13 February 2025 –

With support from the UNCAC Coalition, civil society in Zambia is involved in strengthening whistleblower protection, access to information and participation in the UNCAC review process. Stories like this one from our affiliated organization in Zambia is one way we can measure impact at the national level.

“Our fight against corruption is not just about policies and commitments at the global level—it is about empowering civil society to meaningfully participate in the UNCAC review process, resulting in real positive change in the daily lives of people. When whistleblowers are protected, when access to information is a reality, and when civil society has a seat at the table, communities become stronger, governance becomes fairer, and justice becomes accessible to all. Our vision is a world where power is exercised with transparency and integrity, where leaders serve the people—not special interests—and where speaking out against corruption is not an act of bravery, but a fundamental right.” – UNCAC Coalition

It is against this backdrop that the UNCAC Coalition provided support to Transparency International Zambia (TI Zambia), one of our affiliated CSOs, to carry out advocacy efforts to strengthen the legal framework on whistleblower protection, operationalize the Access to Information Act, and increase transparency and civil society participation in the UNCAC review process. By producing a gap analysis report on the Public Interest Disclosure Act and convening stakeholders from different sectors to discuss ways of strengthening whistleblower protection as well as the recently passed Access to Information Act, TI Zambia was able to advance discussions and raise awareness on these important gaps in Zambia’s anti-corruption framework. For the first time ever, the UNCAC Coalition conducted an on-site mission to increase its support to TI Zambia by jointly holding a workshop for CSOs on advocacy opportunities ahead of Zambia’s UNCAC review country visit.

TI Zambia analyzed UNCAC implementation in Zambia in a civil society parallel report with the UNCAC Coalition’s support, providing a civil society perspective to the government’s report on compliance. The report was published in November 2023 and provided detailed recommendations to address gaps in the legal framework and promote implementation on the ground. In June 2024, the organization began follow-up activities to promote key recommendations laid out in the report. 

Goals of the project

Drawing on its analysis of the state of anti-corruption and UNCAC implementation in Zambia, TI Zambia set out to promote good governance, transparency and accountability through three key objectives:

1. Drive legislative reforms on whistleblower protection through evidence-based advocacy and foster an environment where individuals can contribute to the fight against corruption without fear of reprisals. In its parallel report, TI Zambia found that the current Public Interest Disclosure Act of 2010 (Protection of Whistleblowers) includes several problematic provisions and provides insufficient protection for whistleblowers. This includes the possible prosecution of whistleblowers for reports deemed “malicious or frivolous,” an ambiguous provision that discourages individuals from coming forward. In the absence of sufficient protection, highly placed whistleblowers, such as public officials in government, have turned to CSOs and the media for their reports instead of utilising formal channels. 
2. Advocate for the government to operationalize the new Access to Information Act of 2023 to ensure citizens know of and can make effective use of their rights. After nearly 30 years of advocacy from civil society, the Access to Information Act was finally passed. While imperfect, this is a strong step towards transparency and accountability. However, the operational mechanisms required for the Act’s full implementation are still lacking. For instance, the Human Rights Commission, designated as the oversight body, is not yet financially independent and lacks the capacity to administer the law effectively.
3. Increase transparency and civil society participation at all stages of the official UNCAC review process in Zambia. Zambia was set to undergo the UNCAC review country visit in August 2024, providing a perfect opportunity for the UNCAC Coalition to pilot our first-ever on-site mission in Zambia,  by jointly organizing a workshop with TI Zambia to equip CSOs with the tools to engage in the review process. Unfortunately, even in the days leading up to the country visit, information about the process and the modalities for CSO participation remained opaque and unclear. TI Zambia’s advocacy was instrumental in championing greater transparency and CSO inclusion in this process. 

Advocacy activities

To build support for these issues, TI Zambia:

• Published a GAP Analysis Report on Whistleblower Protection in Zambia, which served as the foundation for advocating for amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act, addressing existing gaps to provide more robust protections for whistleblowers. 
• Convened several meetings with over 50 participants from civil society organizations, the media, government and law enforcement:

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    Together with the UNCAC Coalition, TI Zambia organized an interactive multi-stakeholder roundtable on the challenges in whistleblower protection in Zambia and how to overcome them. TI Zambia’s subsequent whistleblower protection workshop aimed to develop a Whistleblower Protection Charter to help whistleblowers understand the current domestic and international legal framework. 

  • The joint workshop with the UNCAC Coalition on week before Zambia’s official UNCAC review country visit, equipped CSOs with the knowledge and tools to effectively engage in and advocate for more transparency and participation in Zambia’s UNCAC review process. TI Zambia presented the findings of its civil society parallel report, and led a discussion on the key recommendations to raise with the government at the country visit – should they be invited to join. The workshop ended in an interactive panel discussion on the Access to Information Act in Zambia, including the government body in charge of implementing the law. TI Zambia convened a follow-up Access to Information Analysis meeting with its civil society partners, resulting in actionable recommendations included in a policy brief for engagement with stakeholders.

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    Conducting advocacy stakeholder meetings with targeted governmental, non-governmental and international institutions together with the UNCAC Coalition to advocate for the reform of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the operationalization of the Access to Information Law, the key recommendations from TI Zambia’s parallel report, and a transparent and inclusive UNCAC review process in Zambia. This included meetings with high-level representations of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Public Protector, and the Human Rights Commission.

  • Running a social media campaign on the importance of safe and effective channels for reporting corruption to inform and influence stakeholders, including policymakers about the urgent need for reforms and raise awareness about corruption reporting mechanisms, such as their Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre.

Success and results

Through its advocacy activities, TI Zambia was able to significantly contribute to strengthening anti-corruption efforts in Zambia. These efforts have led to increased awareness of corruption issues and particularly the need for whistleblower protection reforms, helped operationalize the new Access to Information Act, strengthened transparency and civil society participation in the UNCAC review process, and catalyzed greater engagement and mobilization of CSOs and other key stakeholders to advance anti-corruption issues in Zambia. Concrete successes of these follow-up activities were that TI Zambia:

• • Fostered civil society participation in the operationalization of the Access to Information Law by bringing governmental and non-government stakeholders together for discussion. This has underscored the important role that CSOs can play in contributing to effective solutions to ensuring that systems for proactive disclosure or addressing the challenges of translating and disseminating information in formats accessible to all citizens.

    

  • Provided a platform for CSOs to form a civil society coalition on UNCAC implementation in Zambia. This new coalition committed to monitoring how corruption preventive measures were being implemented and to report back to each other on a bi-annual basis. This demonstrated a heightened interest and engagement from civil society organizations regarding their role in the UNCAC review process.
  • Coordinated the drafting of a joint statement by 11 CSOs on the need for greater civil society involvement in the UNCAC review country visit. While the Anti-Corruption Commission ended up sending the official invitation letters to CSOs only one day before the country visit, TI Zambia and one other CSO were able to represent this CSO coalition during the country visit in a closed-door meeting with the peer reviewers.

    

  • Increased dialogue with government bodies, such as the Anti-Corruption Commission, where stakeholders are advocating for the inclusion of more effective safeguards, such as financial rewards for whistleblowers and provisions for anonymous reporting. This included securing the appearance of the UNCAC focal point at the Civil Society Workshop organized together with the UNCAC Coalition which enabled more CSOs to directly ask to be invited to the country visit.
  • Mobilized CSOs and advocacy groups to become more actively engaged in the whistleblower protection agenda. CSOs have made this issue a core part of their advocacy efforts and have begun collaborating to push for legal reforms that strengthen protections for whistleblowers, ensuring they can report corruption without fear of retaliation.
  • Increased public awareness and trust in whistleblower mechanisms, with a noticeable rise in reported corruption cases to their Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC). Overall, the project generated heightened social media engagement and public discourse on issues of transparency, whistleblower protection, and access to information. This demonstrates their campaign’s impact in empowering citizens to take action against corruption.
  • Elevated their profile and expertise to the international level, since the connections made through this project with international actors such as UNODC and CiFAR led to them being invited to speak about their countries’ experiences at the first resumed 15th session of the UNCAC Implementation Review Group in Vienna. These linkages enhanced the project’s credibility and relevance within the broader anti-corruption agenda.

Next steps

The road ahead remains steep. The challenges in whistleblower protection, access to information, and civic participation are not unique to Zambia; they reflect broader struggles across the African region. But what this initiative has shown is that sustained, evidence-based advocacy can yield real progress. TI Zambia’s activities and advocacy laid the groundwork for ongoing reforms and built strong support among governmental stakeholders, CSOs, the media, and engagement of the general public in advancing transparency and accountability in Zambia’s governance landscape. 

As Maurice Nyambe, the Executive Director of TI Zambia reflects:

“If Zambia is to move from rhetoric to action in its anti-corruption commitments, it must encourage and protect those on the frontlines—those risking their livelihoods to expose corruption, those demanding access to public information, and those striving to make governance more inclusive and accountable to the people they serve. This requires not only political will but also meaningful reforms, strong legal protections, and constructive collaboration across all sectors to create an environment where transparency thrives, and impunity has no place.”

See other examples of follow-up activities we have supported here.