S08E09 Chrik Poortman and Maria da Graça Prado on Corruption in Infrastructure

In this conversation, Annabel Short talks with Christiaan (Chrik) Poortman and Maria da Graça Prado of CoST - the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative. Chrik and Maria share the challenges they face in this work, and what motivates them. They describe the specific ways that effective community engagement is key to reducing corruption and building sustainable infrastructure, and the importance of local and investigative media. They provide insights on the challenges that arise in contexts of crisis and rapid-response such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for deep ongoing anti-corruption work over time. This will be all the more important as many governments scale up their infrastructure investments to rebuild their economies.