As a WWBD2019 supporter, we are asking the community to support international principles for whistleblower protection legislation and to require each national parliament to pass laws that could enable the principles.
Thanks to Transparency International for the dedicated sticker pack.
World Whistleblowers Day is an international observance held on June 23 every year. Its main goal is to raise public awareness about the important role of whistleblowers in combating corruption and maintaining national security.
A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization. The information of alleged wrongdoing includes violation of company policy/rules, regulation, law, or threat to the public interest or national security, as well as fraud and corruption.1
The term “whistleblower” dates back to the 19th century. Back then, policemen who used whistles to alert citizens about a riot were called whistle-blowers. The word gained its modern meaning in the 1960s when journalists began to use it to refer to people who revealed wrongdoing to avoid negative connotations associated with words such as “snitch” and “informer”.
Legal protection for whistleblowing varies from country to country, and society’s stance on whistleblowers and their activity is divisive: some people see whistleblowers as selfless martyrs for the public interest, while others view them as traitors who seek glory or personal gain.
Many non-governmental organizations across the world advocate for more comprehensive rights for whistleblowers and stronger whistleblower protection. These NGOs created World Whistleblowers Day to raise awareness of the importance of these issues.