Success in the fight against corruption requires a global, clever, and nimble response.
Transnational corruption strips countries of their resources that should be used to lift people out of poverty and deliver much-needed social services.
As Administrator Samantha Power outlined in her vision for USAID in November 2021, corruption is development in reverse. When money gets diverted from public coffers to private bank accounts, roads and schools do not get built. When politicians use their positions of power to extort and demand payment for basic health services such as vaccines–citizens suffer. And when high-level government officials are persuaded to do the bidding of foreign nations through bribery or coercion, entire ministries are repurposed to advance the needs of another country, over the needs of their own citizens, eroding faith in democracy itself.
As the vanguard of USAID’s suite of anti-corruption programs in the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, the Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development (CTC Grand Challenge) leverages innovation and collaboration to prevent corrupt actors from siphoning off critical resources that should be used for the public good. The CTC Grand Challenge solutions supports solutions that detect and disrupt illicit finance and trafficking in commodities; strengthen transparency and accountability in global supply chains; promote standards, practices, and norms that enhance integrity in the public and private sectors; and address other significant dynamics of transnational corruption.
We do so by:
- Harnessing the power of both novel and proven approaches, tools, and technologies;
- Mobilizing and leveraging the private sector;
- Partnering with local solvers and influencers; and
- Fostering collective action through diverse networks.
Grand Challenges leverage the knowledge and expertise of diverse stakeholders, including the private sector and local actors, to support collective problem solving and identification of new solutions. By mobilizing their convening power and networks, Grand Challenge partners draw global attention to a development problem and bring new voices to the table – building a coalition that is diverse, powerful, and agile.
To date, across eleven past Grand Challenges, USAID and its partners have committed more than $500 million in grants and technical assistance and catalyzed an additional $900 million in external follow-on funding, providing innovators with the expertise, resources, and networks that they need to grow.
We invite you to join us. The Grand Challenge is mobilizing a wide range of partners, including businesses, associations, technologists, innovators, philanthropists, civil society organizations, governments, and media in the fight against globalized corruption. Convened and incentivized by the Grand Challenge, these partners will build coalitions and source innovation solutions to curb the threat of transnational corruption.
Prospective partners are invited to pledge financial or in-kind resources, expertise, or technical assistance to contribute to the design and implementation of the Grand Challenge. Partnership tiers are flexible, allowing organizations to participate as their bandwidth permits.
Interested in learning more about how you can get involved in the Grand Challenge?
- Read about various ways to engage in our How to Get Involved and Partnership Opportunities briefs
- Sign up for our mailing list.
Current Activities:
Data for Integrity Hackathon Series:
As Administrator Power noted during the second Summit for Democracy in March 2023, “creative uses of data offer an innovative way to root out entrenched corruption.” The Data for Integrity Hackathon Series advances the development and use of tools and platforms to harness the power of data to identify corruption vulnerabilities and/or corrupt behavior.
For the first hackathon in the series, the CTC Grand Challenge supported the Accountability Lab’s third HackCorruption event in Bogotá, Colombia, from August 18-20, 2023 in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), the Center for International Private Enterprise, and Development Gateway. The Latin American regional hackathon convened 75 changemakers from the civic technology, civil society organization, and activist arenas to build innovative solutions to counter transnational corruption. Seven winning teams are receiving up to $10,000 in financial support, mentorship, and ongoing training to build out their innovations.
For the second hackathon in this series, the CTC Grand Challenge supported the Accountability Lab’s fourth regional HackCorruption event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from February 22-25, 2024, in partnership with INL, the Center for International Private Enterprise, and Development Gateway. The Southeast Asian regional hackathon brought together nearly 50 changemakers to build innovative solutions to counter corruption. Seven winning teams, including three that focus specifically on transnational corruption challenges, will receive up to $10,000 in financial support, mentorship, and ongoing training to build out their innovations.
The CTC Grand Challenge team continues to explore opportunities to support the development and use of innovative solutions, tools, and platforms to identify and reduce corruption vulnerabilities and/or corrupt behavior from open data and other data sources through hackathons. Sign up for our mailing list to stay updated on future hackathons and award announcements. If you're interested in collaborating on or co-hosting a hackathon in the Data for Integrity Hackathon Series, please reach out to us at info@challengecorruption.org.
Doing Business with Integrity :
Doing Business With Integrity, the first focused call for innovations under the Innovating to Counter Transnational Corruption Open Call, will award up to $4 million in grants to private sector entities and consortia or partnerships that include private sector entities to counter transnational corruption. We will invest in activities that reflect innovative thinking; advance the range, depth, and impact of private sector actions to reduce transnational corruption; and demonstrate that anti-corruption efforts can be good for business. The submission period for Doing Business with Integrity closed on January 12, 2023. Learn more and sign up for our mailing list to be notified about award announcements later this year.
Powering a Just Energy Transition Green Minerals Challenge:
Launched in 2022, the JET Minerals Challenge catalyzes the development, application, and scaling of innovations to counter corruption and strengthen transparency, accountability, and integrity in the global rush to meet the unprecedented demand for green minerals. This open call for innovation welcomed problem solvers from around the world to submit new ideas as well as proven approaches to reduce corruption in green mineral supply chains.
In October 2023, USAID and its partners announced the 11 winners of the challenge. Each will receive approximately $50,000 to $400,000 in funding as well as in-kind support, including targeted technical assistance, to implement their innovations. Learn more about the winners and their work.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Countering Corruption in Global Health Supply Chains
In the coming months, the CTC Grand Challenge seeks to design and launch, alongside interested partners, an open innovation activity to counter corruption in global health supply chains. To learn more about this activity, read our fact sheet. To participate in future co-design sessions or discuss how to contribute your financial or in-kind resources to this activity, contact us at info@challengecorruption.org.
Just Energy Transition: Corruption in Climate Finance
On January 17, 2024, the CTC Grand Challenge convened the first in a series of co-design sessions with nearly 40 experts in climate finance and anti-corruption. Participants discussed opportunities for countering transnational corruption across climate mitigation and adaptation, explored the role of carbon markets and offsets, and discussed how to incentivize new and innovative solutions in this space. Future co-design sessions on corruption in climate finance may focus on private sector engagement, local organizations and solvers, and other topics.
To participate in future co-design sessions or discuss how to contribute your financial or in-kind resources to this activity, contact us at info@challengecorruption.org