Nicola Okes and Gabriel Sipos, TRAFFICFirst published on TNRC (Tackling Natural Resource Corruption) The rhino horn trade represents one of the four largest illegal wildlife trade flows (UNODC 2020) by value. Although the drivers and uses of rhino horn differ across user groups and market destinations (e.g., medicinal use or status-conferring prestige products), the overall Read more >
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Today, 9 December, the world marks International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD). This year’s theme is UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption, and it also marks the beginning of the lead-up to the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention Against Corruption. Corruption is intertwined in most of the challenges that today’s world faces – challenges Read more >
Illustration: Storyset It is fair to say that many – if not the majority of – public servants do their work diligently and honestly, to the best of their abilities – nevertheless, government departments and institutions remain at high risk for corruption. The same applies to the private sector, especially in its engagements with public Read more >
With so many lucrative avenues for criminals to choose from nowadays, the fact that international wildlife crime (IWT) and the smuggling of wildlife products continues to increase is a measure of the vast sums of money to be made from this illegal practice. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for example, which it spelled out in its 2020 World Wildlife Crime Report, “the Read more >
Image: Wilson Lau, TRAFFIC A humble marine mollusc, Haliotis midae, has been the inadvertent cause of one of South Africa’s biggest poaching/smuggling challenges. The largest abalone in South Africa, it is known locally as perlemoen, from the Dutch meaning ‘mother of pearl’. Occurring naturally along the South African coastline, perlemoen is nothing more than a Read more >
A new study titled Convergence of wildlife crime with other forms of organised crime, released in May 2021 by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), sheds light on this phenomenon of crime convergence, which has been noticed more and more over the last two decades. The report shows that criminal networks are dealing in wildlife Read more >
Consider this statement: “Bribes can make up to 10% of the wholesale value of ivory in Asia.” And given that according to an investigation by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), raw ivory currently commands a price of between US$597/kg and $689/kg, on the Asian market – down from a mind-boggling high of $2 100/kg in Read more >
By Jason Kohn First published on the Global Anticorruption Blog It’s long been recognised that public relations (PR) is a crucial tool in the fight against corruption. This recognition is codified in the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), Article 13 of which requires state parties to “[u]ndertak[e] public information activities that contribute to non-tolerance of Read more >
It’s a new year, and the fight against corruption goes on. It is tempting to feel discouraged, but if you thought there was nothing you as an individual could do, think again! Let 2016 be the year you stand up and say: “So far, and no farther.” While the problem might be so deeply entrenched Read more >