Support and development of youth is crucial for corruption prevention — Gizo Uglava

With these words Gizo Uglava, the acting Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, addressed the participants of the NABU Anti-Corruption School 2022. The project started on July 25, 2022, and united 55 students from 17 regions across Ukraine.

“Launching the National Bureau in 2015, we focused on hiring honest specialists without that ‘old school’ work background rather than those with a long experience and dubious reputation. It was the right decision, which helped us form a professional team and the most effective pre-trial investigation agency in Ukraine,” explained the head of the National Bureau.

The online stage of the NABU Anti-Corruption School 2022 lasted until July 29. It was attended by 50 participants (selected out of 659 candidates) and five finalists of the All-Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Moot Court. Once again, the Yaroslav Mydryi National Law University became the leader with its 17 students taking part in this year Anti-Corruption School.

The 15 speakers included the detectives of the National Bureau, the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the Prosecutor General's Office, a judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court, the representatives of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention. Thanks to the online format, a few foreign experts also managed to join the project: Drago Kos, an international expert on anti-corruption, Elizabeth Stong, a federal judge from New York, USA, and Serena Ibrahim, a youth anti-corruption leader from Lebanon. Serhii Prytula, a public figure and volunteer, became a secret guest and a motivator for young people.

“Zero tolerance for corruption should be the basis for every person who wants to change the state for the better. I hope that a constellation of people who will oppose the system has formed in Ukraine. It takes a lot of courage to challenge the system and stand till the end," Serhii addressed the students.

During the week, the participants generated ideas for their own awareness raising projects and improved their anti-corruption skills, created anti-corruption pictures using artificial intelligence, solved cases, conducted their own top-corruption ‘investigation’ by playing "NABU investigates" interactive online game, and determined the crime scene.

"We've reviewed over 20 anti-corruption projects. There are great ideas among them such as an anti-corruption board game, a quest room, a training program for pupils, and a hackathon. We hope that students will have the drive and motivation to implement most of them. We promise to support the initiatives of the youth," said Yana Ryzak, co-organizer of the NABU Anti-Corruption School.

At the end of the online stage, 20 students were selected for further participation in the project. In August, they will take part in a two-week internship at the Main Detective Department of the National Bureau, combined with thematic training and meetings.

Reference

The project is supported by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, a leading EU-funded anti-corruption support program in Ukraine, co-financed and implemented by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NABU Anti-Corruption School is held for the third year in a row. The most active graduates of the Anti- Corruption School received an invitation to join the Youth Anti-Corruption Network to continue anti-corruption public activities in higher education institutions and youth centres in their region with the support of the National Bureau.