Following a short pilot phase, and the establishment of a small working group to take the initiative forward, this web site was launched on 9th December 2005. If you represent an organisation with views on the objectives, ideas or processes described in this site, then we would like to hear from you. You can contact us either through comments posted in response to the various articles, or through the contact page. You are also encouraged to submit additional articles on related topics. “Abair ach beagan is abair gu math e”

Statements of support already received include:

Transparency International (UK)
“Transparency International (UK) welcomes the “Ethical Edinburgh” initiative. The external verification of anti-corruption procedures, the accreditation of independent assessors, and the maintenance of associated databases are each expected to become increasingly important if sustained progess is to be made in curbing corruption in international construction and infrastructure projects”.
Neill Stansbury, Director of Construction and Engineering, TI (UK)

Clare Short, MP. Former UK Secretary of State for International Development.
“I can only congratulate you on the work you are doing and wish you well with it”.

Engineers Against Poverty
“Engineers Against Poverty strongly welcomes the establishment of Ethical Edinburgh and looks forward to working closely with it. As this year’s Global Corruption Report highlighted, the cost of corruption is immense and it pervades all levels of the construction sector and involves rich and poor countries alike. It encourages bad decision making, distorts markets, increases the risks and costs of doing business and undermines business and public confidence in efforts to fight poverty. Developing practical and effective sector specific anti-corruption policies and tools should be a priority for everyone working in the sector”.
Petter Matthews, Executive Director, Engineers Against Poverty.

UK Anti-Corruption Forum
“The Anti-Corruption Forum welcomes the launch of the International Centre for Transparency in Construction, in that the ICTC plans to develop and put into practice several of the Forum’s key objectives contained in the Anti-Corruption Action Statement. The UK Anti-Corruption Forum is an alliance of business associations, professional institutions and companies with interests in the domestic and international infrastructure, construction and engineering sectors. It was founded in October 2004 by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), British Consultants and Construction Bureau (BCCB), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Transparency International (UK) (TI(UK)), and several representatives of the business community.”

Simon Done, TRL Ltd
“Corruption is one of those issues which it is necessary to largely eliminate if development funds, whether internal or external, are to achieve anything remotely approaching their potential.”.

Shuva Sharma, Kathmandu, Nepal
“This is a great initiative and I fully support it. Please continue to move to realise your objectives which can only help the poor of this world.”

Engineering without Frontiers, Institution of Civil Engineers.
“Engineering without Frontiers welcomes the development of Ethical Edinburgh as part of the essential drive to reduce corruption in infrastructure projects and the damage this causes to development.”.
Professor Paul Jowitt, Chair of Engineering without Frontiers.

Siyamisana Planning, South Africa
“It is high time that the messy area of corruption and development is openly tackled, and that the role of anti-corruption measures as a poverty reduction tool is given a higher profile. Congratulations to Ethical Edinburgh for getting the ball rolling!”
Tim Hadingham, Director

A special thank you to Edinburgh Crystal, which has kindly provided a link from its web site. Presumably this arises out of a shared interest in achieving perfect transparency….