At this year’s Transparency International Movement Summit, the session “A Fragile Peace: Mobilising Our Movement for Accountability and Oversight in Defence and Security Sectors” brought together voices from across the globe to tackle one of the toughest questions in the fight against corruption: how can we ensure accountability in a sector defined by secrecy? Programme Officer Leah Pickering shares her reflections on the session.
Hosted by Transparency International Defence & Security (TI-DS), the session gathered voices from across the TI Movement to explore how chapters are confronting corruption risks in a sector long shrouded in secrecy, where opacity is routinely defended under the guise of national security. What emerged was not just a list of challenges but a shared story of collective courage, a determination to stand together, to keep pushing for transparency and accountability, and to uphold integrity even in the most closed systems.
Facing Secrecy with Courage
Across continents and contexts, from Armenia to Nigeria, and Malaysia to Czechia and Colombia, the discussions underscored a shared reality: while defence and security oversight is crucial for accountable governance, it is still not widely institutionalised. Access to information remains limited, and civil society engagement in this area is only beginning to gain recognition as a valuable contribution rather than an exception.
Sona Ayvazyan of TI Armenia described how access to information is constrained not only by law but also by moral and political sensitivities. Working in a context of conflict and hybrid warfare, she asked a crucial question: how much transparency is safe to demand during times of war?
For Abubakar Jimoh of TI Nigeria (CISLAC), courage has meant confronting power directly. As Nigeria’s defence budget ballooned, CISLAC exposed large-scale mismanagement and illicit financial flows that drained public resources. The backlash was severe, even their Abuja office was attacked, but persistence and coalition-building with media and oversight bodies led to real accountability, including the arrest of senior officials.
In Malaysia, Justin Bryann Jarret explained how secrecy laws make it nearly impossible to access defence information. The Littoral Combat Ship scandal, where billions were spent but no ships delivered, revealed the cost of opacity. By reframing transparency as a tool for efficiency and military effectiveness, TI Malaysia built trust with mid-level defence officials and opened new channels for dialogue.
These stories show that in the face of resistance, courage is often about persistence—finding ways to keep the conversation alive when others try to shut it down.
Building Trust and Reframing Transparency
Speakers agreed that transparency should not be framed as a threat to national security but as its foundation. Marek Chromy of TI Czechia described how their chapter uses data-driven advocacy to show that corruption in procurement weakens, rather than strengthens, defence capabilities. By cooperating with academics and reform-minded officials, they are building credibility and demonstrating that integrity can serve the interests of national defence.
Similarly, Mario Blanco from TI Colombia reflected on the “conflict-corruption nexus,” where corruption fuels violence and violence, in turn, conceals corruption. His chapter’s work developing sector-specific anti-corruption guides and integrity offices shows how collaboration within institutions can turn lessons into reform.
Across diverse contexts, chapters continue to identify constructive partners within government, officials who share a similar aspiration for greater accountability. In this regard, collective courage extends beyond confronting power; it also involves engaging those within institutions who seek to reform them from the inside.
Looking Forward: Turning Courage into Action
The discussion closed with a sense of shared purpose. Chapters may operate in vastly different political and security environments, but the obstacles and the opportunities are strikingly similar. There is growing momentum for a Movement-wide campaign for transparency and integrity in defence and security: a global push that aligns messages, shares expertise, and amplifies each chapter’s impact.
Moving forward, the TI Movement can:
- Coordinate advocacy across chapters to strengthen collective influence.
- Re-examine how the Movement applies frameworks like the Tshwane Principles to ensure they remain relevant across different political and security contexts.
- Build cross-sector partnerships with academia, think tanks, and reform-minded officials.
- Showcase success stories where transparency has improved defence outcomes.
- Continue reframing transparency as a strategic advantage rather than a security risk.
The session, A Fragile Peace, made one thing clear: integrity in defence requires determination, collaboration, and courage. In an age of rising militarisation and shrinking civic space, our collective action is what can turn principles into results.