Page 27 - IB APR 2017

Transparency International suspends Vanuatu chapter

Fiji office closes
by Jason Brown
DETAILS remain unclear about the rea- by Priya Chand “Funding opportunities were proving to be
sons for Transparency International Vanu- a challenge as well.”
atu’s current suspension by Transparency CONFLICTING priorities has led to the closure According to the Veramu, the move to tran-
International. of the Fiji office of the Transparency Interna- sition has been a topic of discussion within the
Transparency International Vanuatu tional - the global anti-corruption coalition. board for some time now.
(TIV) executives have blamed funding cuts Transparency Fiji (who are known as Integri- “Board had been discussing the move for
from TI headquarters for the suspension. ty Fiji on Facebook) is now the purely national- a couple of years now, given the environ-
“All TI Chapters in Melanesia have been based organization, sharing the same vision ment that the organisation was operating
affected by fund cuts from TI Secretariat,” and mission as its earlier counterpart. in,” he said.
Executive Director Wilson Toa told Islands Transparency International Secretariat “Donor focus, Programmatic approach and
Business. He confirmed TIV accounts are Kate Hanlon confirmed that the “TI Fiji elected Regional priorities had increased in tempo,
under audit. to transition to a purely national-based orga- and so smaller chapters (numbers & funding)
“The 2014 Financial have already been nization, leaving the global TI network at the were beginning to notice this change.”
audited”, said Toa. “We are awaiting for end of last year.” Veramu says there has been no big changes
the audit company to complete the 2015 Hanlon says as organisations working the “as we were operating locally and drawing
and 2016 audit reports.” anti-corruption field, TI globally and Integrity from local expertise. The opportunities,
Toa did not respond to questions about Fiji continue to be in touch and exchange in- however, to learn and exchange with our ex-
why Transparency International cut their formation informally. ternal chapters in the Asia Pacific region and
funding, or whether they raised any Transparency Fiji Chairman Joseph Veramu worldwide, is probably the only thing that we
concerns. says the organisation’s strategic priorities have foregone now,” he said.
Similarly, Transparency International would be now focused on local initiatives that When in operation, The TI Fiji maintained
would not comment on an Islands Busi- were driven by local needs and expectations. its links to the TI global movement, whereby
ness request for details about reasons for “We had been implementing external it could access funding, technical skills and
the suspension. programmes, and now felt that adjustment opportunities to learn/grow and contribute
“TI-Vanuatu remains a TI Chapter and had to be refocused to our national context,” to the anti-corruption movement (locally
continues to operate while matters related said Veramu. and abroad).
to the suspension are being clarified,” said
Deborah Unger, Manager of the TI Rapid
Response Unit told Islands Business in an
emailed response. The suspension of a TI
accredited National Chapter consists in the
temporary withdrawal of their electoral
Transparency International Vanuatu. ‘ ... we are
rights in TI and corresponding record of
such suspension on our website,” she
said.
Recent years have been difficult for

“For TI Vanuatu we had gone through slowly
over two years of changes in the Board of recovering
Directors and funding cuts and lay-off of
staff plus the closing down of our Advo- to meet the
cacy and Legal Advice Centre,” Toa told TI Secretariat
Islands Business.
“We are slowly recovering to meet the requirements
TI Secretariat requirements and obliga-
tions as a Chapter. Hopefully we should be and
back as a full-time Member by the middle
of this year.” obligations
Until then, Toa said, TI Vanuatu will
continue to operate “as usual” with all ...
existing programs in Vanuatu. ‘
Behind the scenes, former members
have expressed dismay at what they claim
is a decline in standards at TIV. But critics
would not go into details either. Prior to the
suspension, TIV was well regarded across
the region, maintaining high-profile com-
munity campaigns against corruption.

Islands Business, April 2017 27