The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

26 JUNE 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL assistance to help Ukraine prevent and fight corruption, imple- ment reforms and bolster civil society. We also saw significant progress in Guatemala in 2015. Investigations by the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (known in Spanish as the CICIG), for which the United States has been a leading donor since 2008, led to arrests and the dismantling of longstanding, pervasive corruption rings within the country’s tax authority, peni- tentiary system, national civil police, Social Security Health Institute and elsewhere. Most notably, in September Otto Perez Molina resigned the presidency and was incarcerated follow- ing a CICIG investigation. We also continue to fund bilateral programs to help the Guatemalan judiciary adopt CICIG best practices. Empowering Civil Society Fighting and preventing corruption is not only a govern- ment’s responsibility. It requires a bottom-up approach to building citizens’ demand for justice and accountability. With that in mind, we are prioritizing efforts to expand civil society’s role and empower citizens to hold their governments account- able. In Mexico, for example, INL has worked with a local NGO to establish citizens’ watch booths in district attorneys’ offices located in the Federal District and the states of Mexico and Puebla. The booths are run by volunteers who advise citizens of their rights in reporting crimes, monitor local authorities to ensure that they follow correct procedures, collect data on the quality of services provided and report irregularities. We also support training investigative journalists to uncover corruption at a local level. Local citizens, journalists and organized civil society must all be empowered to expose corrupt practices and feel safe enough to press for the prosecution of perpetrators. In addition to building capacity in developing countries, we are leveraging renewed global interest in this common cause to strengthen political will and implement international stan- dards. It is impossible to estimate the cost of corruption, but with a conservative World Bank estimate of $1 trillion in bribes being paid annually, the costs in diverted resources are huge. That oft-cited and staggering figure cannot be ignored, and individual countries cannot address it alone. Our partners in the Group of Seven and Group of 20 have made anti-corruption a priority this year, as shown by a May summit in London that brought together representatives of G-20 member-states and developing countries to work toward transparency in beneficial ownership, law enforcement cooperation and asset recovery.