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About the IACC Series

The International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) is the world’s premier global forum for bringing together heads of state, civil society, the private sector and more to tackle the increasingly sophisticated challenges posed by corruption. Established in 1983, the IACC takes place usually every two years in a different region of the world, and hosts from 800 to 2000 participants from over 135 countries worldwide.

The IACC advances the anti-corruption agenda by raising awareness and stimulating debate. It fosters networking, cross-fertilisation and the global exchange of experience that are indispensable for effective advocacy and action, on a global and national level. The conferences also promote international cooperation among government, civil society, the private sector, and citizens by providing the opportunity for face-to-face dialogue and direct liaison between representatives from the agencies and organisations taking part.

Other IACC Initiatives

As the Conference only takes place every second year, the IACC team at Transparency International (TI) are involved in a number of ongoing initiatives to keep up momentum between Conferences. They include the IACC Social Entrepreneurs Initiative, the Young Journalists initiative, Fair Play Anti-Corruption Concerts, and series of Films for Transparency among others. You can read the latest articles on our blog.

21st IACC Host

The next edition of the IACC is hosted by the Government of Lithuania, represented by the Special Investigation Services. It will take place in Vilnius, from 18 -21 June 2024.

20th IACC Host

The 20th IACC was hosted for the Government of the United States. The Conference took place from 6 – 10 December 2022, and welcomed more than 3000 participants.

19th IACC Host

The 19th IACC was hosted Government of Republic of Korea represented by the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), and organised by the IACC Council and TI, with the participation of TI Korea. The 19th IACC took place from 1 to 4 in December 2020.

The IACC Council

The IACC Council has overseen the IACC series since the Council’s creation in September 1996. As the IACC’s governing body, it is the Council’s duty to select the IACC dates and host country as well as overseeing the development of the main theme and programme of each Conference. Through their experience and leadership, the Council contributes greatly to the success of every IACC.

You can find out more about its governance structure here.

Rueben Lifuka

Rueben Lifuka

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Klaus Moosmayer

Klaus Moosmayer

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Marina Walker Guevara

Marina Walker Guevara

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JC Weliamuna

JC Weliamuna

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Rajiv Joshi

Rajiv Joshi

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Thuli Madonsela

Thuli Madonsela

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Anand Satyanand

Anand Satyanand

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Transparency International

Transparency International (TI) is the Secretariat to the IACC Council and has a dedicated IACC team in its Berlin offices. On behalf of the IACC Council, the IACC team designs the conference agenda and provides advice and assistance to the host of each conference. Other responsibilities include advising the host country on logistics and raising funds for the participating delegates.

TI is also responsible for the engagement of international stakeholders while preparing and implementing the conference programme. This includes communicating with organisations and individuals involved at the forefront of anti-corruption work. TI collates programme suggestions and prepares the conference’s plenary sessions and workshops.

Roberto Perez Rocha

Roberto Perez Rocha

Director of the IACC Series & Global Initatives

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Paula O’Malley

Paula O’Malley

Manager, IACC Series & Global Initiatives

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Patricia Cobos

Patricia Cobos

Communications and Public Relations Officer of the IACC Series

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FAQs: 6 Key Things to Know About the IACC Series

  • 1. Who organises the IACC?

    The International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) series is organised by the IACC Council and Transparency International (TI) in partnership with the national hosts. The national hosts are comprised of the host government, and local civil society partners, which are usually a TI National Chapter or National Contact Point.

  • 2. How do the organisers work together?

    Once the IACC and host country have come to an agreement, a formal commitment is drawn up in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU specifies the responsibilities between the organisers of the Conference including the financial implications.

    In addition to the MoU, a detailed implementation plan outlining everything to be done is drawn up between TI and the host country. The implementation plan outlines the specifics such as communication strategy, media advisory, workshop participation, fund administration, and all other logistics we need to take care of to ensure a successful IACC. The host country usually chooses to hire a professional conference organising company based in the city of the Conference to ensure the necessary logistical arrangements are efficiently taken care of. For each IACC, a competitive and public bidding process takes place in the host country to choose this company.

  • 3. How is the IACC host country selected?

    Each edition of the IACC is usually based in a different region of the world. There is an open selection process for interested host governments: typically, the potential hosts would initiate correspondence with the TI National Chapter or TI National Contact Point.

    As Secretariat to the IACC Council, the governing body of the Conference series, Transparency International Secretariat (TI-S) in Berlin explores the possibility of hosting an IACC with interested members of the TI movement (National Chapter, National Contact Point, Individual Member) and the governments of their respective countries. There is an open and competitive selection process for those interested: Typically, the TI representative in the country would initiate correspondence with the government to explore the interest in hosting the IACC. Traditionally, the future IACC host country shall be announced at the closing ceremony of the upcoming IACC; in the case of the 19th IACC host, it was announced on 24 October 2018 in Copenhagen.

    Interested governments shall provide a letter of intention to TI-S to start the process of negotiation. After evaluating the conditions that are offered, this process should continue with a formal proposal by the potential host country, stemming from the Head of State, the Prime Minister or President. The letter should be signed by the Head of a government ministry, or entity with a clear mandate to curb corruption or boost transparency in the country. The final decision on accepting the host country is made by the IACC Council.

    To learn more about the selection process of IACC in 2022, please write to [email protected]

  • 4. Roughly how much does it cost to hold an IACC?

    Costs vary depending on the host country, however the IACC usually costsbetween2 and4 million Euros.The conference budget is prepared by the host country, guided by TI who ensures that everything required to meet IACC standards has been taken into consideration.

    Participants attending the IACC are required pay a registration fee. Civil society organisations, academics and students are entitled to a discounted fee and,during a defined period, all participants are eligible to avail of a discounted rate known as “early bird registration”.

    To further support participation from experts and practitioners that otherwise could not attend the Conference, the host country and TI liaise with potential partners to raise additional funds with go towards participants’ travel. We usually try to secure about 150 to 200 thousand Euros for this cause.Financial reporting is an integral part of work; an audit is performed after each IACC to ensure the highest standards of accountability and transparency. Our financial audits for previous IACCs, are available on the Governance and Accountability page.

  • 5. How is the IACC agenda designed?

    Throughout the years the IACC has contributed to bringing solutions to many of the world’s most pressing challenges. For example, the Athens Conference in 2008 was the first international forum to discuss the risks related to corruption and climate change, and the formation of conventions such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention were discussed during previous IACCs.

    The IACC team coordinates input from our counterparts in the host country, from TI as the Secretariat to the Conference and from our network of stakeholders so that the agenda is formed through a global consultation process that leads to the design of the Conference theme, rationale and objectives as well as the workshop agenda. Given the cross-cutting nature of corruption, the agenda is set to engage both the anti-corruption community and experts and practitioners from other areas that are highly sensitive to corruption. In doing so, the IACC pushes the boundaries of the global corruption agenda as it exposes the links with other areas like human rights, the environment, insecurity,and ensures a truly cross-sector solution-oriented debate.

    Having set the objectives, rationale and theme, the IACC team begins designing the full Conference programme which begins with a global call for workshop proposals. The call for workshop proposals is an open and participatory process where people from all around the world working on anti-corruption, or on the links between their field of expertise and corruption, are welcome to submit workshop proposals.

    Receiving hundreds of proposals for a programme of around 50-60workshop slots, the IACC team begins mapping the information and opportunities that each proposal offers. By carefully considering and actively engaging with proposal coordinators, the IACC team, re-designs, merges, and shortlists the most forward-thinking and relevant content. The teams reviewing the proposals strive to ensure a regional, gender and professional balance within each session in the agenda. Once the final workshops are chosen the IACC team collaborates with the session coordinators and panelists to support the preparation and running of the sessions during the Conference.

    Besides this, the IACC team also designs the Conference plenary sessions. The design of the plenary sessions follow the same spirit of the workshops. Via a wide consultation the IACC team designs the topics for each plenary and then invites its speakers and moderators to ensure a lively and thought-provoking debate. All the IACC sessions are open and highly participatory.

  • 6. At the closing session of the Conference, the participants adopt a declaration, how does this work?

    The IACC declarations summarize the main findings and outputs of each session that takes place at the Conference into a coherent anticorruption statement on behalf of all conference participants. The Declaration is not only a reflection of the richness of the discussions that have taken place, but it is also a tribute to the work and contribution by the IACC audience towards a fairer world.

    Collecting and summarizing all the discussions and findings of 50 plus sessions is a task that must be managed efficiently. To ensure that everything runs smoothly, each conference session has at least one rapporteur. For the plenary sessions the IACC team asksa small number of TI staff with demonstrated writing and editing skills to write both a short and long plenary report. The plenary reports much be reviewed and signed off by the plenary moderator.

    During the conference the IACC team and TI Communications Department collate the reports. Their role is to ensure that the main findings and outputs of the sessions are summarized and presented as the Conference Commented [AC4]: Link to Governance and Accountability section declaration. In short, the declaration is a reflection of all that has been discussed and shared during the 4 days of the Conference.During the final closing plenary, the newly drafted IACC Declaration is read out.

Rueben Lifuka

Rueben Lifuka

Rueben Lifuka is an Architect and Environmental Management Consultant working in Zambia and the Southern African region. He is also a 2011 Draper Hills Summer Fellow with the Centre for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, USA. He is one of the founder members of Transparency International Zambia and served as its Chapter President from 2007 to 2012. He was also elected in 2008 as a Board member on the international board of Transparency International. He served two terms of office until 2014. During his tenure as TI Board member, Rueben pierced on several committees, notably, he chaired the important Membership Accreditation Committee. He was recently elected to serve on the International Anti Corruption Conference Council. Today, he continues to be actively involved in research and advocacy on climate change and corruption as well as land and corruption in Africa.

Klaus Moosmayer

Klaus Moosmayer

Klaus Moosmayer joined Novartis in 2018 as Chief Ethics, Risk & Compliance Officer and a member of the Executive Committee. He was previously chief compliance officer at Siemens AG, where he spent 18 years in roles of increasing seniority. He began his career as a lawyer in Germany, specializing in white-collar crime, business law and litigation.

Today, Klaus is transforming ethics, risk and compliance at Novartis in the same way the company is reimagining medicine – by pursuing innovation, using data and digital, and unleashing the creative power of employees to embed ethics into the core of the business.

‘Doing what’s right for patients and society is, and must always be, our priority. It’s a journey, and we remain humble in our understanding that this will take time. But we are well on our way’.

Klaus led the launch of a new Code of Ethics in 2020, based on crowdsourced feedback from employees and on behavioral science. He introduced an integrated risk management system that helps senior management prioritize and manage key risks across the company, supported by a new policy and control framework. And he set up a new process to ensure human rights are further integrated into core business practices, especially third-party risk management.

Klaus brings a global reputation as a leader in the field of ethics and compliance. He was the first head of compliance from a company to be invited to address the General Assembly of the United Nations about the fight against corruption. He leads global integrity, compliance and anti-corruption bodies for business on behalf of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G20/B20.

As a believer in collaboration, Klaus co-founded and chaired a nonprofit association of compliance heads from major European companies, and is on the advisory panel of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative to further drive compliance standards at an international level.

Outside of work, Klaus enjoys spending time with his family, practicing sports and driving his vintage car.

Marina Walker Guevara

Marina Walker Guevara

Marina Walker Guevara is the Pulitzer Center's executive editor.

Before joining the Center, Walker Guevara was deputy director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). She managed two of the largest collaborations of reporters in journalism history: The Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers, which involved hundreds of journalists using technology to unravel stories of public interest from terabytes of leaked financial data.

Walker Guevara was instrumental in developing the model of large-scale media collaboration, persuading reporters who used to compete with one another instead to work together, share resources and amplify their reach and impact.

Her work as a journalist started in her native Argentina. Her stories on topics ranging from environmental degradation by multinational companies to the global offshore economy have appeared in leading international media, including The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Mother Jones, Le Monde, and the BBC.

She has won or shared more than 50 national and international awards, including the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.

In 2018-2019, she was a John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University. During her fellowship, she focused on the use of artificial intelligence in big data journalistic investigations. That same year, she received the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service from her alma mater, the Missouri School of Journalism.

Walker Guevara sits on the board of directors of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and is a co-founder of the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP).

The Carnegie Corporation named her one of 38 "Great Immigrants, Great Americans" in 2018 for her work leading global teams of investigative journalists working in the public interest.

JC Weliamuna

JC Weliamuna

JC Weliamuna is a Sri Lankan constitutional & human rights lawyer with 30 years of extensive practice and is an anti-corruption and human rights activits. He was the first Executive Director of the Transparency International Sri Lanka and later served as a member of its International Board. He has played a major part in the civil society movement of the country to re-establish democracy. He has contributed to mainstream anti-corruption agenda nationally, regionally and globally. He has contributed to various national and international forums and institutions in the field of governance, anti-corruption, constitutional, and human rights law while contributing to governance reforms. He has served as a member in public and private (mainly not for profit sector) institutions and higher educational institutions and has worked extensively as an expert with leading international organizations, both at policy and operational level, on asset recovery. He served as the Chairman of Sri Lanka’s first Presidential Task Force for Recovery of State Assets, prior to him being appointed as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia. Presently he is serving as an Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Governance, Griffith University.

Rajiv Joshi

Rajiv Joshi

Rajiv Joshi is a social entrepreneur and activist who serves as Managing Director and a founding member of The B Team, based in New York. He is working actively with some of the world’s most influential CEOs to help redefine the role of business in tackling inequality, corruption, climate change and other barriers to sustainable development. Rajiv has served as a Trustee of Oxfam and as Executive Director and Head of Programs for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), the world’s largest civil society alliance working to end poverty and inequality. During this time he led global action towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), mobilizing over 173 million people as part of the ‘Stand Up: Take Action’ initiative. He also supported The Elders with their ‘Every Human Has Rights’ campaign and helped spearhead citizen participation in creating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as co-founder of ‘The World We Want 2015’ platform and founding Chair of the Post-2015 Policy and Strategy Group.

Rajiv also serves on the Board of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy. He previously served for six years as an elected Board Member of CIVICUS based in Johannesburg, representing civil society organisations in more than 100 countries. In 2008 Rajiv founded the CIVICUS Youth Assembly.

From 2005-2007 Rajiv served two elected terms as Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, and has also been a Senior Advisor to the British Council, as well as a publicly appointed member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (Scotland Committee). He also worked as a Senior Public Sector Consultant with CapGemini in the UK. Rajiv holds a First Class Honors Degree in Economics from the University of Strathclyde and a Masters in Public Policy and Administration (MPA) with a focus on International Economic Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Thuli Madonsela

Thuli Madonsela

Thuli Madonsela is an advocate from South Africa. She is the Public Protector of South Africa. Madonsela is an ordinary member of the Pretoria branch of the African National Congress (ANC). During the apartheid era Madonsela served in the ANC and in the United Democratic Front anti-apartheid organisation. Madonsela was also one of the drafters of South Africa’s current constitution in 1994.

She is an advocate for Gender equality and the advancement of women, Madonsela is a member of South African Women Lawyers Association (SAWLA) and Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWASA). In 2012, she was honoured with South Africa’s most Influential Women Award. She has authored and co authored several publications including books, chapter, journals and handbooks on gender management and gender mainstreaming.

Anand Satyanand

Anand Satyanand

Anand Satyanand is a New Zealander with family links to the Pacific and India. He comes to the IACC after an association with the New Zealand chapter of Transparency International, as a Director and then Patron for three years. He has a long record of contribution to public life and served as the country’s 19th Governor-General between 2006 and 2011. Following that he undertook two roles with an international aspect, first as Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation, the people’s organisation counterpart to the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, and secondly as a member of TI’s International Advisory Council. Prior to appointment as Governor-General, he had been one of New Zealand’s Parliamentary Ombudsmen for two terms, each of five years. In New Zealand, the Ombudsman office has jurisdiction for cases involving maladministration as well as freedom of information. Prior to that he worked for 12 years as a judge in the District Court with a specialist warrant for criminal jury trials. In this judicial time, he also worked as a member of the National Parole Board and in developing judicial education programmes in New Zealand. Born and raised in Auckland he studied and then practised law in that city, some of that time with the Crown Solicitor’s Office and some in a regular law firm. Over time, he has been the recipient of a number of awards in New Zealand and elsewhere, for example, being knighted with an award of Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009, and with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award by the President of India in 2011, membership of the Royal Order of Tonga by King Tupou V, and the Rotary International Award of Honour. Throughout, he has maintained a number of community interests to do with sport and cultural affairs. He and his wife Susan have three adult children and five grandchildren and live in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city.

Roberto Perez Rocha

Roberto Perez Rocha

Director of the IACC Series & Global Initatives

Under his leadership, the IACC has evolved from a specialised Conference into the world largest independent Anti-Corruption forum and a leading trend setter. Roberto is a pioneer of ground-breaking global initiatives that engage people and experts to devise new cross sectorial solutions against corruption. He is the founder of the IACC Young Journalists Initiative, the Global Anti-Corruption Game Changers platform and the Films 4 Transparency International anti-Corruption Documentary Festival. The Game Changers platform supports initiatives like the first ever Social Entrepreneurs Initiative against Corruption. In association with various independent journalist and documentary networks, Roberto continuously fosters partnerships and cooperation between investigative journalists, film and documentary directors, and social justice advocates. Along with its partner Jeunesses Musicales International the IACC Series & Global Initiatives also host the Fair Play anti-Corruption Music Competition, the world’s first music competition of its kind. Roberto holds postgraduate degrees in Political Science and Development from the London School of Economics and the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree (with honours) in Political Science from the Universidad Iberoamericana, México City.

Roberto has 25 years of international experience in the fields of governance, social justice, advocacy and communications. Roberto is Mexican and lives in Berlin. In summer he can be found lecturing at the Summer School on Integrity in the University of Vilnius, Lithuania.
Paula O’Malley

Paula O’Malley

Manager, IACC Series & Global Initiatives

Paula O’Malley is the Manager for the IACC Series and Global Initiatives, with over 15 years of experience has led numerous large scale multi-stakeholder initiatives bringing together governments, civil society and the private sector to facilitate knowledge exchange, and to design global solutions against corruption. Paula has extensive experience managing multi-million euro programs to protect public resources with open procurement and citizen engagement, and has piloted numerous innovative initiatives to engage young people in the fight against corruption (Paula is founder of the IACC Young Journalists Intuitive, the IACC Social Entrepreneurs, and co-founder of Journalists for Transparency) For the IACC Paula’s responsibilities span from working with national designated government bodies to securing financing, budget monitoring, designing high level plenary sessions, designing and crowd sourcing workshop sessions, overseeing local logistical operations and ensuring the sustainability, relevance and impact of the conference on a national and global scale. Paula holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Public Policy from Humboldt University of Berlin & Viadrina European University.
Patricia Cobos

Patricia Cobos

Communications and Public Relations Officer of the IACC Series

Patricia Cobos is the Communications and Public Relations Officer of the IACC Series, she has worked in global communication agencies and multinational companies in Europe and Latin America.
With an international experience, she began her professional career in the private sector where she works in the Communication & Government Affairs Department at Siemens Spain. Later, she continued her professional career at Hill & Knowlton and Porter Novelli in Mexico, global communication and public relations agencies, where she participated in the definition of the online and offline communication strategy for multinational clients at regional level. She also worked for IDOM as Communications Officer, defining the image of the business and managing the participation of the company in different events around the world. She is graduate in Media Communication and Journalism (2009).

Joint the conversation on social media #IACC2024