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There have been cases of corruption related to school feeding in the municipality of Santander in Colombia. The contract worth $30 million, intended for the children of Santander, was awarded to a company with no expertise in cooking or nutrition.

As Liberia enters its second decade of peace, its music industry continues to gain popularity. The Accountability Lab, an OSIWA partner, has been working with hip co (a Liberian urban music genre) musicians in Liberia to promote integrity and combat corruption. A recent performance at the University of Liberia (UL) highlighted the challenges faced by Liberian students in order to register for classes.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology has said it will set up an Office of Research Integrity to hold researchers to ethical academic standards in the wake of a major academic fraud scandal at the country’s top institution, National Taiwan University or NTU, which has severely damaged its research reputation. The office will create a database of different types of breaches of academic standards, including fraud and plagiarism. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education also announced an amendment to its regulations, forcing academics accused of academic fraud to relinquish honorary and monetary awards granted by the ministry, and return funds already granted.

Egyptian authorities recently busted what they said was the biggest illegal organ trafficking ring in the country’s history. The suspects include medical professors at the universities of Cairo and Ain Shams, Egypt’s two main public academic institutions, the Health Ministry said. Investigations by Egypt’s Administrative Control Authority and the Health Ministry focused on private hospitals and health centres. Authorities found “millions of dollars and gold bullion”, at the 10 centres.

Experts from many African and European countries have blamed lack of transparency and unethical practices as some of the reasons preventing Nigerian universities from making the list of best global institutions. Transparency in admissions, teachings and university administration were some of the criteria used for judging the best universities worldwide. They further said that Nigerian universities must train students on character and integrity for them to compete globally.