Corruption, Gender, and Sustainable Development (COGS)

COGS was funded by Research Ireland and Irish Aid under under Strand 2B (Better World Awards) of COALESCE (Collaborative Alliances for Societal Challenges) scheme (COALESCE/2021/79). COGS was also supported by Research Ireland's Ukrainian Researchers Scheme. It ran from 2021-2025 and had the objective to investigate previously unexplored ways in which corruption undermines gender equality, increases humanitarian need by closing off economic opportunity, and blocks climate action.

COGS had four main research objectives

Strand 1: Sexual Corruption and Female Entrepreneurship
Strand 2: Stereotypes, Biases, and Outcomes
Strand 3: Corruption and Access to Public Services
Strand 4: Corruption and Sustainable Development

COGS was led by co-PIs Robert Gillanders of DCU and Eugenie Maïga of Université Norbert Zongo in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. Doris Aja-Eke, Idrissa Ouedraogo, and Olesia Zhytkova worked on the project as postdoctoral researchers and co-investigators Roisin Lyons and Amadou Boly and contributed to pillar 1 and 2, respectively.

Below, you can find links to all of the academic and policy work that was conducted as part of the project as well as contributions to the media. You will also find details of the free online course COGS101: Understanding Corruption. In addition to these activites, COGS also ran a number of stakeholder meetings and offered some entrepreneurship training for women in Burkina Faso.

Published Papers

Aja-Eke, Doris, Robert Gillanders, Idrissa Ouedraogo, and Windkouni Haoua Eugenie Maïga (2025) Sextortion and Corruption, Applied Economics Letters (OPEN ACCESS)

Gillanders, Robert, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Windkouni Haoua Eugenie Maïga, and Doris Aja-Eke (2024) Police corruption and crime: Evidence from Africa, Governance (OPEN ACCESS)

Gillanders, Robert and Glenn McNamara (2024) Smartphones and Attitudes to Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Africa, Kyklos (OPEN ACCESS)

Books and Book Chapters

Gillanders, Robert and Chandan Jhan (forthcoming), Corruption and the Sustainable Development Goals, Routledge

Connolly, Regina, Fernando Forattini, and Robert Gillanders (forthcoming), "Corruption and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities", in R. Gillanders and C.K. Jha (Eds.), Corruption and the Sustainable Development Goals , Routledge

Ouedraogo, Idrissa and Windkouni Haoua Eugenie Maïga, (forthcoming), Effects of corruption on access to education in Burkina Faso, in R. Gillanders and C.K. Jha (Eds.), Corruption and the Sustainable Development Goals, Routledge

Vishnu, Kedar, Robert Gillanders, Chandan Jha, and Alwin Dsouza (forthcoming), Corruption and SDG2: Zero Hunger, in R. Gillanders and C.K. Jha (Eds.), Corruption and the Sustainable Development Goals, Routledge

Gillanders, Robert, Lubani Nondo and Silvia Rocchetta (forthcoming), Corruption and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, in R. Gillanders and C.K. Jha (Eds.), Corruption and the Sustainable Development Goals, Routledge

Aja-Eke, Doris, Robert Gillanders, and Chandan Jha (forthcoming), Corruption and SDG 13: Climate Action, in R. Gillanders and C.K. Jha (Eds.), Corruption and the Sustainable Development Goals, Routledge

Working Papers Under Review

The Power of African Ingenuity: Experimental Evidence of the Effect of Counter-Stereotypes on Performance in Burkina Faso, Amadou Boly, Robert Gillanders, and Eugenie Maiga

Corruption Kills Some People Faster than Others, Robert Gillanders and Vincent Tawiah

It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid: Corruption and Subjective Well Being in Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Robert Gillanders, Ina Kubbe and Giovanna Rodriguez-Garcia

Sexual Corruption, Informal Networks, and Female Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Burkina Faso, Doris Aja-Eke, Robert Gillanders, Roisin Lyons, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Eugenie Maiga, and Zalissa Wanga

Corruption and Access to Education: Evidence from African Regions, with Idrissa Ouedraogo, Eugenie Maiga, Robert Gillanders, and Doris Aja-Eke

Health Sector Corruption and Access to Healthcare in Africa, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Eugenie Maiga, Robert Gillanders, and Doris Aja-Eke

Sextortion and Female Entrepreneurship, Doris Aja-Eke, Robert Gillanders, Roisin Lyons, Idrissa Ouedraogo, and Eugenie Maiga

Policy Briefs and Media Contributions

A Pilot Study on Gender, Activism, and Corruption in Ukraine

Corruption and Access to Education, COGS Policy Brief No. 5 (French Version)

Health Sector Corruption and Access to Healthcare in Africa COGS Policy Brief No. 4 (French Version) (Ukrainian Verison)

Fighting for the Future: Women and the Fights for Ukrainian Independence in the 20th and 21st Centuries COGS Policy Brief No. 3 (French Version) (Ukrainian Verison)

Police Corruption and Crime, COGS Policy Brief No. 2, (French Version) (Ukrainian Verison)

Sextortion and Corruption, COGS Policy Brief No. 1 (French Version) (Ukrainian Verison)

Corruption is Bad for Your Health, Transparency International Ireland Blog Post

How the war in Ukraine has damaged the environment, RTE, May 2025

How the Maidan protests ten years ago changed Ukraine, RTE, November 2023

Post-war reconstruction and the fight against corruption in Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Priamyi, August 2023

Sextortion: Undermining Entrepreneurship and Governance Corruption Talks! Podcasts

What would be the impact of sabotage at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant? RTE, July 2023

Ukraine is fighting a war on two fronts: against Russia and against corruption, The Irish Times, June 2023

The role of women's activism in the fight for Ukraine's freedom, RTE, May 2023

COGS101

COGS 101: Understanding Corruption is a course developed by the COGS team and ARC. The course is made up of eleven lectures as outlined below. You can access them all at ARC's YouTube Channel

COGS 101 Course Outline