The Group's membership will expand slightly over the coming months. An Oversight Committee on Fraud and Corruption was established in May 1998 to investigate charges of fraud and corruption in the Bank Group's work, and a corruption hotline was also established to allow anonymous reporting of suspected abuses. We are very serious about making a difference and improving the way the Bank works. The members said that the Bank's strength in the anti-corruption fight goes way beyond its own programs. This effort is also bolstered by the Bank's emerging role as a knowledge institution.
Information is, after all, one of the greatest antidotes to graft and collusion.
One of the group's first assertions is the need to bring the private sector into the public corruption debate. It is important to bring them into the debate because they can be an important part of the solution to corruption. The group will continue to work through electronic exchanges and phone calls until its next formal meeting in three months. The advisory group members will be paid a small honorarium, and the Bank will reimburse travel and subsistence costs for attendance at the group's meetings.