K-Monitor
Description
K-Monitor is a Hungarian non-profit organization that fights corruption. It works on the belief that corruption harms the whole of society, damages the economy, undermines trust in institutions and the rule of law, and endangers democracy. It supports institutions, journalists and individuals in the fight against corruption through community building, technology development, advocacy and research. It is guided by principles of openness, independence and a critical approach.
The organization was founded by volunteers in 2007 to map corruption cases in Hungary. It launched its database and map the following year with the help of donations. It hired its first paid staff in 2009 and, in 2010, introduced a platform allowing whistleblowers to share their stories and receive assistance. In 2011 it received the Justitia Regnorum Fundamentum award for its anti-corruption work and its contribution to investigative journalism in Hungary.
Over time it has built a range of digital tools, including a blog and network project, the Voksmonitor election-monitoring app, redflags.eu, K-Teszt, Civilzseb.hu, Parldata, a budget visualization tool and the map-based participatory platform PartiMap. It has run data-driven advocacy programs with other NGOs and organized events such as the Dawn of Asset Declarations and Conspiracy for Democracy.
Its work covers asset declarations, political finance, healthcare corruption, the accountability of digital power, and municipal and public procurement transparency. It has pursued freedom-of-information litigation, winning twelve of thirteen lawsuits it initiated in 2022. It has also monitored the EU conditionality mechanism against Hungary. It has carried out research, including on informal payments in maternity care, and produced interactive tools such as a drone-photo based website on Lake Balaton developments.
K-Monitor is based in Budapest. Its team includes developers, project coordinators, lawyers working on its freedom of information program, a financial officer and a co-founder and executive director who leads the organization.