| Angola: Building Public Awareness on Anticorruption
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FSVC training for social media influencers. Luanda, Angola, January 2023
FSVC is implementing a program to counter corruption in Angola by building the capacity of investigative journalists, civil society representatives and high-profile social media influencers to raise public awareness on corruption issues. At 33%, Angola’s rate of internet penetration is higher than the average in Sub-Saharan Africa (22%) and is driven largely by youth. Social media influencers can therefore play a critical role in reaching young people and citizens outside the capital of Luanda.
FSVC recently held a workshop for the country’s most prominent social media influencers and students in journalism. To ground international best practice in the local context, FSVC deployed a team composed of local media specialists Mariano Quissola and Paulo Sergio dos Santos, and international volunteer experts Taylor Turner and Mariya Abdulkaf (both New York Times journalists). Participants learned about issues of corruption, the power of information and the societal responsibilities that they hold as influencers. As a part of the workshop, the participants created TikTok videos to showcase the impact of corruption on women and vulnerable groups. One participant shared that “It was great to learn from FSVC’s experts who have a different cultural perspective and a lot of experience. They helped us understand that we have the ability to help our community through our social media platforms.”
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| Tajikistan: Strengthening Legislation on Debt Management
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Dushanbe, Tajikistan
With funding from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, FSVC has been providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the Republic of Tajikistan to assist the country in its efforts to strengthen and systematize debt management and forecasting practices.
As part of this work, FSVC has worked closely with the MoF to jointly review the current law on public and publicly guaranteed debt, and amendments that have been proposed to strengthen the legislation and better align it with international best practices. After drawing on FSVC’s assistance, the MoF shared the revised law with the Executive, which approved it and submitted it to Parliament. The Parliament of Tajikistan has recently approved the amended law, which represents an important step in the country’s efforts to modernize the debt management framework.
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Democratic Republic of Congo: Supporting the Anticorruption Agency |
FSVC training for the Anticorruption Agency. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 2023
In April 2021, FSVC received funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to implement a program of technical assistance to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to combat money laundering, financial crimes and corruption. Since then, FSVC has helped the newly created Anticorruption Agency (APLC) develop and adopt policies and procedures to help it pursue its mission.
Recently, FSVC recruited Gus Macedo, Diona Howard-Nicolas and Gregory Bruch from Bruch Law Group, Washington, DC, as volunteer experts to assist the APLC in drafting, adopting and implementing the institution’s first conflict-of-interest and confidentiality policy, as well as its first witness protection and whistleblower policies. These new policies will help enhance the institutional integrity of the APLC, while protecting those who stand up against corruption. A participant shared that “The training was useful, and APLC staff will be better equipped to identify situations where their personal interests could conflict with the interests of the organization.”
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| FSVC Global Staff Meeting
FSVC Staff in Cape Town, South Africa, February 2023.
Seated in front (from left): Julian Schroeder, FSVC Chairman, and Andrew Spindler, President & CEO.
For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, the FSVC Team participated in a Global Staff Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in February 2023. This meeting was designed to discuss FSVC’s work in emerging market countries, organizational strengths and areas of potential growth looking ahead. The meeting served as a great opportunity to position FSVC staff members as a united front for the forthcoming years.
As FSVC has grown significantly in recent years, it was a valuable experience for colleagues to meet in person, some for the first time. Staff members gathered from Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Iraq, Lesotho, Niger, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tunisia and the USA. Thank you to all FSVC staff members for excellent participation and great company!
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About Us
The Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC) is a not-for-profit organization that helps strengthen financial sectors in developing and emerging market countries. It does so with the ultimate aim of promoting job creation, economic growth and a better quality of life. FSVC structures practical, results-oriented technical assistance and training missions staffed by senior financial sector professionals who serve as unpaid volunteer experts. Over the past 33 years, more than 10,000 volunteer experts from the international financial, legal and regulatory communities have taken part in 3,600 missions, impacting millions of people in 70 countries.
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Help support FSVC’s mission! As our work expands, private contributions are critical, as they help build the working capital foundation required to support the establishment of new programs and the exploration of new opportunities.
Your contribution to FSVC, a 501(c)(3) organization, is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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