The COVID-19 pandemic poses great challenges to anti-graft fighters not only because crises breed new opportunities of corrupt practices, but also because social distancing and lockdown disrupts the daily interaction between the anti-corruption agencies and the community they serve. In these unprecedented times, the Hong Kong ICAC strives to sustain its public education and engagement initiatives through virtual platforms. Its experience has recently been shared worldwide in an international online training programme.

In June 2021, Ms Corinna Wong, Assistant Director of Community Relations Department of the ICAC, spoke in a panel discussion on "Anti-Corruption Community Education and Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic" of the Training Programme organised by the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). With hands-on examples, Ms Wong shared with the delegates the "Ethics for All" education and publicity strategy, and how the ICAC swiftly overcame the difficulties brought by the pandemic by suitably changing its in-person education and engagement projects into the online ones. The new approach sustains the ICAC's momentum to constantly spreading probity messages in the community.

Ms Corinna Wong, Assistant Director of ICAC Community Relations Department, sharing in the IAACA-MACC Training Programme Hong Kong's strategies in anti-corruption education and community engagement during the pandemic.

Ms Wong's sharing formed part of the IAACA-MACC Training Programme held on 29-30 June 2021. During the two-day event, over 20 prominent speakers from anti-corruption authorities, international organisations, multinational corporations, NGOs and civil society had fruitful and interactive discussions with more than 280 practitioners from around 40 organisations all over the world through six online panel sessions. In addition to exchanging community engagement strategies of Asia-Pacific territories during the pandemic, the training programme also featured the important topics of beneficial ownership and business ethics in the Malaysian, regional and global contexts.

This event was the second training initiative of the IAACA Training Committee, in which the ICAC Commissioner, Mr Simon Peh serves as the Convenor. It followed the Committee's inaugural training programme jointly organised with the ICAC in May 2019, back-to-back the 7th ICAC Symposium.

Anti-corruption practitioners joining the online training programme

The ICAC will continue to share its anti-corruption experience with counterparts around the world, and to foster exchanges in the international community through the IAACA and other international platforms.

Stay tuned with the International Perspective on ICAC website for the most up-to-date information about Hong Kong's anti-corruption efforts.