Facing the challenge: International Anti-Corruption Day 2009

Fighting corruption today

From an idea that began percolating two decades ago, and which was quickly dismissed by the establishment, Transparency International (TI), and the anti-corruption agenda, have grown in influence and scope. TI began its work in 1993 by raising awareness about corruption, conducting research to diagnose the problem in its different forms, and proposing measures that lead to structural change. Such reforms are necessary in the public and private sectors in order to effectively prevent this crime and sanction corruption once it happens.
Fighting corruption means, in some cases, a trade-off between political costs and social achievements. It requires conviction and the rejection of abuse of power. Major changes do not happen overnight. But the benefits are so numerous that we all have an obligation to try. Together civil society and business together with governments, could change the entrenched practices that limit productivity, efficiency and ultimately, growth and progress in our societies.
When most of the countries ranked in the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index score lower than five, it is clear that corruption is an undeniable challenge. As the Group of 20 adopts economic and financial sector reforms, it is essential to address corruption as a significant threat to a sustainable economic future. The G20 should keep its commitment to seek public support for key reforms and ensure civil society input.
Preventing corruption efficiently requires, at a minimum, a well-functioning judicial system, transparency in the flow of public funds, and a private sector that conducts business with integrity. Nationally and globally, institutions of oversight and legal frameworks that are actually enforced, coupled with smarter, more effective regulation, will ensure lower levels of corruption. This will lead to a much-needed increase of trust in public institutions, sustained economic growth, and more effective development assistance. Most importantly, it will alleviate the enormous scale of human suffering in too many countries.

This is a condensed excerpt of a statement by TI Chair Huguette Labelle, the keynote speaker at an official event on UN International Anti-Corruption Day at Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Labelle is on a working visit in coordination with Transparencia México. The full speech, which highlights the key role of emerging economies in the global agenda to tackle corruption, is available in English and Spanish
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Say no to corruption

Can UNCAC have teeth without an effective, inclusive and transparent review mechanism?

12th November 2009 (Doha), Negotiations on Thursday were closed to NGOs most of the day. The Working Group on Review of Implementation, headed by the Argentinean Ambassador Eugenio Curia, met with the heads of delegation of countries sponsoring the two (almost opposing) resolutions for most of the day. Not even members of those delegations were in that room –so strong was the need to make progress and iron out differences.

However, other things were going on and we tried to make the best out of this "closed doors" policy. Officially, there were “informal” meetings (also known as “closed”) to discuss a resolution on preventive measures, while some open meetings took place around asset recovery.

On prevention, headed by Ambassador Touq from Jordan, the group spent most of the day arguing on language. Examples of such discussions: the language read “states should be called upon” to promote transparency in public administration (and other areas). Others felt this was too strongly worded and asked for states to be “encouraged” only, rather than being called upon. This went on for 8 real hours -and one later, they are still not finished. How slow is slow? Is there a fundamental disagreement about the need to prevent corruption?

In the meantime, to entertain the hordes of delegates either walking from one meeting room to the next or those who were out of the head of delegations meetings and therefore had no official business to conduct, the Coalition organized two creative actions: an opinion survey and a singing performance. The otherwise dull (and very loooooooooooong corridors of the Conference Centre) were full with colour, sound and music –a big change from the usual UN business.

The first civic action/entertainment action was a survey. Big yellow posters, in all 5 official UN languages, asked delegates: „Can UNCAC have teeth without an effective, inclusive and transparent review mechanism? Passers by had to indicate their preference for YES or NO, by placing a pink post-it on the right place. Some delegates smirked when they finished reading the question, while others participated with enthusiasm.

Now you would imagine that the answer to this would have been an obvious one –proved by the 254 YES answer, 7 votes were still casted as NO. According to reliable witnesses that prefer to remain unnamed, a delegate from a blocking delegation, after reading the question in the corresponding official language to his country, placed the post it in the YES camp –in the English version, where his opinion could not be singled out, as there were only a few votes in the said UN language.

Check out the Coalition´s Flickr page to see some photos (which will be uploaded later on Friday)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stopcorruption/sets/72157622643339923/

The day progressed and still there was no result to share or report about –so the time was come to remind delegates of our main messages, in song this time. The song, whose text can be read in today’s edition of the Monitor for those who want to sing along at home, talks about openness, inclusion and the need for public reporting, while reminding them that Article 10 and 13 of the convention refer to this. Indeed, not a candidate for a Grammy, but very effective and successful in this context. The words were set to the music of the “Banana Boat Song” popularized by Harry Belafonte. A video will soon be posted on You Tube and on the Coalition Website.

The reponse from the delegates was very enthusiastic. Many requested the lyrics of the song to sign along, and several of them took lots of photos and video.

In the afternoon we had a meeting with some of the donors that supported the participation of NGOs in this meeting. Later in the day, during a Coalition meeting, we were visited by our host, the Qatari Attorney General, Dr. Ali Al-Marri, and UNODCs Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. Here are some quotes from their short addresses:
Dr. Ali Al-Marri said “We cannot work without you. We complete each other. You are doing a great job, which we appreciate. We hope this work will continue and you will find all the support from our side, although you are disturbing in some instances.”

UNODC´s Costa on the UNCAC Coalition:
You have been active in these meetings –this has not been a major problem, but even a single exclusion hurts. By and large you are here. You might be a pain, but you liven up the intergovernmental meetings, certainly this one.

I like you for the fact that you are bringing some innovative things. The UN is very structured, you are fresh, quite remarkable gender balance (you know that at the UN there are mostly older men). You can tab new ways, imagination and new thinking. You are not only witnesses on the ground, but also in terms of what you can inject and what needs to be done.

After a very long day, after all songs were sung, after all the post-its responses were cast –there was still no sealed deal. No agreement in sight –although “nanometric” progress was reported by one key delegate leaving the room –with an exhausted expression on his face, while rushing to get some coffee and a quick smoke out in the fresh Qatari air.

Negotiations went well into the night. The UNCAC Coalition went out for dinner.

Article 8. Codes of conduct for public officials

1. In order to fight corruption, each State Party shall promote, inter alia, integrity, honesty and responsibility among its public officials, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system.
2. In particular, each State Party shall endeavour to apply, within its own institutional and legal systems, codes or standards of conduct for the correct, honourable and proper performance of public functions.
3. For the purposes of implementing the provisions of this article, each State Party shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, take note of the relevant initiatives of regional, interregional and multilateral organizations, such as the International Code of Conduct for Public Officials contained in the annex to General Assembly resolution 51/59 of 12 December 1996.
4. Each State Party shall also consider, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, establishing measures and systems to facilitate the reporting by public officials of acts of corruption to appropriate authorities, when such acts come to their notice in the performance of their functions.
5. Each State Party shall endeavour, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with respect to their functions as public officials.
6. Each State Party shall consider taking, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, disciplinary or other measures against public officials who violate the codes or standards established in accordance with this article.

UN Anti-corruption treaty—some countries impeding effective monitoring mechanism

11 November 2009 (Doha), After three days of negotiations two groups of countries are still at loggerheads over whether a UN treaty will effectively tackle corruption. A small group of countries are currently pushing proposals for a review mechanism which would water down implementation to the point of seriously undermining the treaty. These proposals risk leaving the Convention toothless.

Corruption seriously undermines democracy, human rights and sustainable development. Any treaty is only as strong as its implementation. Whilst the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) has the potential to become a global anti-corruption standard, without an effective and transparent review mechanism it will be little more than a piece of paper.

The majority of countries at the Conference of States parties in Doha are battling with a small group over the key parts of the review mechanism. Having ratified the Convention these ‘blockers’ are unwilling to share information on progress in complying with the Convention’s requirements.

The civil society coalition, representing over 200 organisations from around the world
Believe that in order to be effective the review mechanism must also include:

• Full publication of country reports
• Meaningful civil society participation
• In country review visits

There has been extensive experience with country reviews under other anti-corruption conventions, and the majority of the UNCAC Parties have participated in similar reviews (e.g. OECD, FATF, GRECO) building mutual confidence and trust in the outcomes.

The blocking states are opposed to these principles but there is still time for the two groups to come together and agree on a review mechanism that would give UNCAC teeth.

End

Note to editors: UNCAC is a multilateral treaty which 141 countries have signed. It includes provisions on bribery, embezzlement, asset recovery, bilateral legal assistance and money laundering.

Global anti-corruption treaty will fail without agreement on an effective review mechanism in Doha this week

Doha (9 November 2009): Starting today representatives of the 141 countries that have signed up to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) are arriving in Doha to decide whether to adopt a review mechanism that would give the treaty teeth.

Corruption undermines democracy, human rights and sustainable development. UNCAC, with its worldwide membership and wide-ranging provisions on transparency and accountability, has the potential to be the global anti-corruption standard.

However, a treaty is only as strong as its implementation, and this has to happen at a national level. Too often governments only pay lip service to their anti-corruption pledges. The success of the treaty will greatly depend on the adoption of an effective review mechanism, which will ensure that governments fulfil their obligations under the treaty. The review mechanism must include:

• Full publication of country reports
• Meaningful participation of civil society organisations
• In-country review visits

There is broad support for these measures, but a few vocal countries are blocking. Without a robust review mechanism, the effectiveness of UNCAC will be severely compromised, with serious consequences for the lives of citizens around the world and for the credibility of governments that have signed up to it.

Governments have until Friday to decide whether UNCAC will live up to its potential as a global anti-corruption standard.


Note to editors:
The UNCAC Coalition is made up of over 200 civil society organisations from across the world.

States urged to use UN anti-corruption treaty to restore integrity in the financial system

DOHA, 9 November 2009 (UNODC) – Countries that have signed the United Nations anti-corruption treaty are meeting in Doha, Qatar this week to review implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. This is the Third Session of the Conference of States Parties to this Convention which came into force in December 2005.

The session was opened by the Attorney General of Qatar, Dr. Ali Al-Marri, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Tamin Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Heir Apparent of the State of Qatar. Dr. Al-Marri described the Conference of States Parties as the “inter-governmental forum par excellence to fight corruption”.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, called corruption “the cause and consequence” of the financial crisis. He criticized governments for having allowed the system to get out of control, and financiers and corporate tycoons for turning their dealings into a free-for-all game.
He urged all states to recognize a silver lining to the crisis by using the UN anti-corruption Convention as “a blueprint for restoring confidence in markets, businesses, and governments.”

Mr. Costa stressed that “corruption is preventable, not a fact of life, or part of business.” The UNCAC contains preventive measures that apply to the public and private sectors. Their implementation is being reviewed in Doha.

One of the main issues under discussion at Doha is the creation of a mechanism to review implementation of the treaty. “At the moment, corruption is in the eye of the beholder – there is no way to measure it”, said Mr. Costa. A review mechanism would, for the first time, enable states to see how effectively they are fighting corruption, and identify where more progress is needed. The intention is to create a mechanism that is transparent, non-intrusive, inclusive and fair. “It must be a technical inter-governmental review to measure progress, not a game of name and shame”, said Mr. Costa. The head of UNODC urged Member States to “seal the deal” on the review mechanism by the conclusion of the meeting on Friday.

The Conference of States Parties is being attended by over 1000 delegates from 125 countries, as well as representatives of civil society, international organizations, parliaments, the media and the private sector.