Corruption Forum sheds light on an important yet rarely discussed issue

January 11, 2007

The Centre for Public Interest Accounting at the Haskayne School of Business, along with the International Centre, Latin American Research Centre and Development Studies Club are excited to sponsor the Corruption Forum. This public forum will explore the meaning and contemporary examples of corruption at the private, public and NGO level. The forum will also address the role of accounting practices and possible approaches to this world issue.

The international community is now starting to recognize that corruption remains a global obstacle to international development, environmental protection, human rights, business and virtually any activity today. The real cost of corruption is unknown, though estimates from the World bank, Transparency International and the United Nations suggests that it could be as high as 1 trillion US dollars annually.

Questions that will be discussed include: What is corruption? How much do we know about corruption? How are accounting practice errors related to corruption? How do governments, private corporations and NGOs deal with corruption? How can we develop a culture of ethics today? Are we winning the battle against corruption? How are international institutions dealing with corruption?

This forum brings together universities, involved institutions, non-profit organizations and the general public to discuss, debate, and ultimately move forward with this timely and important topic.

What:
The Corruption Forum

When:
Wednesday, January 24, 2007, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Where:
Great Hall, Rozsa Centre, University of Calgary

A campus map is available at: /www.ucalgary.ca/map

Who:

• Rodrigo Silva, Department of International Legal Affairs, Washington USA.
• John Bray, Author of the Corruption Report, Control Risks, UK
• Tim Martin, Vice President and Special Counsel, Nexen Inc, Calgary
• Jeff Everett, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
• Vinay Bhargava, Director, International Affairs and Operations, World Bank, USA
• Vello Mijal, Executive Senior Advisor, Public Service Human Resource Management Agency, Ottawa
• Robin Hodess or Sarah Repucci, Policy and Research Department, Transparency International, Germany
• Aradhana Parmar, Development Studies Program Coordinator, University of Calgary        

A more detailed agenda can be viewed at:

www.ucalgary.ca/~dsc/dsc/corruption.html