RMF Network Meeting In Berlin Discusses Survival In A Globalized World

One billion people on Earth live in poverty, and 2.4 billion have no access to clean drinking water. Peter Eigen, Chairman of Transparency International (TI), says that one key reason for these alarming figures is corruption in business and politics – as a result of increasing globalization. TI is active in about 100 countries and won the Carl Bertelsmann Prize in 2002 for its anti-corruption efforts. Last Tuesday, Peter Eigen and former Bundestag President Rita Süßmuth discussed the negative ramifications of a converging world with a group of people who actively battle social disadvantage in their respective countries: the current members of the Reinhard Mohn Fellowship. In their first “network event” at Unter den Linden 1, the Fellows took a look beyond Bertelsmann, where they have been gathering experiences since  Sep 1, 2004 for their own social projects.

“During their year at Bertelsmann, the Fellows are given opportunities to extend their personal network,” explains Anette Bickmeyer, Director of the Reinhard Mohn Fellowship program. At this first networking event, Martin Kotthaus of the Foreign Office initially briefed the fellows about  Germany ’s image abroad. “We would like to give you an opportunity to meet persons who not only understand the fellows’ civil efforts, but inspire and promote them. Participants will be able to draw on these contacts even after their fellowship year ends.” The evening included a meeting with Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Weser, Chief Executive Officer of “Global Exchange for Social Investment” (GEXSI), which strives get investors and social entrepreneurs more strongly involved in the struggle against poverty and in environmental strategies.

Both Rita Süßmuth, who had already met the participants as a member of the Reinhard Mohn Fellowship panel of judges, and Peter Eigen commended the fellows’ efforts for society. “It’s wonderful to see you again,” said Rita Süßmuth: “You’re so full of the kind of energy and enthusiasm that our world needs so urgently.” She went on to say that it is an incredible opportunity for any company to have guest from the outside for a while, to contribute new impressions and ideas, adding that this applies not just for companies, but for society as well. Which brought her to the topic at the center of her political work: the migration of people. “Migration is a worldwide phenomenon,” said Süßmuth. In many countries, the population takes a skeptical view of immigrants and refugees, and the task at hand is to clearly show people the kind of economic and cultural benefits migration brings. ”In  Germany , for instance, millions of jobs have been created by immigrants. In sum, contrary to popular opinion, they are not a burden on the social system but the exact opposite.” The lesson is that it would be in everyone’s best interests to create internationally valid, transparent regulations that legalize migration, as experiences in  Canada and  Australia have shown.

Peter Eigen had collected some experiences of his own all over the world before founding Transparency International in 1993. As a World Bank employee, he had witnessed the institution’s powerlessness in the face of corruption, especially in countries where it was supposed to be helping with building the economy. Transparency International – lately with the support of the World Bank and the UN – is an independent organization committed to fighting corruption worldwide.

“National governments alone are no longer able to influence all the economic and social processes in their own country,” said Eigen. To counteract the international corruption that accompanies this loss of power, there is an urgent need for collaboration between governments, business and motivated citizens. “Globalization can’t be stopped, but it can be guided if people get involved and try to influence it,” said Peter Eigen. It cannot be tolerated that potentially wealthy countries like  Mexico ,  Nigeria and  Argentina have become nations with enormous social problems because they were destroyed by corruption. “This fate awaits the whole world if we don’t do something about it,” warned the TI founder.

The Reinhard Mohn Fellows appeared impressed with the open, straightforward way in which the two VIPs revealed the background for problematic developments in many countries on Earth – including their own. They spoke of personal experiences gained in their native countries that prompted them to set up a project of their own in an attempt to provide assistance to needy people. They were specifically interested in how Transparency International ensures transparency within its own organization, how it monitors its own conduct. “There’s no question that NGOs have to become more professional as well,” agreed Peter Eigen. They too, have to prove their legitimacy, e.g. by drawing up and publishing codes of conduct as TI does, and be publicly measured by these standards.

“How we can coexist in freedom, safety and with adequate resources in a globalized world is the most important question for the future,” said Rita Süßmuth in summary. Solving it requires motivated young people like the Fellows. “And so I am all the more delighted to learn that Bertelsmann plans to continue its Reinhard Mohn Fellowship program,” declared the scientist and former Bundestag President.