Dear GAP Supporter:
Last December, while US taxpayers were doing their holiday shopping, Congress quietly approved more than $35 billion in bailouts to international development banks. These multilateral development banks (MDBs) are immune from national oversight and laws, both here and abroad. They are riddled with corruption and blatantly resist any meaningful internal governance reform. Experts estimate that $26 – $130 billion have been lost to corruption at the World Bank alone since its founding, to say nothing of the other MDBs.
Fortunately, Congress hasn't issued a blank check. According to a federal law that was passed in December, before the US can contribute tens of billions of dollars in cold cash and guarantees to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the African Development Bank, the Treasury Department must report that each institution is making substantial progress toward implementing certain reforms – including best practice whistleblower protections. That's where you come in.
Please sign our petition to demand the Treasury Department to conduct – and release for public comment – a credible review that details the implementation of the MDB whistleblower protections!
The Treasury Department is required to submit a report to Congress about the MDBs progress on these reform measures. Without oversight from the American people, Treasury is expected to quietly issue a report that rubber-stamps MDB practices that have condoned retaliation against whistleblowers. The report may well approve the bailouts, although the Banks have yet to even adopt best practice whistleblower protections, let alone implement them.
A comprehensive survey of more than 5,400 executives worldwide found that whistleblowers detect more economic crimes than corporate security, internal audits, fraud risk management and law enforcement combined. And why wouldn't they? Workers on the inside are often the only individuals with knowledge of corruption who aren't involved in the scheme. Strong whistleblower protections are crucial to ensuring that economic crimes are detected and that the billions of American taxpayer dollars flowing into them are spent appropriately. Together, we can ensure that before another penny of taxpayer money is distributed, the MDBs are held accountable for implementing strong whistleblower protections.
Please sign our petition to demand the Treasury Department to conduct – and release for public comment – a credible review that details the implementation of the MDB whistleblower protections!
This petition is a joint project of GAP and the National Taxpayers Union.
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