The project, implemented in 2020–2021, aimed to examine specific aspects of how the institution of whistleblowers operates in Ukraine, particularly in the public and private sectors.
The aim of the initiative is to deepen the analytical understanding of how the conditions for exposing corruption are formed, as well as how organisations and institutions respond to reports from whistleblowers.
As part of the project, a study was conducted into practices for working with whistleblowers in the private sector, and the relationship between fostering a culture of whistleblowing and creating the institutional conditions for reporting corruption within Ukraine’s executive authorities was analysed. The project involved analytical work, the collection of empirical data, and the preparation of research materials aimed at developing a policy for the protection of whistleblowers.
As a result of the project, two analytical studies were prepared:
- Business and whistleblowers: a study of the current state of the introduction of the reporting system in private companies in Ukraine;
- Relationship between the culture of whistleblowing and the conditions for exposing corruption in the state executive bodies of Ukraine.
According to the results of the research, it has been established that, at the present stage, there is no clear correlation in Ukraine between the extent to which a culture of whistleblowing has been established within government bodies and the actual number of reports received from whistleblowers.
The project’s outcomes are aimed at strengthening the protection of whistleblowers, developing a culture of reporting corruption, and raising awareness of mechanisms for working with whistleblowers in both the public sector and the private sector.
This research project was implemented as part of the Analytical Centres Development Initiative for Ukraine, carried out by the International Renaissance Foundation in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE), with financial support from the Swedish Embassy in Ukraine. The published results of the project represent the authors’ views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Swedish Embassy in Ukraine, the International Renaissance Foundation or the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE).