Jeremy Pope
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Jeremy Pope (b. 1938) is a New Zealand Anti-Corruption Crusader and travel writer.
Pope is a co-founder of Transparency International in 1993 and later Tiri in 2003. Tiri is a Maori word which basically means lifting the taboos for the protection of society. It can also mean the scattering of seeds to bring forth a new generation. Throughout much of his well travelled career, Pope has been at the forefront of international efforts to highlight problems of corruption and propose innovative solutions.
At Transparency International , Pope was one of the brainchilds behind the famous Corruptions Perception Index (CPI) which identified best and worst practices related to corruption and ranks countries on an annual basis according to a series of indices and criteria. He also wrote the Transparency International 'manual' on preventing corruption entitled 'Confronting Corruption: The Elements of a National Integrity System' that has been translated and adapted into over 20 different languages.
Previously for 17 years he was legal counsel and director of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Legal Division, during which time legal cooperation between the 50 odd Commonwealth countries was taken to high levels. He was secretary to the Commonwealth Observer Group that oversaw Zimbabwe's independence elections in 1980 and was a member of the Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons that visited South Africa in 1986 and triggered the release of Nelson Mandela.
Pope also wrote guide books to New Zealand in the early 1970's and 1980's with his wife Diana, spending months travelling around New Zealand to get to know every nook and cranny. They were in print for over 20 years and are presently being updated. Also in the 1970’s he was at the forefront of the “Save Manapouri” environmental movement in New Zealand (which laid the foundations for continuing civil society activism there).
Straight talking and straight reporting and never one for mixing his words, Pope has previously had a tendency to inspire admiration and the opposite among those that he comes across. One who fell into the latter category was former New Zealand Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. Pope was a bit of a maverick and a frequent critic and the then national Prime Minister didn't like Pope one little bit. Pope left the country for London vowing never to return to live as long as Muldoon remained Prime Minister. He did not return to live in New Zealand for over 20 years. By the time he returned, Muldoon was dead. When he did return he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to international affairs.
After thousands and thousands of airmiles, Pope has now has returned to New Zealand where he now lives with his wife, still writing and campaigning. He remains vocal and active in anti-corruption activities, both with Tiri as Director of Policy and as a trustee of the International Records Management Trust.
