17th IACC

Whistleblowers play a critical role in uncovering corruption or other malpractice. But too often people who speak up in the public interest face retaliation at work, threats, intimidation and lawsuits. The good news is that more and more countries are adopting legislation protecting whistleblowers. Unfortunately, there is often a gap between theory and practice. Many countries that have adopted whistleblowing legislation still fail to adequately protect their whistleblowers. This might be because the law is inadequate, in which case more advocacy for changes in the law is needed. It is also often due to the lack of effective implementation of the law in practice: very often, responsible institutions do not receive appropriate resources and training, and businesses and other organisation are left without guidance on how to set up appropriate mechanisms.

The aim of this workshop is to think about ways to effectively improve protection of whistleblowers. The workshop experts will present initiatives they have implemented in their respective countries that have yielded concrete results and improved the situation of whistleblowers in their countries:
- Assessing the readiness of responsible institutions to provide protection to whistleblowers
- Helping organisations in the public, private and non-profit sectors to create supportive environments for whistleblowers
- Extracting lessons learned from real stories of whistleblowers and use them to advocate for changes in legislation