About Us
Transparencia por Colombia – TI Colombian Chapter
Transparencia por Colombia is a non-profit organization created in 1998, whose mission is to lead, from within civil society, systematic efforts against corruption targeted towards transforming/concentrating on transforming our public and private institutions in order that in Colombia we can have effective and reliable organizations, upright citizens and companies, and honest public officials who always put the collective interest first, and who are accountable for their actions. To achieve this, Transparencia seeks to establish wide coalitions with diverse stakeholders; to be at the forefront of the generation and dissemination of anti-corruption knowledge and practices, and to contribute to the strengthening of an organized, active and responsible society.
Transparencia por Colombia is a National Chapter of Transparency International (TI) the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, with a presence in over 90 countries. Since 2001, Transparencia por Colombia has consolidated its position as a centre for business ethics for the Ethics Resource Centre in Washington, an organization that during the past 22 years has worked around the world in the field of business ethics.
Action Criteria
In this vein, and in order to increase its impact, Transparencia por Colombia has established the following criteria as a guide for its actions:
- Be exclusively oriented towards corruption prevention and “corruption risks”, leaving investigation and prosecution to the relevant authorities;
- Produce accurate and relevant research on the existing state of corruption;
- Create proposed tools that always seek to help those involved in risk of corruption to find solutions to visualize real possibilities for improvement;
- Maintain political independence with regards to partisan political activities;
- Keep a low profile in the media, which will be contacted only to make specific contributions aimed at shaping public opinion, and not/never to promote scandals;
- Adopt an inter-sector approach that will allow Transparencia por Colombia to understand the state of corruption in the country, to assume a leadership position in dealing with the problems, and to intervene in situations that generate impact.
Priorities
With regards to its main topics of interest, Transparencia por Colombia has decided to focus its efforts for the 2007 - 2009 term around seven priorities: 1. Improve/increase political transparency, 2. Identify and minimize corruption in the justice system, 3. Based on past experience, build a model for intervention to promote transparency and prevent corruption on a regional level, 4. Strengthen citizen control/oversight in the country, 5. Innovate in corruption prevention in public contracting, 6. Encourage the private sector to actively participate in the fight against corruption, 7. Conduct advocacy efforts aimed at influencing policy formulation and public opinion using knowledge generated by the Indexes of Public Institutions produced by Transparencia por Colombia.
Achievements
During these past 10 years, Transparencia por Colombia has made the following achievements:
1. Consolidated Colombia’s most important civil society organization working to fight corruption. Transparencia has managed to force the issue of corruption onto the national agenda/position corruption as a topic that is part of the country’s national agenda; it has generated tools and information designed to limit the impact of corruption, which it has put at the disposition of the public and private sectors and civil society; it has managed to influence public institutions into taking institutional measures to prevent corruption and promote transparency; and has had significant impact over public policy on contracting and access to information.
2. Gained the recognition and respect of representatives and stakeholders from a wide-cross section of Colombian society. During 2005, having interviewed 50 representatives from different sectors, three external evaluators stated: “for a very significant majority of those interviewed, Transparencia por Colombia is a serious and reliable organization. They highlight its deep knowledge of mechanisms for the promotion of transparency and the fight against corruption, the consistency between what they say and what they do in their own practices, and their generosity in transferring their knowledge".
3. Established cooperative working relationship with organizations of various types, in order to provide more innovative and bold responses to corruption. During its ten years of existence, Transparencia has forged close links with over one hundred organizations of different types: civil society organizations, universities, companies, the media, public institutions at different levels within the government and from different branches of the state (Executive, Judiciary etc), international agencies, the embassies of governments with diplomatic representation in Colombia, and donor and financing agencies. These links have allowed Transparencia to increase the impact of its interventions, to accumulate greater and better technical, logistical and financial resources, and to build collective visions and innovative, pertinent solutions.
Furthermore, Transparencia por Colombia has been consolidating its participation in different networks: i) In “ONG por la Transparencia” (NGOs for Transparency), along with other 47 organizations committed to accountability for their actions. ii) In RINDE, a network of organizations fostered by the German Agency for International Cooperation, universities and civil society organizations. iii) The Political Reform Interest Group comprised of different social organizations, several universities and opinion columnists. iv) In a coalition of 13 civil society organisations from different regions and from the media, formed to provide citizen oversight of the election process by which 6 magistrates were to be voted to the Constitutional Court (2008).
Furthermore, the working strategy of alliance-buidling with regional stakeholders has allowed Transparencia por Colombia to be recognized in academic, citizen and political arenas, while expanding its understanding about the working realities in the municipalities and regions.
4. Taken its knowledge and experience to the different regions in Colombia. During these ten years of work, Transparencia por Colombia, along with a significant number of allies, has developed a set of initiatives and tools that are now/today used in various regions across the country, causing different levels of impact on local government and the general public alike. Especially worthy of note are the “Departmental” (regional) and Municipal Transparency Indexes, and the project dubbed “Internet for Accountability,” as instruments which have allowed us to establish greater levels of contact with local stakeholders, to build regional alliances, and to enrich our understanding of local realities (see appendix for map).
5. Become an international reference point for other organizations. Transparencia por Colombia has lead important processes of knowledge transfer and exchange of experiences with other TI National chapters, with Transparency International and with other organizations. Of particular note is the support offered to TI and other National Chapters in developing transparency tools for public contracting; along with an internship programme for the leaders of National Chapters in Pakistan, Argentina, Paraguay and Guatemala; and the support given to Poder Ciudadano (TI-Argentina) and the Ethos Institute (Brazil) in replicating and implementing a methodology for promoting the signing of anti-corruption agreements between competing companies. Furthermore, the Transparency Index of Public Institutions Transparencia por Colombia produced has inspired the creation of similar tools in the Dominican Republic, Panama and Chile. Internet for Accountability has been used in 7 municipalities in Nicaragua (an initiative of the Fundemos Group) and generated interest in other countries in the region, such as Honduras (through the Fundación Democracia sin Fronteras) and Argentina.
6. Been a pioneer and innovative institution in the development of tools and methodologies. The most relevant examples are: i) the Transparencia por Colombia lecture, a training program to develop values in teenagers and young adults, involving over 10,000 students from over 19 universities in 5 cities in the country; ii) the votebien.com (vote right)website, which has monitored and tracked the presidential, parliamentary and regional elections from 2002 to 2007, has been recognised in the country’s political media and by opinion leaders as a pluralist communications tool that has contributed to the transparency of electoral processes in the country; iii) the joint drive along with other organizations to pioneer the “NGO for Transparency” project, which promotes accountability amongst Colombian NGOs.
7. Adapted and implemented tools to protect public procurement from corruption risks. “Integrity Agreements” were implemented in over 80 contracting processes, allowing 2,300 million USD to be safeguarded and, based on this experience, contributing to various reforms to legislation governing public contracting in Colombia.
8. Recruited the private sector to the fight against corruption, making this sector increasingly aware of its responsibilities in the development of a public sphere through tools designed for this purpose. Support to over 12 large companies, and the 200 SMEs that comprise these companies’ supply chains, in the implementation of an ethics programme, the “Rumbo Pymes - Integras y Transparentes” (SMEs’ Directive for Integrity and Transparency) programme, an innovative and relevant tool developed by Transparencia por Colombia. The implementation of sectoral anti-corruption agreements in three sectors of the economy, whose measures represent a specific road-map to prevent and fight corruption in companies and business relationships, with considerable social impact. Furthermore, the development of a Transparency Index for companies providing public utility services, which aims to become a reference point for comparative analysis between good business practices with regards to disclosure of information to interested parties on one hand, and the implementation of measures favouring ethical behaviours on the other.
9. Inspireding and accompanied civil society alliances for the control and safeguarding of public resources. Over 80 organizations involved in social control exercises in 14 provinces across the country have received technical and financial support from Transparencia por Colombia. Especially noteworthy is the monitoring and tracking exercises made on the Municipal and District Councils in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cali, Popayán, Neiva and Manizales, as well as the support given to strengthen the committees that monitor royalties in Arauca, Sucre and Cordoba, and the launch of the Oversight Support Fund “Citizens for the safeguarding of public assets” (Fondo de apoyo al control social “Ciudadanos al ciudado de los público”)
10. Provided practical tools to foster accountability in Colombia’s municipal governments. Transparencia por Colombia produced the first recommendations in the country regarding the preparation and development of public hearings for local mayors as a means for citizens to exercise accountability, which have in turn been taken up and enriched/improved by national and regional institutions in order to guide their public accountability exercises. Transparencia developed a tool dubbed “Internet para la Rendición de Cuentas - IPRC” (Internet for Accountability), which has served to establish minimum levels of information that should be published on municipal government websites as an indicator of the institution’s transparency. This tool was donated to the Office of the Vice-President of Colombia and to the Ministry of Communications, and, at present, over 700 municipalities in the country use the IPRC as a benchmark on which to base their official websites.
11. Developed an innovative, relevant and systematically applicable tool to promote institutional changes against corruption. The Transparency Index for Public Institutions has consolidated its position as the first independent, civil society instrument to periodically measure the performance of public institutions on the prevention and control of their corruption risks, and to enjoy credibility in the eyes of both the public and the very institutions under evaluation. The Index assesses 178 public institutions of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches at the national level, as well as Control Entities and state-owned and mixed-economy companies; 228 institutions belonging to the regional governments, and 32 regional comptrollers’ offices; and 252 municipalities. Among the different measurements, it has been observed that all institutions assessed have improved, which confirms the effectiveness of the index as a tool to foster the adoption of corruption-prevention measures by public institutions. Furthermore, the Index serves as a reference point for decision-making regarding regulations and policies that apply to all public institutions, and has become a benchmark for the Information System to Track Government Actions (SIGOB, to use the Spanish acronym). Additionally, the Index has come to be considered an indicator of success by international donors conducting programmes in the Colombian regions.
Even though progress has been made, Transparencia por Colombia has significant challenges that it will need to face and address over the next years. We are increasingly more concerned as the practices of corruption have become ever more sophisticated and complex, the actors increasingly diverse, organized and more frequently linked to criminal networks with long-term goals that seek to influence the State at key strategic points at all levels and in all branches. Given our stated mission, it is our obligation to understand this phenomenon and to act in order to prevent it and fight it. Therefore, a series of research projects began in 2007 on State Capture in Colombia, in order to understand which actors are intervening in processes of state capture, how and where capture manifests itself, and how to fight it. Through this work, Transparencia por Colombia hopes to maintain its capacity to read the environment and to propose effective measures for countering corruption in the country and promoting transparency.
Principles and Governing Bodies
Transparencia por Colombia carries out its activities based on the following principles: Independence, Responsibility, Equity, Patriotism, Transparency, Probity, Austerity and Good Judgment.
In its internal operation and its relationships with its allies, Transparencia por Colombia applies and is governed by the following principles and values as laid down in its statutes and Code of Ethics:
1. Employees/Partners should:
- Display ethical personal and professional behaviour.
- Conduct relationships with interest groups in a professional, serious and ethical manner.
- Conform to and abide by the laws governing Transparencia’s actions and those of its partners.
- Optimize the management of Transparencia por Colombia’s resources, as well as those of third parties that support the development of our projects.
- Express its disagreement with any action, decision or activity that may be unethical or go against the principles of Transparencia por Colombia.
- Make decisions in an objective manner without entering into biases that may affect the good judgment that should characterize us, substantiating arguments using only clear, profound and technical analysis, in addition to solid arguments.
2. Transparencia por Colombia should:
- Maintain an open and constant attitude of accountability towards its various interest groups.
- Facilitate access by all interested parties to information about our financial and accounting statements and about the source of our resources in an accurate, comprehensive and honest manner.
- Show transparency in contracting processes.
- Divulge information to our interest groups regarding the main activities conducted by Transparencia por Colombia, its goals and the results achieved.
3. Our members should:
- Sign the statement of ethics and comply with each of the commitments therein included, which set ethical standards for behaviour and attitudes.
The governing bodies of Transparencia por Colombia are:
Governing Council: The main purpose of the Governing Council is to uphold Transparencia por Colombia’s mission, purpose, and principles, and to oversee that these are properly respected. It is comprised of an odd number of individuals, which should not exceed nine in total, and who are recognized for and distinguished in their honesty, background and knowledge/expertise. The Members of the Governing Council are elected by internal vote. At present, the Governing Council is made up of: Alejandro Linares Cantillo, Andrés Echavarría Olano, Rodrigo Gutiérrez Duque, Gustavo Bell Lemus and Rosa Inés Ospina.
General Members’ Assembly: This is the highest governing body within Transparencia por Colombia. It is comprised of all members of Transparencia por Colombia, who have voice and voting rights and may act directly or through their legal representatives or properly authorized proxies. Currently, Transparencia has 34 members and 1 benefactor, including individuals, universities, foundations and important companies from both the national and international business community.
Board of Directors: The Board of Directors is responsible for directing Transparencia por Colombia’s activities and operation. It is comprised of a maximum number of nine members, four of which are chosen by the General Assembly, and five by the Governing Council. The current members of the Board of Directors are: Alejandro Linares Cantillo, Andrés Echavarría Olano, Rodrigo Gutiérrez Duque, Rosa Inés Ospina Robledo, Fernando Jaramillo Giraldo, Daniel Perea Villa, Patricia Martínez y Esperanza González.
Executive Direction: The holder of this position is elected by the Board of Directors from among candidates nominated by the Governing Council. Since 1st August 2009, Elisabeth Ungar has held this position.
Statutory Auditor: Until April 2007, this role was performed by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, and as of May 2007, it has been carried out by Nariño y Asociados.
Current Members of Transparencia por Colombia
Individuals:
- Rodrigo Gutiérrez Duque
- Andrés Echavarría Olano
- Germán Jaramillo Rojas
- Camilo Calderón Rivera
- Alejandro Linares Cantillo
- Rosa Inés Ospina Robledo
- Guillermo Hoyos Vásquez
Civil society organizations and business foundations
- Corporación Excelencia en la Justicia
- Corporación Ocasa
- Fundación Cívico Social Pro-Cartagena
- Fundación Corona
- Fundación Foro Nacional por Colombia
- Fundación Suramericana
Companies
- Bavaria S.A - SABMiller
- Cerrejón
- Compensar
- Falabella de Colombia S.A
- Grupo Nacional de Chocolates S.A.
- Organización Corona S.A.
- Organización Terpel S.A.
- Red Multibanca Colpatria S.A.
- Reficar S.A
Universities
- Universidad Eafit
- Universidad Tecnológica de Bolivar
Benefactors 2010-2012
Hoteles DeCameron Cartagena
Andrés Echavarría Olano
Claudia Echavarría Olano