A car in the Lebanese municipality of Jdeideh promotes an anti-corruption campaign. (Photo courtesy of Sakker El Dekkene)
A storefront on a busy street in Beirut purports to sell Lebanese driver’s licenses, diplomas—even arms permits. The goods, as it turns out, are fake, and the store is part of a bold anti-corruption campaign by a media-savvy nonprofit called Sakker El Dekkene. That’s Arabic for “Close the Store.” To build public awareness about the need to stamp out bribes and other forms of corruption, Sakker El Dekkene leverages everything from street theater to social media to movies. It also maintains a hotline and an app that citizens can use to report specific incidents of corruption. Last December, its multi-pronged campaign took nine prizes (including a Grand Prix award) at the Cristal Festival Europe.
Rahib El Chaer, president of the organization, says that Sakker El Dekkene is working to change social norms in a country where corruption has long been commonplace. Lebanon ranks 136th out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. (It’s tied with Nigeria for that rank.) In opinion polls, El Chaer notes, “half the population admitted they would give a gift to a customs agent to soften him, go around a queue, or pay to get a premature signature on an official document.” The aim of his organization, he says, is to “bankrupt the prosperous business of corruption.” By his estimate, annual spending on corruption in Lebanon exceeds $4.5 billion—roughly 10 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sakker El Dekkene began as a project of the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), a chapter of Transparency International. After receiving funds for a public awareness effort, LTA began working with the Leo Burnett advertising agency in Lebanon to develop a concept for the “Sakker El Dekkene” campaign. The project stalled in 2013, however, when LTA shifted its focus to “work on the ground with municipalities” and to establish a new anti-corruption office called the Lebanese Advocacy and Legal Advice Center, says Nadine Merhi, senior manager of LTA. In 2014, Sakker El Dekkene spun off into a freestanding organization.
“Every initiative to raise awareness about corruption and its consequences in Lebanon is important, no matter how small,” says Ronald Barakat, executive director of LTA. “Sakker El Dekkene has been a very effective player in the movement by civil society to change public attitudes and advance the fight against corruption.”
To bring this fight into sharper focus, Sakker El Dekkene tracks corruption trends using reports that citizens submit via smartphone app, through a hotline, or at the organization’s website. Citizens can report an incident of corruption anonymously, but the organization asks them to supply specific details, right down to the street address where money has changed hands. The organization uses guerrilla marketing stunts to drive traffic to its data-gathering platform and to put pressure on politicians to take action. A Smart car emblazoned with Sakker El Dekkene stickers makes regular stops in front of government offices that have reportedly taken bribes. The vehicle is called the Kabse, which means “surprise visit,” and it has brought nationwide visibility to the anti-corruption cause.
Are these efforts making a real dent in corruption? El Chaer and his team aren’t declaring victory yet. “Forty-three percent of respondents [in a poll] said they will not report corruption. That means that almost half the population has lost hope,” he says. Lasting change will require increased public education, new laws to protect citizens, and government monitoring “to fight corruption to the highest level,” he adds.
LTA, meanwhile, continues the anti-corruption work that it began in 1999. Momentum is building, Barakat says. By way of proof, he cites recent crackdowns on corruption in departments that handle functions such as real estate registration and food safety.
“The public’s increased willingness to participate in campaigns like Sakker El Dekkene is evidence of the impact that the anti-corruption movement has had in creating real change,” Barakat says. The challenge ahead, he argues, will involve “empowering the Lebanese community with tools for taking action against corruption in their daily lives.”
Read more stories by Suzie Boss.