International Anti-Corruption Academy

The process of creating an international organization focusing on anti-corruption education dates to 2005, when an Interpol working group began discussing such an endeavor.[5] At Interpol's 75th general assembly in September 2006, member states voted unanimously in favor of forming an academy "aimed at tackling the problem of corruption within public services worldwide."[6] On 9 October 2006, following the assembly, Austrian Minister of the Interior Liese Prokop, Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble and Büro für Interne Angelegenheiten (BIA) director Martin Kreutner formally announced the intention to create the IACA in the Austrian capital Vienna.[7]

In July 2007, Noble and Austria's Minister of the Interior, Günther Platter, met in Vienna and signed an agreement for the establishment of the IACA in Laxenburg.[8] The agreement was approved at Interpol's 76th general assembly in November 2007.[9] In October 2008, Noble and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) executive director Antonio Maria Costa signed a partnership agreement to help the IACA "enable more effective implementation" of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which went into effect in December 2005.[10]

IACA was launched on September 2, 2010 by the UNODC, Interpol, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Republic of Austria.[11][12] On March 8, 2011, IACA gained the status of an international organization and was registered as such with the United Nations.[13][14]

Since the accession of Myanmar to the IACA in October 2019, the organisation has 79 members, including four intergovernmental organizations and 75 jurisdictions.[15][16]

IACA is recognized as an institution for post-graduate education by the Austrian ministry of Science, Research and Economy and is subsequently entitled to offer post-graduate education under the framework of the Bologna process.[17] It started its first Masters program in February 2013; at that time the coursework was run in seven twelve-day blocks, taken over two years.[5]

IACA offers two Masters programs.[18] IACA's approach towards its Masters programs is described as holistic by the OSCE and the research portal of the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance.[13][14] El Mundo reported that the studies are designed to be interdisciplinary and have a practical dimension.[19] In 2018 there were approximately 1,600 alumni.[20]

The Austrian news magazine, News, reported that IACA posted a budget of €12.98 million for the 2014 financial year and a budget of €13.24 million for 2015; while noting that the actual revenues for 2013 were €2.3 million and expenditures were around €2.1 million.[4] IACA told the News that the higher numbers were based on their fund-raising goals.[4] At the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 IACA underwent a turnover in staff.[4]

During IACA's seventh Assembly of Parties in September 2018, Eduardo Vetere, the chairman of IACA's Board of Governors, referred to an external auditor's report which concluded that IACA was in danger of insolvency.[21] A working group was set up in December 2018 to restructure the income situation and generate membership contributions.[22] The Austrian government made a contribution of €544,000 in December 2018.[23]

IACA is headed by its dean, who also serves as the executive secretary of the organization. Martin Kreutner served from IACA's creation in March 2011 to the end of January 2019 as IACA's first dean.[23] The position remained vacant and was taken over by Christiane Pohn-Hufnagel, the organizations Chief of Staff and Head of General Services, in an acting capacity. On March 2, 2020 Thomas Stelzer took office as IACA's new dean and executive secretary. His initial term is limited to four years and might be extended.[24]