PPLAAF protection to whistleblowers in DRC

PPLAAF is an international non-governmental organisation. It was created in 2017 and registrered in France due to the risks they face in relation to their work on anti-corruption. They work on sensitive issues and the registration in France ensures than when (not if) sued, this will happen in France with a functional legal system. It also has two regional offices in Africa, including South Africa and Senegal. PPLAAF has valuable experience in the anti-corruption field in the DRC. In the last few years, PPLAAF has been able to assist a number of whistleblowers, including those behind important public affairs such as the Lumumba Papers, the Dan Gertler revelations and the Congo Hold-up. Due to the sensitivity of the situation, PPLAAF carries out its activities in the DRC with its own staff based in Dakar, travelling occasionally to Kinshasa. For this contribution, PPLAAF objectives are to contribute to the establishment of a safe and favourable environment for whistleblowers in the DRC; to support threatened whistleblowers; to establish an investigation and publication strategy for disclosing sensitive information; to pursue ongoing investigations relating to the DRC; to advocate on new disclosures and with the authorities for the adoption of protective legislation for whistleblowers in the DRC. PPLAAF's assumption is the more whistleblowers are protected, the more they will step forward, and the more civic space will grow and the rule of law will be reinforced. The Embassy assesses PPLAAF's objectives to be realistic and consistent with the change it aims to achieve and the previous actions undertaken by the partner confirm the feasibility of the activities proposed in this contribution. Three risks, all of medium level, were identified and the Embassy agreed to monitor them throughout the contribution. These are: the risk of negative political influence on the part of those in power involved in the cases of corruption revealed by whistleblowers, corruption risk due to lack of audit of funds paid to whistleblowers and financial risk due to lack of auditing. The appraisal showed that PPLAAF has sufficient managerial capacity to handle the contribution by improving its audit system. The funds requested from the Embassy will be added to those of other donors, namely the Open Society Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ford Foundation, to cover 12% of PPLAAF's overall annual budget, with a focus on activities in the DRC. As an anti-corruption organisation, PPLAAF does not yet have an anti-corruption policy. In order to encourage good practice, the Embassy has made drawing up a PPLAAF anti-corruption policy a point of dialogue with the partner throughout the project. Finally, the Embassy deems that a support to PPLAAF would be a good complement to the anti-corruption portfolio. The strategy explisitly mentions work on anti-corruption, however up until now, there is no pure anti-corruption contribution even though there are several contributions with elements thereof.