IRI Study Tour: Peru

The International Republican Institute (IRI) brought eight members of Peru’s parliament, to the United States for a 13-day study mission.  The delegation visited Washington, DC, and Annapolis, MD to study how U.S. federal and state governments maintain high ethical standards, through legislative ethics frameworks and enforcement.  This study trip focused on best practices in developing and holding elected officials accountable for high ethical standards in public administration.

IRI has worked in Peru since 2001, and in 2008 began working directly with the Congress to improve transparency and constituent responsiveness.  In the last year, IRI focused its support on building the capacity of the national Congress by assisting newly-elected legislators to understand and fulfill their representative roles.  As a part of IRI’s continued efforts to support transparent legislative processes in Peru, IRI proposed this study mission as a mechanism to work with Peru’s MPs who have demonstrated interest in implementation of ethics legislation.  In particular, this study mission not only focused on the development of ethics legislation but also enforcement mechanisms.  IRI coordinated meetings for the MPs with legislators, staff and related groups in Washington, DC, for the first segment of the trip.

Selected Meeting Partners

• Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby

• Global Center for Development and Democracy

• The Heritage Foundation

• Staff Director and Chief Counselor of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) Omar Ashmawy

• U.S. Government Accountability Office

• Scott H. Amey, General Counsel for the Project on Governmental Oversight (POGO)

• Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics Senator Johnny Isakson

• Director of Advice and Education at U.S. House of Representatives Carol E. Dixon, and Senior Counsel to the Committee of Ethics Thomas A. Rust

• Peru Desk Officer Timothy Peltier, Office of Andean Affairs at the State Department

• Deadra Daly and Michael Lord of the Maryland Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics & Maryland State Ethics Commission

• The Jennifer Road Detention Center

• Former US Senate Advisor Jason Poblete

• Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, Executive Director of Common Cause Maryland

• Congressional Analyst Jacob Straus, Ph. D, and Legislative Lawyer Jack Maskell

• Cynthia Snyder, DOJ Deputy Inspector General

• Director of Government Ethics Darrin Sobin and Director of Government Accountability Traci Hughes