There are fewer than 1000 days remaining until the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Based on current progress, many will not be achieved. For Transparency International, a critical reason for the lack of success is weak governance and the corruption that follows.
Whistleblowers play a vital role in exposing corruption, fraud and mismanagement and in preventing disasters that arise from negligence or wrongdoing. Prominent whistleblowers revealed the cover-up of SARS and other dangerous diseases that threatened millions of people in China; they disclosed corruption and nepotism in the European Commission and helped to avoid environmental hazards in the US.