In the South Pacific, I found a case study in modern censorship, as Fiji’s three-year-old military government collides with a once free local press, an emerging blogging culture and an ambivalent international community. Some basic facts are contested, but it is clear that free expression in Fiji is under intense pressure, in a sharp departure…
Uganda has made regular appearances in the Global Integrity Report, with national assessments in each of the past three years, and and another to be released in February with the upcoming Global Integrity Report: 2009. Why do we continue to include Uganda on our short-list? Because the African country is an extreme example of the…
Disclosure: Legatum is a funder of Global Integrity The Legatum Institute’s latest survey dives into India’s expanding field of start-up businesses, asking Indian entrepreneurs where their motivation comes from and what the top hindrances are to business creation. The results show a group of enthusiastic and creative individuals who attribute their success more to their…
It’s International Anti-Corruption Day, and Global Integrity is having an internal debate over whether anyone should notice. Created with great fanfare as an advocacy tool to build momentum for the UN Convention Against Corruption, this “Day” is leftover hype for a specific policy that has already launched, crashed and burned. Forgive us for not breaking…
In Estonia, new draft legislation would allow journalists to be incarcerated for up to one year for keeping their sources from the authorities. Reporting on this threat from firsthand experience is Tarmo Vahter, a reporter for weekly newspaper Eesti Ekspress. My second and thus far last questioning happened a year ago in the basement of…
In recent years, a handful of microfinance institutions (MFIs) have come under fire for charging low-income clients extremely high interest rates for their microcredit loans. The 120 percent annual interest rates offered by Mexico’s leading MFI, Compartamos, has produced profits but dubious public benefit, provoking outrage among fellow practitioners. A new venture hopes separate the…