Peter Eigen

Peter Eigen
Peter Eigen in 2012
Born	(1938-06-11) June 11, 1938 Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany
Nationality	German
Alma mater	Harvard University, Free University of Berlin
Occupation(s)	Economist, Lawyer, University Lecturer
Known for	Corruption Control, Transparency, Political Science
Awards	Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss Prize (1998), European of the Year (2004), Markgräfler Gutedelpreis (2006)

Peter Eigen (born June 11, 1938) is a German lawyer, development economist, and civil society leader. Over the course of 12 years, Eigen founded and chaired Transparency International (TI), a non-governmental organization with national chapters in over 100 countries. Founded in 1993, TI promotes transparency and accountability in government, business, and international development.

Early life and education

The third of four children, Peter Eigen was born on 11 June 1938 in Augsburg, Germany, to Grete Eigen (born Müchler) and Fritz Eigen, an engineer by training and industry manager. Eigen spent his early childhood during the war in Berlin and in Czechoslovakia, where his father had been assigned by the Nazi regime to manage a large factory. The family moved back to Germany after the war and settled in 1945 with his grandparents in Mettmann, and as of 1952 in Erlangen, Bavaria. He studied law in Erlangen and Frankfurt/Main and earned a Doctor of Laws in 1964 (Dr. iur.) at the Goethe Universität Frankfurt after studying from 1962–1963 at the University of Kansas, USA, as a scholar of the Fulbright Program. His time on the American continent included a four-month road trip through Latin America.

Career

Early career

After his second law exam (Assessor Exam) in 1966, Eigen moved with his family to Washington D.C. where he taught international business law at the Georgetown University Law School and researched US and international anti-trust law for a professorial dissertation at Prof. Heinrich Kronstein's Institute for International and Foreign Trade Law at Georgetown and Frankfurt Universities.

In 1967, Eigen accepted a position at the Legal Department of the World Bank. He interrupted his academic research and entered the economic development field, dealing with the legal aspects of development programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 1971, he took a two-year leave to provide, under Ford Foundation sponsorship, legal and technical assistance to the government of Botswana, focusing on natural resources development. His wife, Jutta Eigen, worked as a medical doctor in the National Hospital of Gaborone, Botswana.

After his return to the World Bank in 1974, Eigen became manager of programs in Africa and Latin America, from 1983 Programs Division Chief for Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay, and from 1988 to 1991, he served as Director of the Regional Mission for Eastern Africa of the World Bank in Nairobi, Kenya.

Over the years at the World Bank, Eigen observed that corruption significantly hampered his work and development efforts. He discussed these observations with his wife Jutta, who provided medical care in Kenyan slums. Eigen began to consider tackling corruption as a key objective.

He began to mobilize colleagues and other experts, including development economist Laurence Cockcroft, GTZ Head Hansjörg Elshorst, Kenyan Businessman Joe Githongo, Bangladesh Finance Minister Kamal Hossain, and World Bank Communications Director Frank Vogl. According to Eigen, he was instructed by World Bank headquarters not to pursue these efforts further, even in his private time, because the Bank's policy was to regard corruption as part of the internal political and cultural affairs of the respective countries and not to interfere under its Charter.

Frustrated, Eigen left the World Bank to pursue his anti-corruption efforts from Berlin.

Founding and Building Transparency International (TI)

After leaving the World Bank, Eigen pursued the idea of creating a civil society organization to address corruption, particularly concerning western companies engaging in bribery in developing countries. Given that many developed country governments did not criminalize bribery by their citizens outside their borders at the time, his initial efforts were often met with skepticism or resistance.

However, his initiatives received support from organizations such as the German Corporation for International Cooperation GTZ, the European Economic Community, and the Global Coalition for Africa, which invited him to present the case against corruption at numerous conferences in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Ford Foundation again provided funding for a legal assistance assignment for the government in Namibia in 1991.

Meanwhile, Eigen and his wife Jutta had moved to Berlin. From their home, Eigen continued to gather supporters to found an organization to address corruption. The initial concept, tentatively named “Business Practice Monitor (BPM)”, reflected the claim by some western business promoters that they were compelled to pay bribes by corrupt elites; the idea was to counter this by collective refusal to bribe. Through workshops and conferences involving the development community and civil society, a concept emerged that recognized the significant responsibility of businesses for bribing decision-makers, particularly in fragile countries.

This process led to the concept of Transparency International (TI). In February 1993, Eigen gathered approximately 20 like-minded individuals and experts in The Hague, Netherlands, where they signed the Founding Charter of Transparency International in the office of the Dutch Development Minister Jan Pronk. The organization was established as a charitable society based in Berlin. In May of the same year, Eigen secured funding from the GTZ and the German Development Foundation (Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Entwicklung (DSE)) to publicly launch TI at the Villa Borsig, the official Guest House of the German Government in Berlin-Tegel. Leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the German development community participated in the launch. Transparency International's mission expanded to address corruption in all its forms through engagement with civil society, business, and government, a strategy Eigen described as 'the magic triangle'.

The organization quickly established a network of National Chapters, active in over 100 countries worldwide as of January 2021. Eigen noted that the World Bank's policy change in 1996 under President Jim Wolfensohn, which required borrowing countries to address corruption, marked a significant shift in the development community and facilitated a stronger civil society voice on governance issues in many countries.

Chairing the Board of Directors until 2005, Eigen utilized his network and experience to advance Transparency International's work in the global fight against corruption. For example, Eigen secured early endorsement for TI from prominent global figures; former US President Jimmy Carter and German President Richard von Weizsäcker became members of TI's Advisory Council, among others like Bangladesh Minister Kamal Hossain. Eigen also convened strategic meetings to influence global policy. In 1996/97, a meeting at the Aspen Institute in Berlin with major German business leaders, chaired by former German President Richard von Weizsäcker, aimed to garner support for the German government's participation in the OECD anti-bribery convention. As Eigen has explained, this convention led wealthy countries to criminalize overseas bribery, which had previously often been tax-deductible as a business expense. This development was seen as significant in motivating other governments and organizations to join anti-corruption efforts. Eigen advocated within TI for a philosophy of constructive engagement with politicians and the private sector while urging them to cease corrupt practices. This approach led to his regular invitation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he represented TI as one of the first civil society leaders participating in that capacity. Eigen also advocated for the WEF to include more NGOs, which contributed to organizations like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and Save the Children participating. His interventions there also influenced WEF to develop anti-corruption guidelines for its business members, resulting in the WEF Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI).

Eigen also secured the support of Jermyn Brooks, retired Global Managing Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, who dedicated pro bono time to TI. Brooks spearheaded the adoption of the Wolfsberg Anti-Money Laundering Principles, led TI's work with the private sector, and developed TI's Business Principles for Countering Bribery, which later served as a model for PACI.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan reportedly referred to the 10th (anti-corruption) Principle of the UN Global Compact as ‘the Peter Principle’. Eigen's work is credited with influencing the inclusion of this principle in the Compact.

Having conceptualized TI, driven its formation, and chaired its Board for its first twelve years, Eigen stepped down from that role in 2005. He was appointed chairman of the organization's Advisory Council.

Leadership with other initiatives

By the late 1990s, Eigen believed the World Bank had the political will and resources to support anti-corruption efforts but lacked direct mechanisms to finance and empower civil society organizations globally. Along with other Transparency International board members, including Frank Vogl, Barry Metzger, and Pierre Landell-Mills, Eigen conceptualized the Partnership for Transparency Fund as an independent organization to address this gap. The PTF was formally registered under New York State law in December 2000, with Eigen serving as its first Board Chair. The PTF was established as a charitable entity providing small grants and technical assistance to civil society organizations working to promote good governance and hold governments accountable. In its early years, Eigen helped shape the PTF’s focus on the “demand side” of good governance, which emphasized citizen engagement in advocating for government reforms, complementing traditional "supply-side" efforts focused on improving public institutions. Under Eigen’s leadership, the PTF developed frameworks for empowering grassroots organizations to design and implement targeted anti-corruption initiatives.

Recognizing challenges faced by civil society organizations, including shrinking civic space, rising populism, and increasing demands for accountability, Peter Eigen initiated the founding of the Berlin Civil Society Centre (now International Civil Society Centre) in 2007. The Centre was created as a space for collaboration, innovation, and strategic thinking on how civil society organizations can adapt to emerging global challenges. Eigen partnered with Burkhard Gnärig, former CEO of International Save the Children Alliance (London), to establish and lead the Centre. Gnärig served as the Centre’s Managing Director until 2018, working pro bono in the early years.

From 2007 to 2017, Eigen was a member of the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan-led Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten individuals who advocated for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. As a Panel Member, he facilitated coalition-building, leveraged and brokered knowledge, and convened decision-makers to influence policy for change in Africa. In 2018, he joined former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo as co-chair of its successor organization, the Africa Progress Group.

Building on the principle of collaboration between civil society, the private sector, and government, Eigen contributed to the early years of the initiative as one of the initiators and first chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The initiative was formally launched following the conclusion of the “Publish What You Pay” campaign in June 2003, when representatives from governments, industries, and civil society groups convened in the United Kingdom to endorse a common set of "EITI Principles." Under his leadership, the group convened five times between 2005 and 2006, publishing the EITI Validation Guide and creating the framework for the initiative’s governance. During Eigen’s tenure as Chair of the EITI Board from 2006 to 2011, the initiative established global standards for the transparent and accountable management of oil, gas, and mineral resources.

In the same vein, Eigen founded the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) in Mauritania, a global multi-stakeholder initiative seeking to increase transparency and participation for the benefit of more sustainable management of marine fisheries. He served as Chair of FiTI until October 2019, when the secretariat moved from Berlin to the Seychelles.

Since 2014, Eigen has been a co-founder and shareholder of the Humboldt-Viadrana Governance Platform, a charitable company promoting democratic processes and governance strategies in Germany, Europe, and worldwide.

In 2022, Peter Eigen founded the Local Electricity Access Programme (LEAP Transparency), a Senegalese-led initiative aimed at advancing equitable, inclusive, and sustainable energy access in rural communities.

Teaching and Other Work

In 1979/80, Eigen taught as a guest professor at Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt/M. He taught for the winter semesters of 1999 and 2000 at Harvard University and in 2001 at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In 2002, he was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of Political Science at the Freie Universität, Berlin and has taught there since.

In September 2001, Eigen joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as Visiting Scholar. In 2004, he joined the advisory board of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), New York, and the Board of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Washington.

Personal life

In 1963, Peter Eigen married Dr. Jutta Philippi, a physician and musician, with whom he had three children. Jutta Eigen died in 2002.

In 2004, Eigen married Gesine Schwan, the social–democrat candidate for federal presidential elections in Germany in 2004 and 2009.

Publications

• Eigen, P. (2008). The Web of Corruption – How a Global Movement Fights Graft / Adapted from the original *Das Netz der Korruption*, Frankfurt/Main, Campus Verlag, 2003. ISBN 3-593-37188-X.
• Eigen, P. (2003). Das Netz der Korruption / Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/Main, New York. / Language: German.