Jul232026

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency expands its collaboration network with local entities to strengthen internal information systems and institutional integrity

Valencia, 23 July 2026.– The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) continues to promote fraud prevention, the protection of whistleblowers and the strengthening of public integrity by signing new functional collaboration protocols with city councils in the provinces of Castellón and Valencia.

 

Between November 2025 and March 2026, the Agency has signed various protocols that strengthen institutional cooperation and facilitate compliance with the obligations set out in Law 2/2023, of 20 February, regulating the protection of persons who report regulatory breaches and the fight against corruption.

 

Specifically, during this period, functional collaboration protocols have been formalized with the City Councils of Alginet, Benicarló, Tuéjar, Peñíscola, L’Olleria, and Albal.

These protocols allow member entities to rely on the mechanisms developed by the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency to strengthen their information systems and promote an organizational culture based on integrity.

 

Likewise, the collaboration includes training, awareness-raising and technical advice actions aimed at the staff of the participating administrations, with the aim of consolidating good practices in terms of risk prevention, public ethics and protection of whistleblowers.

 

With these initiatives, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency reaffirms its commitment to work together with the Valencian public administrations to promote more integrity, transparent and open to citizens, favouring the early detection of irregularities and the strengthening of trust in the public sector.

 

Jun232026

Institutional declaration of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency on the occasion of the World Day of the Whistleblower

València, 23 de juny de 2026.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF), on the occasion of the World Day of the Corruption Whistleblower,

 

RECALLS that corruption undermines the rule of law and deteriorates the quality of public services, economic freedom and equal opportunities. Its prevention and detection require the joint commitment of all public administrations and society.

 

AFFIRMS the important collective role of whistleblowers in detecting corruption, in reporting situations of abuse of power, and in preventing and combating conduct contrary to public integrity and the general interest.

 

RECOGNISES, therefore, whistleblowers because their courage to report potential breaches, often in the face of significant problems and difficulties, contributes to identifying risks, correcting bad practices and strengthening a culture based on integrity, transparency and good governance. For this reason, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency created in December 2025 the AVAF Whistleblowing Awards: The courage to report.

 

For this reason, from the AVAF

WE PROMOTE effective advice and protection of whistleblowers in the Valencian Community in accordance with the provisions of Law 11/2016 of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency. In fact, in the first months of 2026, the Agency has dealt with more than 50 queries and requests for advice on protection and protection has been granted to 3 people, reaching 39 whistleblowers protected by the AVAF since 2017.

 

We ACT in line with European and international standards on integrity and protection of whistleblowers. For this reason, the AVAF participated in May 2026 in the General Assembly of the European Network of Integrity and Whistleblower Protection Authorities (NEIWA), held in Bratislava, where the Bratislava Declaration was approved. This document urges institutions to strengthen protection guarantees by establishing minimum standards of legal and psychological support and strengthening safeguards against any form of reprisals.

 

REAFFIRM our commitment to continue promoting policies to prevent corruption by strengthening control systems, promoting transparency, training in public ethics and developing mechanisms that promote responsibility, accountability and the protection of whistleblowers. These are essential requirements for a strong democratic system and effective and honest governance.

 

Bratislava Declaration

 

Jun222026

The INAP and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency consolidate their collaboration in the promotion of public integrity with the 9th edition of their course on corruption prevention

Valencia, 22 June 2026.- The National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) have concluded the 9th edition of the course Prevention of Corruption in Public Administration, held from 25 May to 22 June 2026. This call has once again demonstrated the great interest aroused by the subject, registering a demand of 534 registered people, of which 100 participants were selected to cover the available places.  

 

It is worth highlighting the change in the final test of the training activity, in which the students have expressed what in their opposition were the most important advances and challenges in the integrity systems of their organizations. In this regard, they have highlighted, among other issues, the following:

 

  •  Regulatory implementation: Almost 100% of the participants recognize that the Internal Information Systems (SII) are already in place after the entry into force of Law 2/2023. However, in many cases it is highlighted that the preventive mechanisms of integrity policies, such as codes of conduct or gift policies, do not exist as their own documents or are poorly developed, and are generically integrated into anti-fraud plans or are limited to mere references to TREBEP.

 

  •  Critical points in accessibility: One of the most repeated aspects is the lack of visibility of the reporting channels. Many students have insisted that they are “hidden” in footnotes or transparency portals that are difficult to access. In addition, webcasting of management procedures is spotty and often poorly explained.

 

  •  Transparency and anonymity: While anonymity is mostly guaranteed through advanced technological platforms (such as Xperta or Globaleaks), students express doubts about the functioning of their organisations’ ethics or anti-fraud committees.

 

  •  Identification of the external channel of information: This is the issue with the least by the participants in the course. In general, it is stated that there is a fairly widespread confusion in the information provided by the institutions, detecting broken links or links that do not correctly refer the whistleblower to the independent protection authorities.

 

The participants agreed that the public administration still suffers from a lack of promotion of an ethical culture and preventive strategies. A lack of knowledge of integrity systems on the part of personnel has been underlined, which makes it necessary to provide hours of training and awareness so that public servants can incorporate these integrity tools as their own in their daily work.

 

The course was attended by a representation of public employees from the state and local administration and autonomous bodies. Among the participants are professionals from ministries (Inclusion, Social Security and Migration; Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Ecological Transition and the Demographic, Interior or Defence Challenge), the Tax Agency, the CSIC, the Court of Auditors, the Civil Guard, the Air and Space Force, as well as cultural and scientific institutions such as the Cervantes Institute, the National Library of Spain or INTA. Likewise, there has been representation from universities (La Rioja, Jaén, Valladolid, Polytechnic of Cartagena, Valencia, Alicante) and local entities such as the City Council of Murcia and the Provincial Council of Lugo, among others.

 

This training action reinforces the collaboration between INAP and AVAF, strategically aligning with Commitment 3 of Spain’s V Open Government Plan (Integrity and Accountability) and SDG 16 of the United Nations (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).