Corruption negatively impacts the enjoyment and protection of human rights. Bribery and embezzlement can curtail access to human rights such as the rights to health care, the rights to education or the right to political participation. Not only does corruption lead to violations of specific human rights, but also creates a significant structural barrier to the implementation of all human rights. Corruption negatively affects the human rights of all members of society, but people who are vulnerable are disproportionately affected. We have compiled a list of 5 anti-corruption online courses by top universities you can audit for free. You may also opt-in for a verified paid certificate for an extra fee.
Corruption (University of Pennsylvania)
This online course is offered by University of Pennsylvania in the United States. You will learn what corruption is, how corruption impacts millions of people in our societies and why people stand up to protest corruption. In the first module of the course you will explore the key components of corruption, familiarize with legal definitions of corruption and evaluate where corruption takes place. You will also learn about the major theories that aim to explain corruption and how the level of corruption can be measured. In the second module of the course you will investigate the economic, social and psychological impact corruption has on society and what role decision-makers and power-holders play in enabling the spread of corruption. You will also examine how corruption decreases environmental quality, increases terrorism and hampers human security. After learning about the effects of corruption, you will learn about the strategies and ways to control corruption including assurance problems, platforms for exchange, and certification programs. In the final chapter of the course you will use a real life incident to apply what you have learnt throughout he course.
What is Corruption: Anti-Corruption and Compliance (University of Pennsylvania)
Offered by the same Ivy-League university, this course will specifically look into how compliance programs can be an effective tool to combat corruption. You will learn about anti-corruption laws and their implications, explore the relationship between anti-corruption efforts and an organization’s compliance programs and identify strategies for avoiding corruption. You will also learn strategies to develop an anti-corruption program that can help prevent and mitigate corruption in an organization. More specifically the course will look at preventative measures such as anti-corruption policies, contract provisions, and surveillance. The self-paced course takes approximately 12 hours to complete and is available in English with Ukrainian subtitles. The course is part of a Specialization for Regulatory Compliance.
Global Muckraking: Investigative Journalism and Global Media (Columbia University)
In this course by Columbia University you will explore how journalists expose corruption and human rights abuses. Throughout the course you will analyze real life examples of investigative journalism from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. You will gain insights how public awareness raising works and how it can be a vehicle of social and political change. This fast-paced introduction to the history and present of global muckraking features interviews with historians and investigative journalists. You will discover the crucial role journalism plays in the fight against injustice and assess current trends in reshaping investigative reporting.
Unethical Decision Making in Organizations (University of Lausanne)
This course is offered by University of Lausanne and takes roughly 20 hours to complete. In this course you will learn about the influencing factors, environments and contexts that encourage people to make unethical decisions. You will learn how you can protect yourself and others in organizational settings against ethical blindness and investigate unethical behavior through a multidisciplinary lens. You will explore under which conditions even people with a high level of integrity may break the rules and how we can cure our societies from issues such as corruption. in this course you will also learn how to assess risks of ethical blindness in your own organizational context and how to design effective interventions to reduce the risks for unethical behavior and corruption. This course is taught in English and takes roughly 20 hours to complete.
Managing Public Money (The Open University)
In this course offered by the Open University you will learn how to manage public money effective to create value for citizens. You will learn to distinguish between financial management in public and private sectors and as well as explore the basics bout taxation and budgeting. You will also explore you to prevent fraud and corruption and learn about the importance of accountability and transparency in the management of public money. Beyond that you will learn about the role of external and internal audits and how to put a value on the costs and benefits of public services. This course was archived at time of writing this article. Check the official website to see if it is available again.
