Transparency International Hungary and Sziget Festival’s Office of Organization embark on a new collaboration to call the attention of the youth to the importance of the fight against corruption. The goal of the event series is to open young people’s eyes to the value of an honorable, corruption-free life and urge them to take action.
For the first time this year, TI appears on the program of Sziget’s Office of Organization. They aim to make young people aware of just how important their role is in the fight against corruption. The awareness campaign took the form of a phenomenal waterfight. This is not only an excellent way to cool off on a hot summer’s day at a festival. The cold shower the participants received also communicates clearly: It is time to wake up!
The fight against corruption is most effective when it calls upon each member of society, this is the reason Transparency International Hungary and Sziget Office of Organization decided to raise their voices together, so the message might reach as many young people as possible.
As the first step of their collaboration, TI organized waterfights for the festival-goers at Heineken Balaton Sound and Sziget Festival. Among other programs, the participants can test their knowledge on the stand of corruption today in a quiz. They have the option to join a new community calledTransparency International BASE on the spot. This community aims to provide a platform for those concerned with the fight against corruption and ready to act. Anyone who values transparency and honorable behavior and is not willing to watch abuse of power and corruption idly can join.
“It is Sziget’s aspiration in this collaboration to awaken the festival-goers to the dangers of corruption to society and to confirm their convictions: the establishment and maintanance of transparent civil society and corruption-free public life is the responsibility of all,” said Károly Gerendai, the executive director of Sziget. Both organizations would like to spur young people to act against corruption, to empower them to report corrupt behavior. It is essential to teach youth to make use of their rights.
“We aim to infect the participating youths with the sentiment of anti-corruption. Once imbued with these convictions, we hope they will take them to their schools and work places, ready to report any case of corruption they encounter,” said the executive director of Transparency International Hungary at the press release event on Szabadság Square, which was coupled with a waterfight.
Sziget and Transparency Inernational will continue to organise events together after this summer’s event series to call youth to action against corruption.