In 2000, Transparency International UK brought together governments, defence companies, academics, and civil society organisations to consider whether circumstances had changed so that it would be possible for civil society to engage with the problem of corruption in the defence sector and national defence establishments. Two conferences on this topic were held: in Stockholm in February 2000, supported by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and in Cambridge in April 2001, supported by DFID of the UK.  All the participants – governments, defence companies and civil society - concluded that an initiative to reduce corruption and increase transparency and accountability in the defence and security sector was both needed and possible.

Since 2004, the UK Department for International Development has provided support to Transparency International UK to work with all  those involved - governments, international organisations, defence companies, and civil society - to address corruption in the defence sector. The Defence and Security Programme today is an international programme of TI situated within TI-UK in London.

Since 2004, Transparency International's Defence and Security Programme (TI DSP) has actively engaged with the defence and security ministries and armed forces of a wide range of countries, including Colombia, Norway, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the UK, Greece, Croatia and Bosnia. We have also worked directly with individuals from Defence Ministries, Security Ministries and Armed Forces from more than 35 nations through training programmes, research, workshops and roundtables, and high-level policy action.

Our Counter Corruption Work with other Organisations

We have worked with a number of International Organisations, including the UN, NATO, and the World Bank. In recent years, our work with the UN has focused primarily on the Arms Trade Treaty, where we have made the case for robust anti-corruption measures to be included in the final treaty. In partnership with NATO, we have developed and collaborated on a major programme called ‘Building Integrity’, which has developed counter-corruption tools such as an integrity self-assessment process for nations , pre-deployment training and dedicated training courses.  These tools have proven to be very well received and are now being used by many nations.

We have worked closely with European and American defence companies, in particular to stimulate a sector wide initiatives similar to those in other industry sectors such as oil and gas, and construction. The European defence industry has since developed the ‘Common industry standards’ against corruption, and a global initiative is currently underway.

We have an active collaboration with other civil society organisations in the field of corruption. We work closely with national chapters of Transparency International, as well as with other civil society organisations, including Oxfam, Saferworld, the Arias Foundation of Costa Rica, and many others.

Finally, we have built a body of knowledge on tackling defence and security corruption.  Our research over the past 11 years has formed the basis of our activities and helped us develop the practical tools we use with governments and armed forces, companies, and other civil society organisations.

Read more on Transparency International's Defence and Security Programme (TI DSP).