Reporting an act of corruption represents a significant challenge. Fear of reprisal, mistrust of State institutions, joined with the complexity and the sluggishness of the justice system, require perseverance, patience, commitment to democratic values and, above all, great courage. Often people who file complaints about acts of corruption are seen in a bad light, as informers or even as moralists.

To help promote citizen reporting of corruption and change the everyday culture of peaceful coexistence with corruption, in 2003 Transparency International (TI) created a mechanism known as Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres (ALAC).

ALACs provide free legal advice to corruption victims and witnesses under strict confidentiality. Experts from TI chapters analyse each case and its viability. In some cases, they support the judicial process; in others they simply provide guidance. The emotional burden and fear of reprisal is often very intense, and so some centres offer psychological support as well.

TI calls the whistleblowers “heroes that nobody knows”, as the evidence they bravely and confidentially supply has proved essential in bringing about changes and reforms for fighting corruption in Europe and Latin America.

These centres got their start in Romania and Bosnia Herzegovina and spread rapidly to other parts of the world. Today there are a total of 90 ALACs in 60 countries, and over 140,000 citizens have already contacted one.

EUROsociAL, the European Commission's cooperation programme, and the Secretariat of TI in Berlin are working together to strengthen these initiatives by sharing experiences. To do this, a comparative analytical study was conducted on ALACs, and a workshop was held in 2014 in Buenos Aires to identify best practices which was attended by the heads of the ALACs of Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, El Salvador, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary. The workshop generated significant lessons learned related to the problems encountered during the set-up and early stages of the ALAC, strategies for optimising resources, and strategies for promoting systemic reforms through the collaboration of diverse branches of government and anti-corruption agencies, the news media and other key stakeholders.

As a result of these actions, Brazil is taking very important steps towards creating one of these centres with the support of EUROsociAL and TI-Berlin. After learning about the experience of Honduras on the ground, a Brazilian delegation with representation from the Federal Public Ministry and the Pontifical University of São Paulo learned about the experience of Portugal's newly created ALAC within the framework of EUROsociAL and will hold meetings with experts from the TI chapter in Germany. Brazil's ALAC, to be launched at the end of this year, will serve as a pilot for subsequent expansion to other Brazilian cities.

This initiative is part of the EUROsociAL “Strengthening social and institutional collaboration in the fight against corruption” action, which is coordinated by the FIIAPP with the CEDDET Foundation as its operational partner.