Corruption Crimes”
For five days, students had a unique opportunity to learn about investigation of financial frauds from the Ukrainian and American colleagues from NABU, FBI agents; to feel like real participants in the criminal proceedings – detectives, prosecutors, lawyers, witnesses of corruption offenses; to try to convince the real judge to give permission to conduct a search.
Lecture-Discussion With Journalists, MPs of Ukraine And Well-Known Public Figures Mustafa Naiyem and Sergey Leshchenko (21.10.2017)
The event was organized by the non-governmental organization “Youth Anti-Corruption Agency” and Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. During the event, participants learned about the tools for monitoring university budgets, open state registries and the most significant anti-corruption cases.
The Anti-Corruption Hub Lecture “Compliance as an Effective Instrument to Fight Corruption in Ukraine” 05/10/2017
During the lecture, the Head of the compliance practice of Redcliffe Partners, Ario Dehgani, spoke about the development of compliance at the global level as an effective tool to combat corruption practices, about the state and prospects for implementing compliance practice in Ukraine, the most typical practice of using compliance in daily activities, and about government support compliance, challenges of implementing compliance in Ukraine and ways to overcome them.
Issues which were discussed during the lecture: the magnitude and negative impact of corruption, what kind of damages corruption affects to the economies of different countries and how it influences on the development of the economy.
Lecture “Corruption and Cybercrime as a Dual Challenge for Investments” 24/05/2017
During the lecture, Professor Peter Henning told the audience how the development of the state economy and the struggle for corruption and cybercrime were linked between each other.
Presentation of Analytics of the ACREC 27/03/2017
We’re inviting you to presentation of the analytical study “Assessing the implementation of anti-corruption strategy: achievements and problems”. This research is devoted to the analysis of the implementation of the Anti-corruption Strategy for 2014-2017 and the State Program realization during 2015-2016, namely: the identification of problems that remain unresolved or self-evident during the implementation of the state anti-corruption policy; to identify recommendations for further measures that should be included in the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the State Program.
Speakers:
1. Anton Marchuk – the analyst at the NGO Anticorruption Headquarters.
2. Oksana Nesterenko – the Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, PhD in Law.
3. Galina Yanchenko – the Head of NGO Anticorruption Headquarters.
The project has been implemented by the NGO Anticorruption Headquarters and the Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Lecture “Working with open databases” 17/03/2017
The lecture “How many apartments does the official have? Working with open databases” was held in the Anti-Corruption Hub. During this lecture, Antonina Volkotroub, financial analyst of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, described which registries she uses in her work. She illustrated, through concrete examples, how the public investigations of odious cases about the “Boyko towers” and the Klyuyev brothers’ solar power stations were conducted through the use of registry information.
Training “How to make the state to share information?” 02/22/2017
The training session “How to make the state to share information” took place on 23th February in the Anti-Corruption Hub. The trainer is one of the developers of the law “On access to public information”, candidate of legal science, holder of the Fulbright scholarship and lecturer at NaUKMA Oksana Nesterenko. She helped to deal with all the intricacies of processing requests and appeals against unwarranted failures.
“Asked For a Bribe? How To Act. Practical Aspects “26/01/2017
Participants of the event learned about what citizens should do when a bribe is asked of them. The main questions are:what can not be done and why it can not be done? What kind of unintentional actions can help a briber to avoid responsibility?
Discussion “E-Declaration for Anti-Corruption NGOs. For and against “05/04/2017
On March 23, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine obliged representatives of Anti-corruption non-governmental organizations to submit e-declarations on an obligatory basis. This decision caused a lively discussion in society. So, we invite you to an open discussion “E-Declaration for Anti-Corruption NGOs. For and against, “where you will be able to directly question the attitude of such an obligation to anti-corruption activists.
Anti-Corruption Hub Lecture: “How Do We Run An Anti-Corruption Marathon?” 02/09/2017
The lecture “How do we run the anti-corruption marathon?” was held as a part of the Anti-Corruption Hub.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn talked about how anti-corruption reforms were progressing, successes we already got, and what challenges we would face in the coming years. He also explained why we had to wait longer for the real results:
– In 2002, Romania began creating new anti-corruption institutions. In 2007, the majority of the country’s population were convinced of their low efficiency and the country was among the most corrupt in the EU. In 2016, more than 1,250 top officials, politicians, judges, prosecutors were arrested and an attempt to amnesty them brings 1.5% of the population to the streets of Bucharest.
The anti-corruption struggle for the inefficient countries of the post-Soviet space is not a 100-meter freestyle, but a marathon.
According to Yaroslav, it will be possible to overcome corruption much faster if not only the executive authorities and activists of public organizations will be engaged in this matter again. Overcoming corruption should be a matter for every citizen. And he suggested actions that everyone can do:
1. Cultivate your own life without corruption – do not take and not pay bribes. Yes. it can be hard. But the laws are respected where they are executed, and not where they are afraid of punishment for their violation.
2. Control. Today in Ukraine is one of the most transparent public procurement systems. Over the past year, a lot of state registers have been opened, including register of property. Every citizen can check the official’s declaration and verify this information with its current states.
3. Become a NGO volunteer. There are many public organizations, such as Transparency International Ukraine or the Anti-Corruption Action Centre. You can appeal to them, become their volunteer and help them with their actions to conduct another campaign, save billions of hryvnias for the budget of Ukraine.
4. Expose corruption. Anyone who has learned about corruption can report this fact. Report this to law enforcement, activists, journalists. And thus stop the crime.
5. Choose politicians responsibly. Do not believe the beautiful promises. “Free cheese is only in a mousetrap.” But in reality, our country is waiting for a long and difficult path.
Already, ACREC is planning the next lecture of the Anti-Corruption Hub, which will focus on access to public information and how to use this tool to get information on corruption crimes.
Colloquium For Researchers of Corruption 24/01/2017
Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy conducted a colloquium for researchers of corruption.
On January 24, 2017, a colloquium was held at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The purpose of the colloquium is to discuss the study “Assessment of the implementation of anti-corruption strategy: achievements and problems”. Academics and experts representing different branches of knowledge took part in this discussion.
This way of preparing analytical materials gives an opportunity to take a broader look at the subject of research. A multidisciplinary approach to research helps to apply the full range of methodologies.
This colloquium is a part of the joint project ACREC and the NGO “Anti-corruption Headquarters”. Based on the study, an analytical paper will be prepared, and the results of the study will be presented to the expert society in March-April 2017.
ACREC expresses its deep appreciation for the professional ratings and recommendations for improving the study of the participants in the colloquium.
The colloquium was attended by:
Mykola Khavroniuk – Ukrainian lawyer-criminologist. Doctor of Law, Professor, Director of Scientific Development and Members of the Board of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform;
Oksana Nesterenko – lecturer at NaUKMA, PhD in Law, lecturer of NaUKMA, candidate of legal sciences, holder of Fulbright scholarship in the Kennan Institute Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington.
Tetiana Kostiuchenko – the lecturer at the Department of Sociology at the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, one of the most advanced experts in Ukraine on network analysis.
Margaryta Chabanna – the candidate of political sciences, an associate professor, a lecturer at NaUKMA.
Tetiana Shevchuk – expert on returning assets of the ANTAC.
Oksana Huss – PhD student at the Institute of Development and Peace at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (Universität Duisburg-Essen, Deutschland).
Colloquium For Researchers of Corruption 18-19/11/2016
The participants in the Summer Intensive “How to Research Corruption? Analytics That Affects The Anti-Corruption Policy” were able to present passing results of their own anti-corruption researches. During those two days, participants of the colloquium discussed corruption related issues in the educational, healthcare and environmental spheres, as well as relevant studies on the impact of corruption on the formation and funding of political parties and the development of new anti-corruption institutions. In addition to the participants of the Summer Intensive, leading experts in the field of prevention of corruption, representatives of leading non-governmental anti-corruption organizations took part in the colloquium.
The interdisciplinary course “Corruption, Public Policy and Society” for Masters and free listeners of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
The course “Corruption, Public Policy and Society” is an interdisciplinary educational discipline, which involves studying the corruption as a social and legal phenomenon and its negative consequences on the processes of state formation.
Objective of the course is to form a system of knowledge about the social and legal nature of corruption, legal aspects of countering corruption, ways of prevention and counteraction, as well as features of investigation of corruption offenses.
The course consists of three blocks. The first block envisages the acquisition of knowledge by students about the nature and classification of corruption, economic consequences, peculiarities of corruption in Ukraine and other transition countries, effective anti-corruption strategies implemented in different countries of the world, tools to counter major political, administrative and domestic corruption.
The second block is devoted to legal principles and institutional mechanisms of prevention and counteraction of corruption in Ukraine. In this part of the course, students will be introduced to the best international practices in the fight against corruption, as well as anti-corruption laws in Ukraine.
Summer intensive “How To Research Corruption? Analytics That Affects The Anti-Corruption Policy” 2016
The course was held by Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy on August 8-13, 2016.
The goal of this intensive was to teach young researchers, analysts, public policy makers to prepare quality interdisciplinary research and effective analytics in the area of anti-corruption. The training encouraged researchers to debate on their own scientific developments and to formulate a request for high-quality domestic research in the field of combating corruption in Ukraine.
The course program was built on practical cases and concentrated theory needed for anti-corruption activities.
Online Course “Fighting Corruption”
The online course was created on the basis of the interdisciplinary course “Corruption, Public Policy and Society” and developed specially for the students of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy by experts and co-founders of the Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Other key projects:
- Training of detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) – July-October 2015.
- Organization of testing of candidates for the position of expert of the Council of Public Experts for the Committee of The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Corruption Prevention and Counteraction.