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Global Integrity Day
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Break the bonds of corruption
All types and all places
May 2025 News and Updates
May 2025 News and Updates
Feature 1. Global Integrity Day (GID) is a positive day, launched on 9 June 2020, to reflect, teach, and collaborate on ways to integrate integrity in all we do throughout the entire year.
Feature 2. GID is a strategic day to promote a) cultivating lifestyles, cultures, and systems of integrity from the individual through the international levels; b) joining together to understand and address the causes and consequences of corruption in its many forms; and c) working towards just and equitable societies marked with wellbeing for all people and for the planet.
Feature 3. GID is a solemn day to consider our ways: if we are lying and/or stealing in any way big or small, then we need to stop it. If we need to right a wrong we have done, then do so. If we need to prudently confront wrongdoing, preferably in solidarity with colleagues for mutual support and greater impact, then do so.
Feature 4. GID is a companion day to complement UN International Anti-Corruption Day, 9 December (and vice versa). Both Days are practical rallying points, six months apart, for fostering common ground, organizing events, sharing initiatives, affirming anti-corruption workers, and involving the public.
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Moral Lives Matter
Make every day an integrity day
in our lives, work, and world!
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Moral Lives Matter
Make every day an integrity day
in our lives, work, and world!
We have found this new resource to be very helpful--instructive and often disturbing--as it looks at the reality of organizational and leadership malfeasance including cover ups and retaliation in the UN system. We highly recommend it with the reminder (in line with the editor) that corruption is basically everywhere (not just in the UN) and there are many fine people and leaders within the UN system who are working sacrificially to make the world--and their organization--a better and safer place.
We encourage you to read the insightful Introduction to this book by Grant Martin.
"How do citizens counter corruption and exact accountability from power holders?...Can bottom-up, citizen-based strategies complement and reinforce top-down anti-corruption efforts? Addressing these questions [the author] explores how millions of people around the world have refused to be victims of corruption and become instead the protagonists of successful nonviolent civic movements to gain accountability and promote positive political, social, and economic change."
Free download of the book HERE as well as several chapters in different languages HERE.
"In Transparency, the authors–a powerhouse trio in the field of leadership–look at what conspires against "a culture of candor" in organizations to create disastrous results, and suggest ways that leaders can achieve healthy and honest openness... [The authors] explore why the containment of truth is the dearest held value of far too many organizations and suggest practical ways that organizations, their leaders, their members, and their boards can achieve openness...
See also Developing Character Strengths–Being the Leaders Our World Needs, Global Integration Update (March 2023)
News and Events
Spotlight Activities and Ongoing Action
Share Your Resources, Plans, and Ideas
OECD 2025 Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum (26-27 March in Paris)
Renewing Nigeria's Anti-Corruption Agenda
Pathways for change and reflections on 25 years of policy
Wednesday 19 March 2025 (8.00 –12.30 GMT | 9.00 –13.30 WAT)
Chatham House and MacArthur Foundation--Abuja, Nigeria and Online Zoom
UNCAC Civil Society news and updates (14 February 2025)--focusing on the impact on funding cuts to major anti-corruption initiatives and improving the the CAC Implementation Review Mechanism
Corruption Perception Index 2024 (CPI), Transparency International (published 11 February 2025)
See also CPI 2024: Highlights and Insights
OECD Newsletter (February 2025) including a webinar Promoting Public Integrity in the MENA Region
UN International Anti-Corruption Day-9 December 2024
Uniting with Youth Against Corruption--Shaping Tomorrow's Integrity
Ways for You to Participate in GID
Connect and Contribute for Mutual Benefit
1. Review the GID overview above (Four Features) and the GID website. Share your ideas with us about further developing GID.
2. Send us core resources to add to the GID website in general or specifically related to the annual theme.
3. Include a short description and logo/link for GID on your website.
4. Spread the word about GID in advance of 9 June via social media and with your colleagues and networks.
5. Organise an event or webinar related to your organisation's purpose as it connects to GID's emphases around the time of GID on 9 June and/or UN Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December. We will then "spotlight" these events/webinars on the GID site to support your work and GID.
6. Explore a few resources on the GID site that are relevant for you personally and for your spheres of influence.
7. Encourage someone you know (or know of) who is acting with integrity and those working in anti-corruption.
8. Make every day an integrity day!
GID Background
For more information see the About GIN section
The first Global Integrity Day (GID) was launched on 9 June 2020 and continues to be commemorated on 9 June 2021, 2022, and 2023. This special, annual day has been envisioned since December 2016, to shine the global spotlight on moral health for a more-whole world. It is a practical impetus as we endeavor a) to live in integrity always and in every area of our lives and b) to learn about and support a variety of strategic efforts for pro-integrity and anti-corruption ranging from developing public policy to developing personal probity.
--The initial theme for this Day (GID 2020) was Confronting the Corruption of Racism.
--The theme for GID 2021 was Corruption and Poverty.
--The GID 2022 theme was Integrity and Corruption in the Health Sector.
--The theme for GID 2023 was Faith-Based Champions Fighting Corruption.
--The theme for GID 2024 was Fighting Human Trafficking.
--The theme for GID 2025 is Empowering People to Defeat Corruption. How can we empower people to develop the virtues and skills needed to live in integrity and to fight corruption (forming the character and competence needed to resist and confront corruption)?
Going into the future--it would be strategic to see Global Integrity Day (GID-9 June) designated as a new United Nations International Day as well as a companion day to complement the already designated International Anti-Corruption Day (IAD-9 December) and vice versa.
We invite friends and colleagues around the world, and organizations and networks large and small, to join together in solidarity, finding common ground for the common good, to commemorate both special days on 9 June and 9 December and throughout this year. Your suggestions are very welcome for developing GID further. (MCAresources@gmail.com)
Global Integrity Day 2025
Empowering People to Defeat Corruption
Developing Resilience, Virtues, and Skills
Reflections and Resources
See the GID Reflections and Resources section
for the complete list of materials from 2020-2024
Not the quotes at the bottom of this page
Sustainable Development Goal 16
--"Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms."
Sustainable Development Goal 16.5
--"Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels ."
Sustainable Development Goal 16.6
--Note the SDG Indicators, Metadata Repository and information on SDG 16,
especially these indicators related to corruption: SDG 16.5.1. and SDG 16.5.2
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Reflections
It seems to us that most of the people that we would consider to be ‘champions’ of integrity and anti-corruption--be they faith-based or of no particular faith--are either not aware that they themselves are champions or would never consider themselves to be ‘champions.’ And furthermore, very likely they would not want others to refer to them by this term. Rather, they see themselves as common people who are merely doing their duty and the right thing, ordinary citizens who are just trying to do good, even if there are risks.
What is true of our affirmation of colleagues in Global Mental Health (GMH) is also true for colleagues in integrity and anti-corruption: 'We acknowledge, with much appreciation, that many of the developments and directions in GMH are being shaped and implemented by colleagues out of the spotlight, on the ground, in the trenches—often unrecognized and under-funded. Thank you for your commitment and perseverance!' ‘All that is gold does not glitter.’ Tolkien (O'Donnell, Eaton, Lewis O'Donnell, 2021)"
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Featured Resources
May 2025
Coming soon--Updated version of Corruption-Free Churches Are Possible
See also Corruption-Free Religions Are Possible (2021)
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April 2025
The Pope Who Knelt--How Francis Made the Church Feel Like Home Again
A Tribute to Pope Francis by Greg Monteclaro. This is a brief and relevant reflection on the positive and enduring character qualities of Pope Francis and featured here in view of this year's GID theme on developing virtues.
The Name of God is Mercy (2016)--This book is based on an interview with Pope Francis. Chapter 7 is Sinners Yes, Corrupt No. See a summary of his 11 Nov 2011 homily related to this chapter HERE)
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March 2025
Snakes and Wolves--Dealing with Psychopaths and Manipulators
Selected excerpts and summaries from Snakes in Suits-When Psychopaths Go to Work (revised 2019) and In Sheep's Clothing--Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People (revised 2010)
Developing Character Strengths–Being the Leaders Our World Needs. Global Integration Update (March 2023). "In this Update...we feature Character, Virtue, and Leadership, an insightful conversation with Michael Lamb, the Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, organized by The Trinity Forum (17 February 2023--60 minute video). One of the main resources highlighted in this conversation was the research on Seven Strategies for Character Development. (Part One) We also share additional resources to help summon and shape character strengths...Note that this Update emphasizes character as being more dispositional than situational--yet without minimizing the role that social and environmental factors can have in influencing everything from pro-social to anti-social behaviors. (Part Two)
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February 2025
Speaking Truth to Abusive Power
Protecting Whistleblowers
Confronting Impunity and Retaliation
PETRA People Update (February 2025)
"This issue focuses on whistleblowers who with courage and integrity confront wrong doing and corruption--by themselves or with others--within their organizations, communities, and countries. It specifically addresses the need to protect authentic whistleblowers and to confront the impunity and retaliation that maintains (protects!) dysfunctional and deviant people and practices. The four featured resources include a new book on whistleblowing in the UN context, whistleblowing resources, a podcast on repentance, and definitions of integrity and corruption."
We the People: The UN Whistleblowers--Whistleblowing and Retaliation in the United Nations, edited by Caroline Hunt-Matthes (2025). We have found this new resource to be very helpful--instructive and often disturbing--as it looks at the reality of organizational and leadership malfeasance including cover ups and retaliation in the UN system. It is edited by a friend and neighbor whose story appears in the book too.
"The one thing that surprised me about Caroline’s story was the duration of her whistleblowing story...You tell an amazing story: 12 years in litigation. Your UN opponents want to wear you down, but you haven’t acquiesced” (page 6). We can definitely relate in our experience with parts of the Christian church and mission community! We highly recommend this book with the reminder (in line with the editor) that corruption is basically everywhere (not just in the UN) and there are many fine people and leaders within the UN system who are working sacrificially to make the world--and their organization--a better and safer place.
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January 2025
Whistleblowing--Responsible Practices for Healthy Organizations, Member Care Update (July 2018)
"Many of us are no strangers to the need to responsibly report wrongdoing--both to leaders inside organizations and to accountability bodies outside of them. But often nothing gets reported due to the lack of clear policies and/or the fear of retaliation--often via disguised discrediting, demotions, and dismissals. And occasionally there are whistleblowers who have questionable motives and/or frankly get their accusations/information "wrong."
So we ask: Does your organization have or need a whistleblowing policy--special guidelines and protections for staff to confront wrongdoing in an organization? Does your organization encourage an ethos of transparency and accountability in all that it does? How can you help your organization stay ethically healthy via relevant whistleblowing guidelines/policies? These are crucial questions that we encourage you to explore through the many resources in this Update. See also our resources in the Global Integrity section of our main MCA website."
International Whistleblowing Network and the UNCAC Civil Society Coalition
Global News 2025
See the archives in the Special News section HERE
Corruption Perception Index 2024 (CPI), Transparency International (published 11 February 2025)
See also CPI 2024: Highlights and Insights. The [CPI 2024] shows that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but change for the better is happening in many countries. Research also reveals that corruption is a major threat to climate action. It hinders progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable effects of global heating. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean)."
"As corruption grows in scale and complexity, over two thirds of countries now score below the mid-point on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Corruption affects billions of people worldwide, destroying lives, undermining human rights and exacerbating global crises. It blocks real action where it’s needed most – and with autocrats on the rise and democracy weakening, the fight against it has never been more urgent." (quotes from the Transparency International website)
OECD Newsletter (February 2025) including a webinar Promoting Public Integrity in the MENA Region
Myanmar's Shwe Kokko: Inside a City 'Built on Scams' BBC (6 February 2025)
"The tall, shiny buildings which rise out of the cornfields on the Myanmar side of the Moei river are a sight so jarring you find yourself blinking to be sure you haven't imagined it. Eight years ago there was nothing over there in Karen State. Just trees, a few roughly built cement buildings, and a long-running civil war which has left this area of Myanmar one of the poorest places on earth. But today, on this spot along the border with Thailand, a small city has emerged like a mirage. It is called Shwe Kokko, or Golden Raintree. It is accused of being a city built on scams, home to a lucrative yet deadly nexus of fraud, money-laundering and human trafficking. The man behind it, She Zhijiang, is languishing in a Bangkok jail, awaiting extradition to China..."
The 11th biennial Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is scheduled to meet 14-19 December 2025 in Doha, Qatar. The Implementation Review Mechanism for the UNCAC is a major emphasis (member states' implementation of the UNCAC). Note also the UNCAC Civil Society Coalition's Parallel Reports about member states' implementation of the UNCAC as well as information about the UN's review process.
OECD 2025 Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum (meeting 26-27 March in Paris)
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Some Global News Items from 2024
Integrity Review for Jordan. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (December 2024)
In English and Arabic--See the overview in the Executive Summary
"Recognising that corruption hampers public sector modernisation, economic progress and foreign investment, Jordan is undertaking ambitious reforms to tackle it. The reforms provide an opportunity to build on past achievements while taking a more modern approach to anti-corruption that focuses on integrity. This Integrity Review provides concrete recommendations on how Jordan can strengthen its institutional arrangements and take a strategic approach to public integrity, including promoting a culture of integrity throughout the public administration and the whole of society. The report also offers suggestions for reinforcing both internal and external control and audit, improving the whistleblowing framework and strengthening the criminal investigation of corruption cases."
International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December 2024) Uniting with Youth Against Corruption--Shaping Tomorrow's Integrity." Our world confronts numerous challenges, tragedies, inequalities and injustices, many of which are tied to corruption. With 1.8 billion young people in the world, fighting corruption is vital for the future of nearly a quarter of the global population. While young people are significantly affected by corruption, they also have the potential to become powerful agents of change in the fight for a future rooted in integrity....Therefore, the campaign for International Anti-Corruption Day 2024-2025 focuses on the role young guardians of integrity play as advocates, raising awareness about corruption and its impacts on their communities. They will actively participate in discussions, share their experiences and propose innovative solutions to combat corruption. The campaign will amplify voices of integrity leaders of tomorrow, allowing them to express their concerns and aspirations, with the hope that their appeals will be heard and acted upon. " (quote from website)
15 November 2024 is the first International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organized Crime (TOC). Theme--Pulling together to push back: United against organized crime--Organized crime steals, corrupts and kills. "Criminal networks are exploiting global vulnerabilities on a vast scale—from human trafficking to environmental destruction and cybercrime. Organized crime operates across borders, posing serious challenges that no country can tackle alone...Led by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this campaign showcases success stories where cooperation has led to meaningful progress, from dismantling trafficking networks to promoting sustainable alternatives to illicit economies. Together, we can push back against organized crime and build safer, more resilient communities worldwide." Short video overview HERE. High level event on 15 November at the United Nations Vienna HERE (archived on UN WebTV). See the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. Note also the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
21st International Anti-Corruption Conference--Transparency International
Confronting Global Treats--Standing Up for Integrity
(18-21 June 2024) Vilnius, Lithuania
Archived videos HERE
Integrity at All Costs, Global Integrity Network--hybrid conference in Toronto (1 June 2024)
The recordings are available at the above link (presentations, testimonies, and discussions).
Definitions
Integrity and Corruption
--Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness.
--Corruption is moral rottenness, the opposite of integrity--the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the abuse and exploitation of people and the planet. It is integroty.
--Global integrity is living consistently in moral wholeness at all levels--individual, interpersonal, institutional, and international; across sectors and settings; local through global; the systemic and structural.
"Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness—with honesty, humility, and all the virtues--and with an awareness of one’s potential to deceive and harm oneself and others. Integrity needs external moral referents--standards of virtue with accountability--and not simply positive self-appraisals--in order to safeguard us all from both blind and willful hypocrisy." Defining Integrity. Kelly and Michele O'Donnell, Member Care Update (June 2023)Note: This is an expanded version of the above definition on the GID website. Note that it opens the door wide to the crucial discussion and clarification of "external moral referents" and "standards of virtue and accountability" as well as the process and accuracy of one's moral perceptions of self and others.
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Corruption is "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain." Transparency International
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Corruption is "a system of abuse of entrusted power for private, collective, or political gain--often involving a complex, intertwined set of relationships, some obvious, others hidden, with established vested interests that can operate vertically within an institution or horizontally across political, economic, and social spheres of society and transnationally." Shaazka Beyerle, Curtailing Corruption--People Power for Accountability and Justice (2014, page 25)
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GID Coordinators
Kelly O'Donnell, PsyD and Michèle Lewis O'Donnell, PsyD
mcaresources@gmail. com
prointegritynet@gmail.com
"As both a psychologist and a UN representative for the World Federation for Mental Health, I am keenly curious about what helps bring out the best and the worst of my colleagues in the UN and other sectors. And myself. I am especially interested in how the UN’s approach to competencies and values, and in particular the moral-based areas of integrity and accountability, can support staff as they traverse the troubled terrain of our world." Integrity and Accountability for UN Staff, UN Special (2017) Kelly O'Donnell
GID Coordinators
Kelly O'Donnell, PsyD and Michèle Lewis O'Donnell, PsyD
mcaresources@gmail. com
prointegritynet@gmail.com
"As both a psychologist and a UN representative for the World Federation for Mental Health, I am keenly curious about what helps bring out the best and the worst of my colleagues in the UN and other sectors. And myself. I am especially interested in how the UN’s approach to competencies and values, and in particular the moral-based areas of integrity and accountability, can support staff as they traverse the troubled terrain of our world." Integrity and Accountability for UN Staff, UN Special (2017) Kelly O'Donnell
More Reflections
Quotes
Corruption is criminal, immoral and the ultimate betrayal of public trust.….We must hold leaders to account….A vibrant civic space and open access to information are essential. And we must protect the rights and recognize the courage of whistle-blowers who expose wrongdoing….As an age-old plague takes on new forms, let us combat it with new heights of resolve.”
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, Statement on corruption (15 October 2020)
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'Accountability is good because it requires you to give an account...
even if you have to lie about it.'
Baghat Korani, a facetious (and memorable!) comment in his presentation
at Which Way for the Arab World? Geneva Graduate Institute (5 November 2015)
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"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956 (1973)
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"Der bestirnte Himmel über mir und das moralische Gesetz in mir."
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I do not seek or conjecture either of them as if they were veiled obscurities or extravagances beyond the horizon of my vision; I see them before me and connect them immediately with the consciousness of my existence.” Immanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason (1788)
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