I. Between Two Policy Forums
Almost two years in existence now, Coalition
2000 (www.online.bg/coalition2000) has acquired universal
recognition as an innovative anti-corruption initiative both in
Bulgaria and internationally. In the year following the first
Policy Forum, the Anti-Corruption Action Plan gained credit as a
document, which was often referred to in Bulgaria and used in other
countries as a model for mapping out national anti-corruption
priorities. In the words of George Soros, the Bulgarian
anti-corruption plan is the most comprehensive and ambitious
document of its kind in post-communist societies.
The key event in the activities of Coalition
2000 in 1999 was the second meeting of the Policy Forum, which
was held in Sofia on December 13. While the first meeting in
November 1998 was devoted to endorsing the Anti-Corruption Action
Plan of Coalition 2000, in December the members came together to
evaluate the anti-corruption progress in Bulgaria and to chart the
period to come.
One year after the endorsement of the
Anti-Corruption Action Plan, the Coalition presented a Corruption
Assessment Report (CAR) for Bulgaria to the second Forum meeting.
CAR was a pioneering attempt to provide an overview of the relevant
developments in the areas identified by the Action Plan. The
document also puts the issues of corruption and anti-corruption
initiatives in the overall context of the democratic reform
priorities of the country.
Ms. Ekaterina Mihailova,
Deputy Chair of the Parliament’s Anti-Corruption
Committee,
US Ambassador Richard Miles
and CSD President Dr. Ognian Shentov at the Second Annual Meeting
of the Coalition 2000 Policy Forum.
The road from theoretical concept to
social practice required a mechanism of cooperation among the
coalition partners and a number of specific initiatives for
translating goals into results. In this respect, Coalition
2000 was able to establish regular working contacts with
experts and representatives of state institutions, which helped
broaden the scope of consultations not only within the Coalition
2000 activities, but also in the process of general political
decision-making reflecting on the corruption
situation in this country.
The Steering Committee, generally
supervising the initiative, proved an effective instrument for
exchange of opinions and formulation of common positions by the
representatives of civil society organizations and state
institutions. The Committee was enlarged last year to include
representatives of TI-Bulgaria, the Foundation for Local Government
Reform and two trade union organizations: the Confederation of
Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria and the “Podkrepa” Labor
Confederation. It functioned as a working body not only in the
context of regular meetings, but also through daily contacts and
informal consultations between the Secretariat and its
members.
To a varying extent and in different
forms representatives of state institutions, political parties and
public organizations were associated with the Coalition’s activity
and contributed to its implementation. In this sense, the impact of
the Policy Forum as an institution of Coalition 2000 went
beyond the endorsement of the Anti-Corruption Action Plan and the
Corruption Assessment Report and became the embodiment of the
coalition idea on a national scale. On the other hand, the initial
expectations for a stronger commitment on the part of the
government to the anti-corruption priorities outlined in the
Anti-Corruption Action Plan were not justified, which weakened the
motivation to address the problem among public
officials.
A significant part of the Coalition
efforts in 1999 was focused on promoting changes to the regulatory
framework which favored the curbing of corruption. As a Secretariat
of the Coalition, CSD led the effort in drafting the law on the
ombudsman institution in Bulgaria. An important linkage was made
with the reforms in another key sector – the judiciary (see Law
Program for further details).
II. Clean Future Public Awareness
Campaign
The “Clean Future” campaign included
a number of activities and public events aimed at promoting the
public standing of the initiative, defining target groups,
formulating and producing specific messages and ideas, selecting
forms and instruments of communication. Experts with different
backgrounds were involved in this process.
The goal of “Clean Future” is to
foster greater public intolerance of corruption. This includes
transforming prevalent attitudes, creating proper civic motivation,
establishing an organizational structure for social action,
ensuring a sustained process of social change, etc.
The public awareness campaign
involved non-governmental organizations, representatives of state
institutions and independent experts.
• In April 1999, CSD, as Secretariat
of the Coalition, held a competition for local partners of the
Coalition under the Small Grants Program. As a result, pilot
projects of 13 NGOs, based in different cities throughout the
country, were supported. The pilot stage of the Coalition’s local
projects (April – July 1999) enabled monitoring of corrupt
practices at the local level and testing of various anti-corruption
initiatives aimed at transparency and openness of local government.
A second round of small grants was awarded in October 1999 and
their implementation continues in the year 2000.
• The public awareness campaign
involved the use of various anti-corruption instruments and
practices: local (municipal or regional) councils for counteracting
corruption, telephone hotlines, citizen reception offices and
mailboxes for citizens’ complaints and alerts, round tables, public
forums and press conferences, anti-corruption articles in the
local/regional press, broadcasts in the electronic media,
etc.
• The Secretariat of Coalition
2000 at CSD coordinated the production of appropriate promotion
materials: the design of a Coalition 2000 logo and the
printing of two posters which were widely disseminated throughout
the country. Several videos were produced after an extensive
process of script selection and focus group pretesting. A campaign
song was also written and produced.
The Public
Awareness Campaign in Figures
Anti-corruption
awareness days 10
Public forums 2
National working
meetings/seminars 3
Municipal round
tables 28
Video
films 6
Anti-corruption song/audio
clip 2
Anti-corruption
posters 2
Anti-corruption
concert 1
Publications in
the central and local press over
200
Broadcasts in the electronic
media 87
In foreign TV
programs 3
Foreign press
publications 7
Clean Future
quarterly newsletter three
issues
Electronic newsletter
monthly
Anti-corruption readers 4
published
Coalition 2000 web
site
The innovative approach of Coalition 2000
favors an open and transparent implementation process rather than
simply joining a few actors in a formal anti-corruption
organization. This approach is particularly relevant in the
political environment of SE Europe where common formal institutions
are only just emerging. We recognize that the public-private
dialogue and partnership in preventing corruption introduced by
Coalition 2000 is unique in the post-communist
context.
Richard Miles, Ambassador of the
United States to
Bulgaria
III. International
Activities
The international aspects of
Coalition 2000 activities developed along several
lines:
a) Dissemination of information
among the international community about the development of
corruption and anti-corruption measures in Bulgaria. The purpose
was for the international community, and particularly the
international organizations represented in Bulgaria, to obtain an
accurate idea of the corruption spread in this country and the
anti-corruption initiatives of public and private institutions,
including Coalition
2000.
b) Coordination of the efforts of
Coalition 2000 with those of the international organizations
implementing anti-corruption programs in Bulgaria. In this respect,
active cooperation was maintained with the Council of Europe, the
United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, the European
Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development. Particularly helpful was the cooperation with the
Information Centre on the Council of Europe in Sofia which is
represented at the Steering Committee of the
Coalition.
c) Cooperation with
non-government organizations from countries neighboring on
Bulgaria. This cooperation was initiated by the Coalition in view
of the importance of the regional aspects of corruption, especially
in the context of enforcement of the Stability Pact for South-East
Europe.
d) Part of the message promoted
through the “Clean Future” public awareness campaign focused on the
need to involve Bulgaria in the mechanism of exchange and
cooperation with international organizations and other foreign
institutions in the fight against corruption. Coalition 2000
helped raise public awareness of the importance of this fact by
publishing a collection of international anti-corruption acts, to
which Bulgaria is a signatory, by involving representatives of
foreign organizations in Coalition 2000 events, by
disseminating information about the international anti-corruption
standards and the impact of international cooperation in this
field.
The experience of Coalition
2000 in conducting joint anti-corruption initiatives combining
the efforts of NGOs and governmental organizations and
institutions, as well as in developing the methodology of the
Corruption Indexes was highly praised and discussed at a number of
international forums. At the same time, the Coalition could benefit
from the exchange of experience with similar initiatives and
anti-corruption practices implemented in other parts of the world.
Coalition 2000 participated in the following international
forums in
1999:
• Coalition 2000 was
presented as a model initiative in the fight against corruption in
Eastern Europe at a global conference on corruption held in
Washington D. C. on February 22-23, 1999. The conference under the
title Fighting Corruption in Developing Countries and Emerging
Economies: The Role of the Private Sector brought together
anti-corruption experts from around the world to compare
experiences, foster debate, and generate a private sector action
plan geared towards the 21st
Century.
• In June, Coalition 2000
organized an international conference on Coalition Building and
Monitoring to Counter Corruption: Strategies and Impact in the
Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which was held in Varna,
Bulgaria.
• Within the framework of the
anti-corruption conference organized by the Constitutional and
Legal Policy Institute of the Open Society Institute in Budapest in
June, Coalition 2000 presented the Clean Future public
awareness
campaign.
• In October, representatives of
Coalition 2000 shared their experience at the world
anti-corruption conference, held in Durban, South Africa and
attended by more than 1,600
participants.
• Best practices in combating
corruption were presented at the international conference held in
Milan in November, organized by the International Scientific and
Professio-nal Advisory Council of the UN Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice Program. In the mean time, Coalition 2000
continued its efforts at improving the interaction with other
initiatives on a regional and international
level.
• Coalition 2000 joined
the Anti-Corruption Network of Transition Economies, implemented
under the auspices of
OECD.