Training the military and officials in understanding and preventing corruption - evaluating the impact

Developing the capacity of defence ministries and military forces to recognise and react to these problems requires training. Such training has not been available up until recently. But, in the last few years, Transparency International UK’s Defence and Security Programme, in collaboration with NATO and other partners, have developed a course to address the military and defence aspects of corruption. This tailored, five-day anti-corruption course for senior military officers and officials, was first given in 2008, and up to the end of 2011 had been given some five or six times annually and in six countries, in both multi-nation and single nation environments. Whilst aimed at full Colonels, many Generals have also attended the course. Participants have come from 27 countries, including Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Norway, Poland, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States, and many others. The purpose of this study is to follow up on the impact of this course, and see whether it was lasting and had resulted in changes in attitudes and behaviour. This course has the potential to be adapted for use in most countries of the world and used as an integral part of training for most defence ministries and military forces—it was developed on a modular basis with this in mind. Of the over 600 participants that have been on the course so far, we contacted 89 former alumni from ten countries, who attended one of the eight past courses between July 2008 and May 2011. Thirty- seven were interviewed by phone between January and May 2012.