Case Studies in Confronting Corruption
The price of anything is the amount of life
you exchange for it.
Thoreau
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In this
entry we share some case examples, stories, and perspectives from people who have confronted corruption, often in some complicated and risky situations. As you will see in these examples, corruption is entrenched and ubiquitous. Courage, competency, and commitment with others along with perseverance, public awareness, and legal action, are needed to deal with corruption effectively
NCI Updates
We share these examples to encourage you in your
inevitable encounters with corruption, big or small. We also share them in hopes
that many of the people who have been affected by the NCI fraud will be encouraged
to help---including the current/past staff, board members, donors, and partners
of the organizations affected by NCI, including YWAM, Mercy Ministries, Mercy
Ships, and Youth For Christ, along with churches and victims. We note again the
core request below from the Shine the Light-Together petition, signed by over 100 people.
Update 1. Petition. The plan is to present the petition to several of the organizations that have been affected, as requested in the petition.
Update 2. Other Requests for Help. We are aware of at least two other organizations that have recently been approached to help identify where some of the NCI money may have gone.
Update 3. Legal. Currently we are aware of no additional criminal cases related to NCI besides the 2010-2011 Swedish case (that determined NCI to be a gross, longstanding fraud) although there is still the possibility in a some countries.There is currently a civil case where several victims are seeking justice.
Update 4. Harassment. Serious discrediting continues to happen for some of the people who are calling for ethical action and verifiable disclosures in the NCI case.
Update 5. Anti-Corruption Efforts. The previous weblog entry (April-May 2014) highlights some of the growing efforts by organizations and governments to combat corruption. PETRA People Network is now an official partner of the EXPOSED Campaign.
Short video by Transparency International (2013)
Case Studies
Case 1. What does it take to be a corruption fighter? Short video by Transparency International (2013)
Core remarks from several people working in anti-corruption efforts.
Case 2. Why can’t Grace go to school?
Short video by
Exposed Campaign (2014)
Corruption may not be as straightforward as you think….yet there are
many links in its multi-casual chain that we can break in order to disrupt it and protect vulnerable people.
(click here: also available in French and Spanish)
For more materials/stories from EXPOSED Campaign—click here.
Case 3. How do you blow a whistle in a huge
system like the UN?
Trailer for The Whistleblower
film (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3anBiHwmI
The Whistleblower is a movie "based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a
Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N.
for covering up a sex scandal." Bolkovac, played by Rachel Weisz,
"finds herself confronting a 'dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up
and intrigue amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic
double-talk'. A fictionalised account inspired by actual events, the movie
deals with issues both real and abhorrent: human trafficking, violence against
women and cross-border organised crime. United Nations peacekeepers and staff
are portrayed as turning a blindeye to, or worse, actually being complicit in
these crimes." The Whistleblower premiered
in September 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Case 4. Can a family’s resilience sustain
it as it confronts corruption/cover-ups in mission/aid? Article by Kelly and
Michele O’Donnell (2013)
“At the
heart of this chapter is the Pace family, four resilient people who refused to
ignore an international fraud in the mission/aid community. Names
and other identifying details have been changed, and some information is
presented in a composite form. We
highlight this serious case to provide support for two types of families:
mission families, as they navigate expected challenges of mission/aid life
(e.g., transitions, culture stress, relationship tensions, child rearing,
existential anxiety, and financial pressures), and the broader mission/aid
“family” that comprises senders (agencies/churches) and the international
mission/aid community, as it works to develop good governance, accountable
management, and verifiable transparency. This case study gives cause for both
the Korean and the international mission/aid communities to reflect on the
quality of their work and its possible shortcomings, on issues of transparency
and accountability, and on the challenges facing mission families. It is
also a wake-up call to the reality of corruption in our midst and the
resilience needed as part of our commitment to “love truth and peace” (Zech.
8:19).” Excerpted from chapter 22 in Family Accountability in Missions: Korean and Western Case Studies (pp 175-176, OMSC Publications. 2013).
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