October 22, 2025, Washington D.C. — Today, the Whistleblower of the Week podcast released a special episode highlighting the urgent need to enhance international whistleblower protections and strengthen transnational anti-corruption laws.
Hosted by FBI Whistleblower Jane Turner, the podcast featured Stephen M. Kohn, the Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center and an attorney for leading international whistleblowers.
Kohn explained that the United Nations was sponsoring a major anti-corruption conference in Doha, Qatar and it was imperative that human rights defenders and NGOs insist that the participating State Parties endorse using laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices and Anti-Money Laundering Acts to fight corruption.
These laws include powerful transnational whistleblower provisions, including strong confidentiality rules and the right to obtain monetary awards.
The NWC proposal calling for the UN to act on behalf of whistleblowers has already been endorsed by numerous NGOs from over 20 countries, including Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, France, Ghana, India, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Philippines, and Switzerland.
Kohn stressed that most international whistleblowers are unaware of their rights under transnational whistleblower laws, but “when used correctly, can stop corruption, hold corrupt officials accountable, protect and compensate whistleblowers.”
The UN needs to embrace these laws and ensure that whistleblower’s know their rights. “This is why we’re going to the United Nations Conference on Anti-Corruption,” said Kohn.
NWC was approved as an official NGO observer at upcoming CoSP11 UN Conference, Qatar, and will be urging the UN State Parties to take meaningful action to fight corruption and protect whistleblowers.
To learn more about NWC’s CoSP11 campaign, see their website.
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Joseph Orr
Joseph is an author at IWPA and writes about anti-corruption.
