Open & Tailor-made Trainings
ANNUAL REPORT 2021
Took part in IACA’s virtual open training in 2021
IACA offers a wide range of standardized (open) trainings for anti-corruption and compliance practitioners, ranging from two days to several weeks in length. These programmes strengthen participants’ knowledge, tools, and skill sets in specific areas of anti-corruption.
In 2021, due to the pandemic, IACA delivered its 11th Annual Summer Academy virtually, for anti-corruption and compliance practitioners. In addition,, two Best of Seminars were held in 2021 - one with Prof. Guido Palazzo, a world-leading experts on business ethics, and the other one with Ms. Pascale Dubois, former vice president of the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency.
Many participants received full scholarships or benefited from tuition fee waivers thanks to the support of institutional sponsors.
Summer Academy
4.79 out of 5 overall evaluation score on a scale from 1 to 5 in 2021
IACA’s renowned, interdisciplinary Summer Academy enables participants to analyze corruption from diverse angles, including economics, psychology, sociology, law, ethics, integrity, and political science. In September 2021, the eleventh edition welcomed anti-corruption and compliance professionals from 35 countries, from the public and private sectors, international and non-governmental organizations, the media, and academia.
Throughout these eleven years, the programme has attracted more than 700 participants from more than 140 countries, and feedback continues to be positive.
During the 2021 International Anti-Corruption Summer Academy, 37 tuition fee waivers were granted to participants from 20 different countries.
Impact stories
“The 2021 Summer Academy was a great and amazing opportunity for me. I was accorded a scholarship by IACA to attend the summer program themed Anticorruption, Compliance and Collective action. It was such a great experience learning not only new things but also interacting with world renowned professors and authorities in the field of anti-corruption. Indeed, I must acknowledge that I gained a lot of insight on anticorruption and compliance and beyond, and hereby confidently, confirm that the skills and knowledge gained will positively go a long way in impacting my career as a practitioner and to my employer-EACC as an anti-corruption agency. I take pride in the opportunity afforded to me as well as the chance to interact with other practitioners from across the globe. Indeed, I was able to learn about challenges, strategies, and best practices from other participants. This also provided me with a great opportunity for networking. Indeed, this expounded my thought process and my analytical skills in the field of anti-corruption. The platform was well facilitated and coordinated by an amazing team from IACA. I am forever grateful to IACA for the Scholarship and admission. I look forward to more impactful interactions of the same! Thank you! Asante sana!
“I was thrilled to have been selected for the IACA Summer Academy 2021. Because its program and structure aligned perfectly with my Anti-Corruption learning needs. Participating in this Summer Academy means interacting with a global network of practitioners and experts who combine the best of Anti-Corruption research with practice. The Academy has been an opportunity to access the latest learning in Anti-Corruption with a broad, cross-functional approach. Our instructors engaged us with a candid discussion of 'real life' challenges that Anti-Corruption practitioners face, while simultaneously sharing unconventional and firm-footed interventions that achieve transparency in the public and private sector space. This is a must-have course for any compliance or Anti-Corruption professional seeking career direction-setting. Or transitioning towards deeper inroads in the same. The Academy is one of the best courses I have attended online--the format, organization and presentation were well-balanced and managed very professionally. Happy to have connected with the super-helpful and approachable IACA Team and hope to do so in the future as well!
“I am grateful to have joined the Summer Academy 2021. Tackling corruption in times of Covid-19 demands collective efforts to leverage existing knowledge and resources to prevent abuse of power in its many forms. The Summer Academy 2021 widely contributed to this effort, it connected a committed and diverse community of practitioners to share their experiences and lessons learned in the field. Also, it illustrated how to pursue sustainable anti-corruption strategies. Thank you IACA team for this encouraging program!
“Best Of” Seminars
IACA’s “Best Of” seminars are aimed at professionals eager to improve the design, management, and sustainability of their anti-corruption and compliance efforts. Each seminar is delivered by pre-eminent anti-corruption or compliance authorities who share the “best of” their work and professional experience. In 2021, IACA had two editions of these seminars.
The “Best Of” Seminar with Guido Palazzo attracted 12 participants to interactive sessions that delved into discussions of how compliance must be framed in a broader sense, being perceived not as a control function, but as a genuine leadership function. IACA’s “Best Of” Seminar with Pascale Dubois brought together 21 professionals who avidly discussed the international anti-corruption movement and where it is headed next after the pandemic.
Tailor-made Trainings
IACA’s tailor-made trainings address the specific anti-corruption and compliance needs of individual organizations, such as government ministries, national anti-corruption authorities and audit institutions, and private and state-owned companies. Delivered at the IACA campus and occasionally other locations worldwide, each programme is unique and adapted to the requirements of the requesting institution.
The custom-designed programmes are delivered by leading international academics and practitioners, and often include study visits to Vienna-based organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Austrian Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK), the Austrian Public Prosecutor's Office for White-Collar Crime and Corruption (WKStA), the Vienna City Hall (Rathaus), and the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI).
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, IACA’s tailor-made trainings were offered online in 2021.
There were several tailor-made trainings provided to the new international partners including the New Development Bank (NDB), the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
IACA organized the tailor-made training for representatives of anti-corruption law enforcement and financial intelligence units of BRICS countries and professionals from compliance, risk management and procurement departments of the NDB.
In addition, a series of anti-corruption trainings, tailor-made for the staff and senior management of the ICMPD, were delivered online as part of the established cooperation. The training programmes tackled the issues related to legal instruments to fight corruption, corruption prevention, and conflict of interest management. Two editions of the international anti-corruption summer school for students and young people (Asia and Africa) were delivered jointly by IACA and the UNODC with the kind financial support of the Republic of Austria. Their aim was to equip students and young people with ethical skills and mindsets and to instill the values and principles of integrity, ethics, and anti-corruption.
“With IACA trainings, our Projects officers, Projects Managers and Procurement workforce have been reinforced in terms of Anti-corruption, Prevention of Corruption and Managing Potential Conflict of Interest.
Online self-paced courses
During 2021, IACA launched self-paced courses on various topics and in several languages to promote a deeper understanding of the intricacies of corruption, allow participants to learn on their own schedule and at their own pace, and to make the content available to the wider audience. IACA self-paced courses are offered through a designated learning management system and are open to the public for enrolment at any time. The content was developed and designed in collaboration with renowned academics and content experts from diverse geographical, professional, and educational backgrounds and expertise.
The IACA self-paced course "Using Asset Disclosure to Detect Indicators of Corruption" highlights key elements that should be considered when establishing or reforming an asset declaration system, explains alternative solutions used or discussed by countries, and compares advantages and disadvantages of various approaches. The course is aimed at practitioners and experts involved in developing or improving national asset disclosure legislation and systems, trainers, researchers, and professionals from academia; and is also useful for students and anyone interested in learning about possible approaches to the implementation of asset disclosure tools.
The IACA self-paced course "Handling Conflicts of Interest in the Public Sector" explores the system of conflict-of-interest regulation focusing on elements that need to be given the most attention, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches, and considers alternative solutions used by other countries. The course is intended to support practitioners and experts involved in developing or improving national conflict of interest legislation and systems, trainers, researchers and professionals from academia, students and anyone interested in possible approaches to the implementation of conflict-of-interest tools.
The IACA self-paced course " Introduction to the Conflicts of Interest Management in the Private Sector" presents general concepts and approaches to conflicts of interest management including the tools to define, regulate, prevent, identify, detect, and address conflicts of interest in companies. The course is designed to serve senior managers and board members of all types of enterprises, including SMEs and state-owned enterprises, employees of compliance, legal, human resources, security, internal audit, and other departments entrusted with the conflicts of interest management, and members of conflicts of interest commissions; consultants.
The three courses mentioned above were developed in English and Russian and the learning material is presented in the form of text, diagrams, drawings, and interactive elements, and supplemented by self-assessment exercises. The courses were co-sponsored by the Russian Federation through the earmarked fund. The courses have received high interest during 2021.
The self-paced course “Fraud and Corruption Prevention in Public Procurement” was also launched in 2021 and is a joint initiative of United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and IACA on the promotion of clean procurement, with the aim of raising awareness on fraud and corruption in public procurement. It was developed for practitioners and experts involved in developing or improving procurement systems; procurement officials; attorneys; academics; managers; anti-corruption investigators; compliance managers; etc., seeking to enhance their understanding of corruption issues in public procurement. It is also useful for students, and anyone interested in learning more about the international best practices in anti-corruption related to public procurement. The material is presented in English in the form of video lessons and reading material recommendations.
In order to meet the needs of a dynamic anti-corruption community and to serve a wider audience, IACA developed efficient and effective online training opportunities and learning material on a variety of topics.
Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority Anti-Corruption Consultancy Project
IACA provided consultancy services to the Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority (ADAA) to establish an anti-corruption division. The project, which started in the second half of 2020, was completed in the first half of 2021. During this process, Anti-Corruption policy guidelines, an awareness-raising manual, and complaints-handling procedures were successfully developed and delivered to ADAA.