On International Anti-Corruption Day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken honored eight Anti-Corruption Champions at the 2022 Anti-Corruption Champions Award Ceremony hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The honorees include Antonio Cervantes García of Mexico, Jean de Dieu Rakotondramihamina of Madagascar, Stevan Dojcinovic of Serbia, Cynthia Gabriel of Malaysia, Rozina Islam of Bangladesh, Marco Antonio Rueda Soto of Colombia, Qismah Salih Ali Mendeli of Iraq, and Janet Zhou of Zimbabwe. They have demonstrated leadership, courage, and impact in preventing, exposing, and combating corruption around the world.

Prior to the award ceremony, these eight honorees visited St. Petersburg, Florida and Washington, D.C. through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.

This IVLP exchange enabled the awardees to engage with American counterparts with backgrounds in criminal justice, civil society, and investigative journalism and share best practices in defending transparency, combating corruption, and ensuring accountability. The program included professional meetings, local cultural activities, and an engaging workshop on interagency cooperation to combat corruption hosted by the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Through strategic exchange programs like this, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) contributes to the Department’s efforts to increase accountability and transparency, counter corrupt acts, and reinforce engagement and partnerships between anti-corruption leaders in the U.S. and abroad.

The IVLP relies on partnership with local organizations to help design exchange programs and host international visitors in communities across the United States. The partner organizations for this IVLP exchange were Meridian International Center and World Partnerships, Inc.

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