Why WIN?
Mission Statement
Objectives
Scope of Activities
Governance
Corruption – the abuse of entrusted power for private gain – prevails in the water sector worldwide. The negative development impacts of corruption are borne disproportionately by poor people since it reduces economic development, diverts revenues and misallocates both monetary and natural resources. Clearly, corruption and other governance deficiencies contribute to inadequate water supply and sanitation services, increasing water scarcities and pollution. In water resources management, corruption distorts decision-making on new projects and leads to the misallocation of water in existing irrigation schemes.
Corruption jeopardizes the democratic principles of equal access to public decision-making, and it reduces the effective domain of public action by reducing public agencies for collective action to instruments of private benefit. Another consequence is social injustice because corruption undermines both the rule of law and an effective justice system while breeding discretionary and unpredictable law enforcement.
Corruption affects water governance by deciding who gets what water when, where and how. It affects how costs and benefits are distributed between individuals, society and the environment. In short, corruption stunts water development and makes it harder and costlier to reach the Millennium Development Goals on poverty, water supply and sanitation services and environmental sustainability.
WIN Mission Statement
The Water Integrity Network, WIN, aims to fight corruption in water worldwide in order to reduce poverty.
The WIN is an open and inclusive global network that promotes anti-corruption activities and coalition-building at the local, regional and global levels, and between actors from civil society, private and public sectors, media and governments.
The WIN is committed to accountability, transparency, integrity, honesty and mutual support and knowledge exchange among its members. These characteristics, to which any member should adhere, unite the network.
The WIN is a response to the fact that corruption stunts development and remains one of the least addressed challenges within the water sector. Corruption in water resources management and water supply and sanitation services has as of yet not been systematically monitored, analyzed or addressed. Reducing corruption in water worldwide will require the establishment and action of local, national and international coalitions.
The overall development aim of WIN is to reduce poverty by fighting corruption. Improved governance of water resources and services, such as through enhanced integrity, transparency, accountability and honesty, increases the chances of sustainable and equitable use of water and the expansion and effective delivery of water supply and sanitation. The Network’s specific objectives are to:
- Promote increased awareness and understanding of corruption issues related to water;
- Improve the information and knowledge base and disseminate effective anti-corruption methodologies and best practices relevant for organisations working with water;
- Support practical actions to fight corruption in water;
- Develop monitoring mechanisms relating to corruption in water; and
- Encourage and support enhanced capacity development of governments, civil society, private sector and all other interested parties to undertake and coordinate activities, advocate and work together against corruption in water.
Corruption cannot be addressed unilaterally. Corruption occurs at all levels and can include any type of organizational entity as well as individual citizens and consumers. It is therefore important that WIN comprises a wide range of coordinated anti-corruption activities at local, national and global levels. WIN will balance clusters of activities related to advocacy, co-ordination, the building and dissemination of knowledge and support for action at local, regional and global levels. Activities will focus on:
- Advocacy and awareness, such as through media campaigns, access to information and other types of advocacy/awareness instruments;
- Capacity building, such as strengthening anti-corruption monitoring by civil society, private businesses, public agencies and citizens related to for example decentralization,;
- Application and implementation of anti-corruption tools and methodologies. Many anti-corruption measures and tools exist, ranging from international conventions and national public sector reforms to more localized activities such as integrity pacts, codes of conduct, report cards, participatory budgeting, etc.;
- Diagnosis, assessment and research of corruption in water and the effectiveness of various anti-corruption measures;
- Dissemination and management of information and knowledge pertaining to corruption and anti-corruption measures; and
- Support to start-up activities on the ground, particularly by NGOs in the South.
WIN’s governance structure is simple and flexible to enable coalition-building and actions. It is under the leadership of a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee which supports and promotes network activities.
Activities and strategies of WIN are facilitated by a WIN Secretariat hosted by Transparency International. It serves WIN members and support, promote and coordinate anti-corruption coalition-building, actions and enhanced knowledge on corruption in water. The WIN Steering Committee decides plans and priorities of the WIN Secretariat. The most important contribution to WIN will be anti-corruption activities that its members already are implementing or activities they plan to implement.
The founding members of the Network are the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Swedish Water House (SWH), Transparency International (TI) and Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP). Dr. Håkan Tropp, SIWI, was elected the first chair of the WIN.
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