Promoting Citizen Engagement in combating corruption in Ukraine project (ACTION): RESULTS

Advocacy and monitoring campaigns conducted by strong and capable civil society and mass media organizations can keep anticorruption issues high on the public agenda and can exert considerable pressure on government to implement transparency and accountability reforms. For three years, from late 2006 through late 2009, the Promoting Active Citizen Engagement in Combating Corruption in Ukraine Project (ACTION) was implemented by Management systems International (MSI) and took positive steps to advance these outcomes. As a component of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Program (MCC/TCP) in Ukraine and funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the ACTION project worked closely with Ukrainian NGOs, journalists, and survey research groups to advance practical anticorruption goals by supporting public awareness campaigns, targeted advocacy efforts, watchdog and monitoring activities, direct dialogues and negotiations with public authorities, legal support for victims of corruption, investigative reporting in the media, and public opinion polling.

The project established a baseline of systematic data on corruption trends in Ukraine to measure the impact of TCP initiatives. Consistent survey research methods using representative samples were employed to monitor both perceptions and actual corruption experiences nationwide among households and specialized samples in each of the priority areas of concern to the TCP program. These areas included reforming the judicial system, advancing civil service accountability and ethics, streamlining and enforcing business regulation, and reforming the admissions process to higher educational establishments. The project worked closely with two local partners to collect this data: the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and InMind. The results of the surveys were widely disseminated in Ukraine to inform citizens about the impact of corruption and the progress of the government of Ukraine in implementing TCP. In addition, ACTION trained and supported NGOs throughout the country in monitoring the impacts of particular interventions through citizen report cards and watchdog techniques. They focused their attention on the effectiveness of one-stop shops for construction permitting and the standardization of admissions procedures to universities.

The ACTION project also activated, trained, built capacity, funded specific initiatives, and galvanized networks of NGOs and journalists to advocate for and demand anticorruption reforms at the national, regional and local levels in all of the TCP priority areas. In this regard, the project worked directly with over 150 NGOs throughout the country to build their capacity to make forceful demands on authorities, advocate effectively for their causes, monitor government institutions, and enhance public awareness of their civil rights through technical assistance, training, and small grant programs. The project worked closely with Ukrainian NGO Counterpart Creative Center (CCC) to conduct these tasks.

Journalists were also trained and supported in using effective evidence-based investigative techniques and their editors and publishers were encouraged to see the benefits of this reporting so they could all serve their public watchdog function and ally with civil society groups in advocacy campaigns. To achieve these tasks, the project worked effectively with the Center for Ukrainian Reform Education (CURE)and the Regional Press Development Institute (RPDI). Cooperative networks and coalitions were built among NGOs, business groups and the media to enhance solidarity and partnerships with local and regional authorities were promoted to advance anticorruption objectives.

A summary of the project's key activities and overall results is presented below.

The ACTION project achieved its objectives across several dimensions.

Awareness. Corruption issues were kept high on the public agenda. Public awareness and knowledge of corruption issues remained consistently high – between 9 and 11 percent. By the end of the project, it is estimated that on average 3.84 million Ukrainians (10.3%) were kept abreast of corruption data from the project. In addition, media coverage of corruption issues increased. Over 12000 corruption stories are now published or broadcasted every quarter on average.

Monitoring. In part, because of this high profile, the population's perception of widespread corruption is increasing. Most Ukrainians now believe that corruption levels are increasing sharply: 35% of respondents said that corruption was on the increase in 2007, while 61% said it was on the increase in 2009. They hear about corruption issues a lot in the media and as a result are more conscious of the seriousness of this problem.

But more importantly, over the TCP timeframe (2007-2009), the population reported a gradual decline in the incidence of actual corruption. The overall number of citizens who reported having experienced at least one corrupt transaction over the past 12 months is very high – 62.5% in 2009 – but that reflects a recent decline of 4.5% (from 67% in 2007).

The project played a critical role in providing independent and continuing monitoring of the other MCC/TCP components. Detailed feedback on the impact of their interventions on corruption levels was provided over the course of the project though specialized survey results and NGO watchdog monitoring to help them adjust their approaches and better achieve their objectives. Surveys demonstrated a decrease in corruption experiences as a result of reforms in the court system, establishing one-stop shops for construction and land permitting, and nationwide use of standardized external testing for admissions to higher educational establishments. However, the project's surveys showed that the incidence of corruption increased in the customs service and there was no change in actual corruption levels in the civil service, despite targeted interventions in these two sectors.

Advocacy. Many NGOs were trained in constructive advocacy techniques and they initiated 114 advocacy campaigns, 35% of which yielded short-term practical anticorruption reforms. For example,

• University admissions. The Ministry of Education made changes to the 2009 rules regulating admission to reduce corruption opportunities.
• Regulatory reforms. Based on careful monitoring of one-stop shops for business permitting and licensing, the Cabinet of Ministers issued a resolution that simplifies the processing and issuance of permits and licenses. An entrepreneurs union succeeded in getting a city rada to adopt a resolution that makes public hearings mandatory in making city planning, construction, and land allocation decisions.
• Access to information. Advocacy campaigns promoted by a coalition of media organizations resulted in the Verkhovna Rada adoption of a new law that liberalizes the public's access to government information.
• Legal support for victims of corruption. Over 10,000 consultations were provided for victims of corruption, 474 citizens received legal representation in court appeals, and 37% of them received decisions in their favor.
• Government ethics. NGO-drafted codes of ethics for local civil servants were adopted in several cities.
• State subsidies. Citizen watchdogs that monitored state budgets convinced regional administrations to regularly include civil society input and adopt better approaches to public procurement and public participation.

Investigative Journalism. The media's traditional role as public watchdog was also enhanced by the project. More than 706 journalists, editors and media owners were trained in the value of investigative journalism that highlights corruption issues. During the ACTION project, investigative journalists produced many reports of corruption issues. 63.9% of these reports went on to be further investigated by the authorities and 27.2% of those investigations were brought to court resulting in an 10.8% increase of judicial decisions for conviction and 46.8% increase in administrative sanctions against corrupt officials.

MONITORING TCP IMPLEMENTATION

ACTION rigorously tracked corruption indicators in Ukraine to support implementation of the Threshold Country Program and provide information backup to citizen and media advocacy campaigns. This monitoring helped to define corruption baseline levels in particular government functions and sectors. It helped to assess progress (or backsliding) in specific areas to stimulate adjustments in advocacy and reform strategies. It mobilized civil society, business and mass media communities to action. And it demonstrated to government officials corruption's critical impact in an objective way that is hard to refute.

To determine if anticorruption initiatives supported by the Threshold Country Plan had the desired impact on reducing corruption levels and improving public knowledge about corruption, ACTION was tasked to monitor the perceptions and experiences of ordinary citizens and specially-effected groups over time. Large sample household surveys were conducted at the beginning, middle and end of the project. Before and after surveys with specialized samples were also conducted to focus on the impact of changes and reforms undertaken in each of the TCP component areas (for a list of major TCP interventions, see table below). In all cases, we used systematic and representative designs to collect comparative quantitative data, as well as focus group and interview data, to further explain the findings.

Two experienced Ukrainian survey groups - Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and InMind - were contracted to conduct this polling. The ACTION project team worked in close coordination with these groups: ACTION designed the initial survey instrument and analyzed the results, while the local groups conducted pretesting, sample design, interviewing and quality controls.

Reports on research could be found here.

• National survey of 2007 – 2009
• National survey in 2011 was conducted by European Research Association in partnership with Kyiv International Institute of Sociology with support of PACT/UNITER and financed by USAID
• Judicial system
• Regulatory streamlining
• Admission to higher education
• Customs

Establishment of accessible corruption survey archives

To make corruption tracking data available to all interested parties, a database archive of Ukrainian corruption surveys was established and launched on 20 June 2008 (http://www.kiis.com.ua/cordb/index.php). This archive is maintained by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology which continues to search for additional databases related to corruption in Ukraine. Currently, the archive contains 61 nationwide, regional and local level studies on corruption in Ukraine.

FOSTERING CIVIL SOCIETY ANTICORRUPTION ADVOCACY

To better represent public interests, advocate for policy reforms and monitor government in different sectors and at different levels, civil society organizations require a good understanding of the issues, strengthened skills and capacity, and more effective coordination of their activities. Over three years, the ACTION project conducted targeted training to strengthen CSO skills to carry out effective corruption monitoring and anti-corruption advocacy activities, provided hands-on practical assistance in implementing advocacy campaigns, provided financial support through a multidimensional grants program, and promoted the establishment of an effective national network to share experience, conduct joint actions and channel an effective message throughout country and at all levels.

In almost 130 NGO initiatives sponsored by the project, successful partnerships between non-governmental organizations and public authorities at regional and local levels produced effective outcomes. The results of these projects impacted decision making processes at the national and local levels in key areas related to anticorruption elements of the Threshold Program and in areas of significance to the NGOs' communities. The issues dealt with and the levels at which the campaigns were waged vary significantly (see table). Of114 projects, 127 reforms were adopted.

PROMOTING INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND OTHER MEDIA ANTICORRUPTION ADVOCACY

Investigative journalism is considered to be one of the primary tools for detecting and exposing corruption, but it has been relatively unpopular in Ukraine. Major media publications and outlets are influenced by the political environment and they do not necessarily provide in-depth, objective and evidence-based analysis into corruption issues or corruption stories. Sometimes, these sources are viewed as too biased for people to trust. Therefore, the ACTION Project provided comprehensive support to investigative journalism. The project 1) provided training on investigative journalism techniques; 2) provided free legal advice to journalists; 3) cooperated with editors and owners of mass media to promote their support of investigative reporting; 4) organized a national competition for the best journalistic investigations; and 5) worked on improving legislation that regulates access to public information.

Detailed information on best practices of CSOs and mass media anticorruption activity could be found in the handbook here.

OVERALL IMPACTS

As demonstrated in this report, ACTION project initiatives, as well as the larger MCC/TCP program of which it is a part, appear to have had real impacts on the incidence of corruption in Ukraine. They also have resulted in significant changes and reforms to Ukrainian anticorruption institutions, laws and procedures, thus providing a stronger foundation for future prevention and enforcement programs.

Overall monitoring of corruption trends -- perceptual and experiential, national and regional, broadly and in specific government agencies or functions – has been greatly advanced. The capacity of local survey groups, as well as civil society advocacy groups, has been enhanced to conduct systematic and targeted polling and watchdog monitoring that yields rigorous comparative data. A comprehensive archive of this corruption data has been established and will continue to serve the Ukrainian government, NGOs, the mass media, and international donors into the future.

From the nationwide household surveys, it was determined that corruption experiences of ordinary citizens are declining gradually, although experience levels are still very high in many areas and lingering suspicions of widespread corruption throughout many government institutions remains high as well. However, when corruption was measured in special sectors that were particular targets of MCC/TCP initiatives, significant reductions in corruption were identified – in the judicial sector, construction and land permitting, and the higher education admissions process.

The ACTION Project effectively mobilized civil society and the mass media. Many NGOs received advanced advocacy training, journalists received training in investigative reporting, and small grants helped to spur targeted activities. Many advocacy campaigns have paid off in substantial reforms. As well, many investigative reports in the media have resulted in official investigations, court cases, administrative sanctions and/or court decisions against corrupt officials.

Particular measurable impacts are presented below.

• Enhanced public awareness about corruption issues is a step in the direction of opposing corrupt behavior and advocating for reforms. Public awareness of corruption data disseminated by the ACTION Project steadily increased over the three years. By extrapolation from the survey results to the population of Ukraine (18 years and older), more than 10.3% of Ukrainians by the third year of the project (equivalent of 3.84 million) indicated that they were aware of the corruption survey data.
• The ACTION Project trained 586 CSOs representatives in advocacy skills and provided 114 grants to promote advocacy campaigns. Over the three years of the project, 114 advocacy campaigns against corruption were conducted. Of these, 35.1% were successful in producing real reforms – changed laws, regulations or procedures, reformed institutions, and improved delivery of quality public services.
• Investigative reporting on corruption issues resulted in official investigations either by law enforcement or internally within government agencies. 63.9% of reports produced further official investigations.
• The effectiveness of investigative reports on corruption was demonstrated by an increase in cases targeted by these reports being brought to court (27.2%), an increase in cases resulting in court sanctions (10.8%), and an increase in cases resulting in administrative sanctions (46.8%).
• The media can perform effectively in their function as the public's watchdog only if the government provides free and open access to government information. Based on extensive advocacy campaigns implemented by Ukrainian media associations and sponsored under the ACTION Project, journalists reported 59.0% satisfaction with government's response to their information requests by the end of the three year program.

CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Corruption is not a static phenomenon. It is highly agile and inventive at circumventing obstacles put in its way. Only long term and continuous vigilance against corruption can have measurable results at reducing this problem.

Ukrainian civil society has clearly become a substantial player in the anticorruption field. It is increasingly able to target corruption weak points and eliminate them at the local level. However, it remains weak at tackling national-level issues both in the sense of adequate monitoring and ability to advocate for their proposals. While recent attempts at alleviating this shortcoming are promising, judgment will have to be held until their conclusion.

To build on ACTION's achievements, the following steps are important for combating corruption in Ukraine:

• Continue general and targeted informational and educational campaigns for the general public as well as for specific target groups. These campaigns should be focused on several issues such as the short- and long-term consequences of corruption for the economy, governance, and societal values. Clear and simple messages should be developed that can be easy to understand. The aim of the campaigns ought to be to create increased societal demand to deal with corruption at a political level.
• Continue to support monitoring of corruption trends on a systematic basis using local organizations
• Keep up external demand on government for reforms – citizen advocacy and watchdogs, mass media, international donor community, diplomatic pressure
• Encourage continuing operation of the Public Anticorruption Advocacy Networks and focus on particular issues that are national in nature
• Support CSOs in their role as citizen watchdogs
• Encourage more investigative reporting about corruption in the media and continue to conduct the journalist investigation competitions
• Emphasize success stories where reforms have been made and have been successful in reducing corruption. This will reduce perceptions of increasing corruption. Dissemination of success stories should be ramped up. Most people are cynical about corruption, but if they see progress in fighting corruption, it will create a more positive atmosphere of success.
• Promote more coordination among donors to support effective anticorruption initiatives
• Encourage more NGO-government dialogues and participation in joint anticorruption programs.
• Encourage local public authorities to become more transparent and accountable in order to recover public trust.
• Rollout successful initiatives to other regions.

Final project report could be found here.