UNODC participates in the launching of project "Fair play within and Outside Stadiums"

25 March 2011 - On the eve of World Cup 2014 and 2016 Olympics, the question that many Brazilians are asking is: will Brazil be able to leave a positive legacy of ethics and integrity in carrying out these two sports mega-events? The Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility believes so. And enters the field with the "Fair Play  Within and Outside Stadiums", a completely new initiative that will invest 3.1 million dollars (about R$ 5 million) over the next five years to increase levels of transparency, integrity and social control over the investments that will be made in the infrastructure for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
"With the voluntary joining to the project, companies, societies, and governments will pledge to take measures to control investments, prevent fraud, marking  a clear sposition against corruption," said George Abraham, Chairman of the Ethos Institute and member of the National Committee Coordination of the project.
How it Works - The action plan of the project "Fair Play Within and Outside Stadiums" has five main lines of action:
• obtain four large Sectorial Agreements of self-regulation with enterprises in the sectors of Construction, Energy, Transportation and Health Equipment to carry out infrastructure work for the modernization and expansion of airports, stadiums, hospitals, transportation systems and other equipment. The companies signing the agreements will commit not to participate in cases involving fraud and corruption;
• develop transparency indicators for the host cities, and thereby provide tools for citizens and civil society to monitor what is being done and where are the resources being invested in their or other cities;
• obtain a Transparency Pact with candidates and the municipalties of host cities during the 2012 elections. The goal is that politicians make a commitment to accountability and transparency in public spending, and in addition involve society in a "clean" election campaign to choose the candidates that will be ahead of the host cities of mega events;
• mobilize organizations and individuals to approve a regulatory framework that will strengthen the promotion of integrity and the fight against corruption, as well as will foster active participation in  the National Conference on Public Transparency, Participation and Social Control.

• provide tools for civil society to track and monitor recruitment and progress of infrastructure works. The projects' website will provide information that can guide and help citizens and organizations of civil society to exert social control over public spending and the conduct of business, including, besides transparency indicators, details about the project's actions and a possible channel for denunciations.
Budget - The project "Fair Play Within and Outside Stadiums" has an initial budget of 3.1 million dollars (about R$ 5 million) obtained by the Ethos Institute with the Siemens Integrity Initiative, a worldwide project that funds projects combating corruption and is supported by the World Bank. New sponsors and partners are necessary and may increase the amount of resources for the project "Fair Play".
Comprisment - The project "Fair Play Witrhin and Outside Stadiums" will last five years, from 2011 to 2015. It will cover the 12 World Cup city hosts ,including Rio de Janeiro, which will also host the Olympics. The complete list of host cities that will be involved by the project are: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo.

Who Participates - The project "Fair Play Within and Outside Stadiums" brings together organizations and entities working towards a positive social and environmental legacy of mega events in Brazil. The National Coordination Committee of the project is composed by representatives of these entities and will have the role of guiding the proposed activities and converge agendas of other initiatives that deal with the games, like the impacts on education, public sports policy, environment, decent work and sustainable cities.
The entities that form the National Coordinating Committee of the project and their representatives are:
• Brazilian Articulation for Anti-Corruption and Impunity (Abracci) / AMARRIBO Brazil - Jorge Sanchez
• Athletes for Citizenship - Rai Oliveira, Victor and Daniela Castro Barau
• Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) - Manuel Melo Messiah
• Brazilian Council for Sustainable Construction (CBCS) - Marcelo Takaoka and Diana Csillag
• Federal Council of Engineering, Architecture and Agronomy (CONFEA) - Aloysius Smith
• Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) - Izabela Moreira Corrêa
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) - Bo Mathiasen
• The UN Office on Global Compact - Dawoon Chung and Olajobi Makinwa
• Avina Foundation - Glaucia Barros
• Ethos Institute - Paul Itacarambi
• Social Observatory Institute - Dudu Amarildo Bolito
• Our Network São Paulo - Mauricio Pereira Broinizi
• Brazilian Social Network for Fair and Sustainable Cities - Oded Grajew
"This committee marks the strong intention of the project and will facilitate the mobilization at the national level," said George Abraham, president of Ethos Institute.
"The quest for transparency, integrity and social control, increasingly mobilizes civil society. We must go further and sensitize the public that, by its nature, is responsible for managing the majority of large investments. The project will help us fulfill this challenge, "said Dudu Bolito Amarildo, institutional supervisor of the Social Observatory Institute and member of the National Coordination of the project.
"To prevent acts of corruption and to ensure that the resources will be entirely allocated to the execution of projects, we must involve society as a whole, as recommended by the United Nations Convention against Corruption. And that is precisely what the project "Fair Play" does. UNODC will participate in this initiative by providing all the tools and expertise that it has to fight corruption, "says Bo Mathiasen, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Brazil and the Southern Cone (UNODC).

Future Actions - The next stages of the project "Fair Play Within and Outside Stadiums" will be:
• Mobilization: activity awareness and engagement of citizens, social organizations and business sector through the implementation of national and regional seminars on integrity and transparency;
• Launching the projects' website, which will have detailed information about the project and its actions, indicators of transparency, the publication "Fair Play x Foul play," the guide "How to Read Contracts" and a channel for complaints;
• Mobilization for approval of regulatory frameworks, such as pending bills "PL Access to Information", "PL Accountability of Corporations for Acts of Corruption" and "PL Regulatory Lobby."
• Creation of five Regional Committees (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and a fifth city, which may be Recife or Brasília): The Regional Committees of the project will be responsible for the 12 host cities of the World Cup Games and the Olympics. The committees will monitor information on the infrastructure works in the host cities in order to guide citizens and civil society organizations to assess the ethical conduct of  private and public sectors regarding the use of public and private resources in infrastructure projects linked to the games.
• Formation of four strategic thematic committees to monitor the activities planned:
1. Legal
2. Companies, Investors and Sponsors
3. Media
4. Sports
About the Ethos Institute - The Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility is an organization of civil society without profit that gathers more than 1,400 companies of all sizes and sectors. Ethos mission is to mobilize, encourage and help companies manage their business in a socially responsible manner, making them partners in building a sustainable and just society. Their associates have in common the search for sustainable and socially responsibility, ethical standards and transparent relationship with their employees, customers, suppliers, community, shareholders, the public, and the environment. Conceived by entrepreneurs and executives from the private sector, the Ethos Institute is an organization center of exchanged experiences and the development of tools that help companies analyze their management practices and deepen their commitment to corporate responsibility. It is today an international reference, and develops projects in partnership with several organizations worldwide. Its president is George Abraham.

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