Against a backdrop of rising corruption worldwide, FIDH, Transparency International and Transparency International France have joined forces to produce a guide for civil society organisations involved in the human rights and anti-corruption movements.
Paris - Berlin, 25 June 2026. Corruption is not a victimless crime. When it allows funds intended for public services to be misappropriated, it deprives people of their rights — including the right to healthcare, justice, education and a healthy environment. Moreover, when it leads to the capture of public institutions, it undermines the rule of law, restricts access to justice and enables impunity.
The guide — Breaking the Silos: A Practical Guide to Fighting Corruption with a Human Rights-Based Approach — offers practical tools to better document the impacts of corruption, pursue redress and strengthen the accountability of those responsible, whether they be individuals, companies or states. It emphasises the importance of placing victims at the centre of efforts and of promoting access to justice and redress. The guide is available in English, French and Spanish.
This guide is based on a simple conviction: the movements fighting corruption and defending human rights must join forces to strengthen our actions and develop joint strategies to confront a phenomenon that inflicts profound harm on societies around the world.
"It is with this in mind that our organisations have joined forces to produce this guide. It aims to provide human rights defenders and anti-corruption activists with practical tools to promote accountability for grand corruption and the devastating human rights harm it causes. It sets out strategies for holding corrupt individuals to account and raising awareness of the violations that result from their actions", declared Gillian Dell, global advocacy lead, Transparency International.
According to Jimena Reyes, director for the Americas, FIDH, "The world is facing a polycrisis: pollution, climate change and the overexploitation of natural resources. At the same time, the very foundations of democracy — an independent judiciary, free and fair elections, and respect for the rule of law — are being profoundly undermined in many countries. Autocrats are clinging to power. The plague of corruption — involving kleptocratic elites, businesses or organised criminal groups — is one of the main causes of these phenomena. In the face of the devastation caused by grand corruption, doing nothing is not an option.”
Sara Brimbeuf, head of advocacy on illicit financial flows, Transparency International France, explains that "Transparency International France’s experience in cases involving ill-gotten gains shows that asset recovery is a vital part of the fight against grand corruption. Identifying, seizing and returning misappropriated assets is not enough: it is also essential to ensure that their return is transparent, accountable and geared towards the needs of the affected communities. Only then can the fight against corruption help to redress the human rights violations it causes.”
The guide covers the steps involved in linking incidents of corruption to human rights abuses and developing strategies for accountability and redress, including:
• Understanding the links between corruption, human rights, victims and causality;
• Documenting human rights violations and patterns of grand corruption;
• Protecting individuals, data, sources and whistleblowers;
• Holding individuals, companies and states to account;
• Using advocacy mechanisms and quasi-judicial channels;
• Using asset recovery as a tool for justice and redress.
Recognising that corruption fuels human rights abuses is vital to protecting human dignity. By placing victims at the centre of efforts, the anti-corruption and human rights communities can make progress in combating grand corruption and its impact on people and their rights.
The PDF of the guide in English can be downloaded here. An interactive version of the guide will be available shortly: breakingthesilos.fidh.org
