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.

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]

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.

Costs vary depending on the host country, however the IACC usually costs between 2 and 4 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. Below are the registration fees for the 18th IACC which took place in Denmark in October 2018.

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. If you would like to see financial audits for previous IACCs, please click here.

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 50-60 workshop 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 panellists 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.

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 summarising 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 asks a 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 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.