Type Anti-Corruption Mission Charity | Website www.sakkera.com | |
Focus Public Sector Corruption, Private Sector Corruption, Integrity. | ||
Sakker El Dekkenne (Arabic: "Close the Shop") is a Lebanese NGO, set up in 2014 to combat institutional corruption in Lebanon. The mission of the NGO is to raise awareness about the extent of corruption in order to exert leverage on public administrations and Lebanese citizens at large to refrain from engaging in acts of corruption. Sakker El Dekkene runs guerrilla advertising campaigns and uses an online reporting mechanism and a telephone hotline to collect data on bribery taking place throughout the country.
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Background
The Sakker El Dekkene initiative was launched due to the perception that corruption in Lebanon is simply a way of life. Lebanon has consistently been ranked among the world's most corrupt countries, with corruption and bribery taking place from the highest echelons of government and private business to everyday interactions between citizens.
Sakker El Dekkene was set up to effect wholesale change in the national consciousness. By increasing the visibility of the rampant corruption taking place, the NGO hopes to raise the issue as a major topic of public discourse and sow the seeds of radical change.
Dekkenet Al Balad
Sakker El Dekkene was launched on 15 May 2014, with the opening of "Dekkenet Al Balad" in Gemmayzeh, Beirut. Dekkenet Al Balad was a temporary shop which was opened by the NGO with the intention of physically manifesting the idea behind the whole initiative: that Lebanon is a cornershop where everything- including your rights- is for sale.
Guerrilla campaign
Sakker El Dekkenne launched a guerilla campaign that included stencilling, postering and even the creation of an "Anti-Corruption Car" that parks outside corrupt public institutions encouraging people to report acts of bribery that they have taken part in or witnessed.
Film
As a part of the launch of the initiative, a film illustrating the problem of corruption in Lebanon was designed. It had been viewed tens of thousands of times within a few days of its publication on youtube.com
The video can be viewed here:
Website
The NGO also launched http://www.sakkera.com. This website contains the reporting mechanism for reporting bribes and gives a detailed overview of reported incidents all over Lebanon. The website also contains details of publications and events, relevant legal information, an "integrity test", information about the NGO and links to relevant articles about the NGO and corruption at large.
App
There is also a mobile app that can be downloaded from the website which allows the individual to report corruption on the move and contains much of the information accessible through the website.
Social Media
Sakker El Dekkenne also has a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sakkerel.dekkene?fref=ts) which is regularly updated with news and information about corruption in Lebanon and the work of the NGO. There is also an interactive game whereby Facebook users can "purchase" items such as driving licenses in order to help raise awareness about the NGO.
Hotline
Reporting bribes online is not the only mechanism through which Sakker El Dekkene compiles its information. A hotline at +961 76808080 is also available for citizens to report incidents of bribery and corruption.
Awards
Sakker el Dekkene won the first Wajih Ajouz Award for best online activism campaign on October 17,2014.
In December of the same year, Sakker el Dekkene campaign was awarded 9 prizes at the Cristal Festival Europe. The prizes include: