How to promote anti-corruption activities and transparency in
countries with challenging political environments for civil society
organisations and journalists such as the Middle East? Again, the internet is one of the most promising channels, according to Hany Ibrahim from the Development and Institutionalization Support Center DISC, selected by PoliticsOnline in the "Top 10 who are changing the World of Internet and Politics". Mr Hany Ibrahim will present, during the next World e-Democracy Forum, the "Nazaha" website, which means in Arabic "Transparency and Integrity". Nazaha aims to raise
public awareness about corruption and its harmful effects, both in the
short and long run.
In 2007, a private organization, "the Development and
Institutionalization Support Center DISC" which is dedicated to
research, good governance, and media development, launched an
anticorruption program - a USAID funded activity- utilizing the
internet. As part of this program was launched Nazaha. This website provides downloadable tools for journalists, members of elected Local
Councils, and NGO's leaders, enabling them to investigate, uncover, and
fight corruption. Moreover, the website monitors and documents
corruption cases circulated by 23 (party, state-run, and independent)
newspapers. The documentation is divided into seven categories: (1)
corruption in health sector; (2) corruption in housing; (3) corruption
in primary education; (4) corruption in higher education; (5)
corruption in transportation; (6) corruption in supplies; and (7)
corruption in local administrative units. The documentation is
necessary for analysis of the data and interpretation of the causes and
effects of corruption on the life of the people, particularly the poor
and the marginalized.
Nazaha has grown quickly and has become one of the windows through
which people can view and react against corruption. Its readers come
not only from Egypt but from Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia and United States of America. According to alexa.com,
Nazaha was ranked 87000 in Egypt, in August 2008. Yet, at the beginning
of December of 2008, it was ranked 17000. The number of its visitors
has increased rapidly and given an indication that people's awareness
of corruption is increasing and the battle against this cancer is
gaining new soldiers every day.
How to promote anti-corruption activities and transparency in
countries with challenging political environments for civil society
organisations and journalists such as the Middle East? Again, the internet is one of the most promising channels, according to Hany Ibrahim from the Development and Institutionalization Support Center DISC, selected by PoliticsOnline in the "Top 10 who are changing the World of Internet and Politics". Mr Hany Ibrahim will present, during the next World e-Democracy Forum, the "Nazaha" website, which means in Arabic "Transparency and Integrity". Nazaha aims to raise
public awareness about corruption and its harmful effects, both in the
short and long run.
