Promoting Anti-Corruption Education (LT0014)

Increased public intolerance to corruption, and public involvement in anticorruption has been encouraged; anticorruption education programmes have been developed and implemented. Delining share of population thinking corruption is widespread according to Special Eurobarometer (in 2014 – 95 %, in 2015 – 94%, 2016 – 93%). Growing Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (in 2013 – 57, in 2014 – 58, in 2015 – 59, in 2016 - 60). Anti-corruption initiative “Clean hands” has been carried across health institutions in Lithuania (Ministry of Health, Q2/2014).

Commitment 8. Promoting Anti-Corruption Education

Commitment Text:

Initiative 4: corruption prevention, transparency promotion

Area: To reduce the scale of corruption

Action (milestone): to promote anti-corruption education by employing mass media and other means.

Expected outcome:

1. Increased public intolerance to corruption, and public involvement in anti-corruption has been encouraged; anticorruption education programmes have been developed and implemented.
2. Delining share of population thinking corruption is widespread according to Special Eurobarometer (in 2014 – 95 %, in 2015 – 94%, 2016 – 93%).
3. Growing Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (in 2013 – 57, in 2014 – 58, in 2015 – 59, in 2016 - 60).
4.  Anti-corruption initiative “Clean hands” has been carried across health institutions in Lithuania (Ministry of Health, Q2/2014).

[emphasis added]

Responsible institution: Ministries

Supporting institutions: Not specified

Start date: 2014.....................   ...................... End date: 2016

Commitment aim:

This commitment aims to promote anti-corruption education through the use of media and the creation of anti-corruption education programmes. This commitment comes in a context where 95 percent of Lithuanians believe that corruption is widespread.^{[Note 32: EC Eurobarometer survey report 2014: https://www.stt.lt/documents/es_ataskaita_2014/Lietuva_2014.pdf.]}

Status

Midterm: Substantial

Throughout the first year of the action plan, numerous anti-corruption education campaign outputs were visible in  the mass media. The Special Investigation Service and the Ministry of Education and Science had been developing anti-corruption education programmes well before this action plan came into effect. Anti-corruption NGOs interviewed by the IRM researcher confirmed the existence of these programmes.

The milestone to carry out the Clean Hands initiative was completed. Since the Ministry of Health did not specify the number of public health institutions that should carry the Clean Hands initiative, the IRM researcher has presumed that the initiative concerns the 21 health care institutions that are under the ministry’s jurisdiction. This one time initiative aimed to rank 21 health care institutions according to their anti-corruption index. The index includes information about the amount of information available to patients and an anonymous survey of staff and patients, among others. The Ministry of Health did not make the results of the survey publically available. 

End of term: Substantial

The IRM researcher could not identify any further activities conducted towards completion of the anti-corruption programme.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Did not change

Public accountability: Did not change

A representative of Transparency International^{[Note 33: Interview held on 12 October 2015. ]} remarked that while anti-corruption education is necessary it can only be truly effective in reducing corruption levels if combined with other methods on other levels of state and municipal governance (for instance, by promoting practical participation of pupils at schools and developing democratic skills early in life).

In the action plan, the government measures the success of this commitment with an increase of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score. While Lithuania’s CPI score has increased, such change can hardly be attributed to isolated anti-corruption efforts, such as those in this commitment.

In conclusion, there is no evidence suggesting, that substantial completion of this commitment has resulted in more open government practices, such as increased access to information or public accountability.

Carried forward?

The third national action plan does not include any type of commitment that would aim to further reduce corruption levels in Lithuania.