Vigilant civil society can help check graft

Prof Dr Peter Eigen

The civil society movement against corruption must go on until a country is free of the vice, Transparency International founder Prof Dr Peter Eigen said yesterday.

“A vigilant civil society with a professional media is crucial to achieve the goal,” he told a crowded press conference at the TI local chapter office in the capital.

A powerful civil society, private sector and mass media are badly needed for better governance, he observed.

One billion of the world population is under the poverty line while two billions are without proper sanitation, mentioned Eigen. He said public awareness, anger and campaign for integrity have brought about tremendous changes in containing corruption in some African countries, but it may take longer to achieve the goal in some other countries.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said the mechanism, like some new laws and institutions, to fight corruption in Bangladesh is still far from being effective.

“As a result, the desired goal has not yet been achieved,” he added. 

The TI, a Berlin-based civil society campaign, is aiming at introducing an initiative styled “Garment Industries Transparency Initiative” (GITI) in Bangladesh within a year to promote transparency and better awareness of violations of labour standards to improve the lives of millions of workers in the sector.

Eigen said: “We aim at consolidating the existing civil society initiatives in the sector for development, competitiveness, sustainability and profitability of the entrepreneurs.”     

He proposed a tripartite “magical triangle” of the government, civil society and private sector for interacting with each other to make the initiative a success.   

Also the chair of the TI advisory council, Eigen came to Dhaka to attend a conference. He initiated the GITI last year to improve labour condition in the global garment supply chain. He is the founding chairman of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Having served in Africa and Latin America for World Bank, he had launched the TI in 1993 for better global governance.

“The critics termed my endeavour unprofessional and romantic,” said Eigen.