IACA celebrated the graduation of its fourth Master in Anti-Corruption Studies (MACS) class in a festive ceremony at its Laxenburg campus on 7 December, two days before International Anti-Corruption Day. The new graduates come from 17 countries around the world: Afghanistan, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Ghana, India, Malawi, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and the United States of America.

They work in government ministries, anti-corruption commissions, international organizations, private companies, law enforcement bodies, NGOs, and academia.

Jennifer McClean, elected as the MACS student speaker, told the distinguished guests she and her fellow graduates came to IACA “to learn about the ‘big C’ of corruption and the ‘four Cs’ that we can use on our long journey against it: commitment, courage, creativity, and cooperation”.

“Have the courage to fail and continue to persevere. Never lose our spirit and continue to fight each match against corruption,” she encouraged her classmates.

Delivering his laudatio, Martin Kreutner, the Dean of IACA, told the MACS graduates that they are “the anti-corruption and compliance leaders of tomorrow”. In this regard he urged them to play a leading role in countering three main threats in the fight against corruption: to critical thinking, to the human element in an era of emerging technologies, and to cooperation and dialogue.

Laudatio by Martin Kreutner, Dean of IACA 

“Yes, there are big potential threats as we head towards the third decade of this century. But I have every confidence in your abilities to address these challenges, as previous MACS graduates are doing around the world,” he concluded.

The graduates and guests also heard from Professor Peter Rosner of the University of Vienna, who chaired the academic Defence Committee, Pawan Kumar Sinha, Director of Academic Programmes at IACA, and special guest Elena Helmer, who previously held this position for three years and is now Associate Professor and Senior Expert at the Academy.

All the speakers strongly praised the range and high quality of the graduates’ work, including their master’s theses, and commended their commitment to the fight against corruption.

Timothy Bacwa from Uganda won the award for the best master’s thesis with his work on “Assessing the Role of the Anti-Money Laundering Framework in Curbing Corruption of Politically Exposed Persons: A Case Study of Banks in Uganda”.

The most innovative thesis award went to Renato Capanema of Brazil for his study on “The impact of corporate settlements on incentives for international cooperation in multijurisdictional bribery cases”.

The ceremony and reception that followed were joined by family, friends, faculty, and a wider network of distinguished guests.

IACA is most grateful for the generosity of the Siemens Integrity Initiative and the Austrian Development Agency for having provided scholarships that enabled students from Least Developed Countries to take part in this MACS cohort.

The MACS was launched in 2012 as the world’s first postgraduate programme in anti-corruption and compliance. It consists of seven modules, combining in-class and distance learning, and a master’s thesis.

This fourth cohort attended the in-class component of one module in Washington D.C., hosted by the World Bank Group Integrity Vice Presidency.

A Chinese delegation visited IACA’s campus on 5 December 2018 to learn more about IACA’s work in empowering anti-corruption and compliance professionals around the world and to explore opportunities for enhancing cooperation with the organization in the areas of anti-corruption and compliance. In particular, the possibility of organizing additional training and education activities for public officials and professional from China was discussed.

The delegation was led by Mr. Ou Yaping, Secretary General of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (the Central Party School) and the China National Academy of Governance. He was accompanied by H.E. Mr. Wang Qun, the Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the International Organizations in Vienna. Other officials from the Central Party School also attended the meeting.

China acceded to the Agreement for the Establishment of IACA as an International Organization in September 2014 and has been strongly supporting the organization ever since, including through the provision of voluntary financial contributions. Furthermore, China hosted the fourth IACA Regional Summer Academy, a programme for anti-corruption and compliance professionals from East and Southeast Asia that took place in Beijing in September 2018. Also, IACA developed and delivered a tailor-made training programme for Chinese government officials in June 2018.

With the accession of Honduras to the Agreement for the Establishment of IACA as an International Organization, the Academy’s constituency increases to 77 Parties. These comprise 74 UN Member States and three international organizations.

The Agreement remains open for ratification by its remaining original Signatories and for accession by all UN Member States and international organizations.

Azerbaijan has made a voluntary contribution of EUR 12,500 to IACA’s general budget in 2018 to support the organization’s work in empowering anti-corruption and compliance professionals across the globe.

This new contribution will facilitate the implementation of IACA’s education, training, and capacity-building activities under its current Work Programme 2017 - 2020.

Azerbaijan has been a Party to IACA since 2012.

Voluntary contributions by Parties are mentioned as a core element of the organization’s financing under Article XI.(1).a of the IACA Agreement. Click here for further details.

Students in IACA’s fourth Master in Anti-Corruption Studies (MACS) class are currently defending their master’s theses ahead of a graduation ceremony that will take place on campus this Friday, 7 December.

The MACS is a two-year, in-career programme consisting of seven modules and a master’s thesis and is specifically designed for working professionals. Read more about the programme here.

IACA is fully recognized as an institution of post-secondary education. Its programmes and their final diplomas are acknowledged in the sense of the (EU’s and beyond) European Higher Education Area (“Bologna process”).

To see a selection of IACA’s accomplishments since its inception (correct as of June 2018), please click here.

On 4 December, H.E. Mr. Mirghani Abbaker Altayeb Baktiet, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan to the International Organizations in Vienna, presented his credentials to Mr. Martin Kreutner, Dean and Executive Secretary of IACA.

Sudan has been a Party to the Agreement for the Establishment of IACA as an International Organization since 2016.

IACA last week delivered a second tailor-made anti-corruption training in Singapore for public enterprise professionals from the Republic of Korea. Participants came from companies in a range of sectors, including energy and finance.

Led by expert lecturers in the field, the three-day programme covered global anti-corruption trends and developments, case studies on combating corruption, public-private partnerships in corruption prevention, ethical dilemmas, and other topical issues.

Participants also took part in two study visits, one of which was to the Corruption Reporting and Heritage Centre of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). The other took place at Siemens, where Ms. Mariam Milatu, Regional Compliance Officer (and an IACA alumna), gave a presentation about the company’s compliance system.

IACA delivered a similar training in Singapore for Korean professionals in August.

Tailor-made trainings are IACA’s customized programmes for specific organizations, corporations, or institutions, addressing the unique challenges that each one faces in preventing and fighting corruption.

Afghanistan has made a voluntary contribution of EUR 1,000 to IACA’s general budget in 2018 to support the organization’s work in empowering anti-corruption and compliance professionals across the globe.

This new contribution will facilitate the implementation of IACA’s education, training, and capacity-building activities under its current Work Programme 2017 - 2020.

Afghanistan has been a Party to IACA since 2013.

Voluntary contributions by Parties are mentioned as a core element of the organization’s financing under Article XI.(1).a of the IACA Agreement. Click here for further details.

On 30 November, H.E. Mr. Jose Antonio Marcondes De Carvalho, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the International Organizations in Vienna, presented his credentials to Mr. Martin Kreutner, Dean and Executive Secretary of IACA.

Brazil has been a Party to the Agreement for the Establishment of IACA as an International Organization since 2013.

IACA today concluded a high-level seminar on campus for senior anti-corruption civil servants from Central Asia and Afghanistan. The programme was co-sponsored by the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana, Kazakhstan (ACSH) and the Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption of Kazakhstan.

The seminar in Laxenburg on 26 and 27 November focused on “Enhancing Anti-Corruption Cooperation in Central Asia and Afghanistan" and featured members of IACA’s in-house and frequent visiting faculty. It also included a session on Kazakhstan’s efforts to curb corruption.

Participants came from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. They discussed international efforts, peer exchange, and modern challenges and trends in corruption prevention, and shared lessons learned and good practice examples.

This activity was one of IACA’s customized programmes for specific organizations, corporations, or institutions, addressing the unique challenges that each one faces in preventing and fighting corruption.

For more information, click here.

Chile has made a voluntary contribution of USD 10,000 to IACA’s general budget in 2018 to support the organization’s work in empowering anti-corruption and compliance professionals across the globe.

This new contribution will facilitate the implementation of IACA’s education, training, and capacity-building activities under its current Work Programme 2017 - 2020.

Chile has been a Party to IACA since 2013.

Voluntary contributions by Parties are mentioned as a core element of the organization’s financing under Article XI.(1).a of the IACA Agreement. Click here for further details.

This November students from over 10 countries and jurisdictions started their IACA Master in Anti-Corruption Studies (MACS) journey.

This is the sixth cohort to follow the Academy’s renowned master’s programme, and students hail from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. The students’ professional backgrounds are as diverse as their countries of origin, with practitioners from civil society, and legal, public, and private sectors.

Module I covered “Concepts and Issues in Corruption”, providing the class with an in-depth introduction to topics such as the politics of corruption and reform, organizational misbehaviour and integrity management, the practitioner’s perspective of the fight against corruption, and research methods.

Expert lecturers from IACA’s frequent visiting faculty included Michael Johnston, Distinguished Professor at IACA and the Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Colgate University, Drago Kos, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery, and Jeroen Maesschalck of the Leuven Institute of Criminology at KU Leuven.

The students also benefited from informal networking opportunities such as a welcome reception and teambuilding sessions. The class also attended a colloquium co-organized by IACA and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens on “The Global Fight against Corruption and the Notion of Global Citizenship”, during which keynote speeches were given by Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General and Co-chair of the Centre, Heinz Fischer, former Federal President of Austria and Co-chair of the Centre, and Martin Kreutner, Dean and Executive Secretary of IACA.

The MACS is a two-year, in-career programme consisting of seven modules and a master’s thesis and is specifically designed to be completed in parallel to working full time.

The programme starts in October every year and applications are accepted year-round. Read more about the MACS here.