Our Work.
What we do
Our vision is a world in which government, politics, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption.
Our objectives are to protect the public’s resources, stop flows of dirty money, secure integrity in politics, drive integrity in business, pursue enforcement and justice, expand civic space for accountability, build community leadership against corruption.
We hold the powerful and corrupt to account, by exposing the systems and networks that enable corruption. We advocate for policies and build coalitions to change the status quo.
Our vision of a corruption-free world is not an end in itself. It is the fight for social and economic justice, human rights, peace and security.
Our fight against corruption is focused on three pillars, namely education, research and advocacy in order to prevent the negative impacts of corruption on Belgian society.
T.I. as a global movement
Transparency International has been dedicated to the fight against corruption since its inception in 1993. The basic principles of TI’s fight against corruption have been established from the beginning: building a coalition, growing incrementally and maintaining a non-confrontational stance.
TI believes that curbing corruption is only achievable when representatives of governments, business and civil society work together and agree on a system of standards and procedures that they all support. TI also believes that corruption cannot be eradicated with one big swipe. On the contrary, fighting it is a step-by-step, ‘project-by-project’ process. Finally, TI believes its non-confrontational approach is necessary to bring all relevant parties around the table.
TI’s goal is to identify and implement strategies and mechanisms that make corrupt practices, if not impossible, at least improbable and punishable, at both national and international levels. TI is taking the first step in this direction by making the problem public and thus changing public opinion, pointing out that corruption is a problem that can be addressed and that it is not a given fact of life that cannot be dealt with. That is why TI started collecting, analysing and disseminating information on the subject. The anti-corruption strategies and tools subsequently developed by TI are described in detail in the so-called ‘Source Book’, complemented by an extensive collection of practical examples for their application. The Source Book is available both online and in book form.
A selection of civil society experiences and new strategies in countering corruption are also available in the ‘Corruption Fighters’ Tool Kit’. More than 90 national sections, so-called ‘National Chapters’ (NCs), work to strengthen integrity and transparency in their respective countries and regions. The Berlin-based Secretariat (TI-S) supports the National Chapters in their work and urges international organisations such as the OECD and OAS to draft international anti-corruption regulations. TI then monitors the implementation at national level of those international regulations, known as ‘monitoring’.
“Our fight against corruption is focused on three pillars, namely education, research and advocacy in order to prevent the negative impacts of corruption on Belgian society. We believe in a world in which government, politics, business, civil society and people's daily lives are free of corruption.”
Thomas Vermaerke
Executive Director Transparency International Belgium