International Anti-Corruption Academy. Through education, research and cooperation, IACA aims to overcome current shortcomings in knowledge and practice in the field of anti-corruption. It is the only global institution solely dedicated to the study of the anti-corruption phenomenon and making its practitioners better-equipped for the challenges of tomorrow.
Photo: Kosovo pupils in an overcrowded classroom 320 pupils were attending classes in provisional shelters in absence of a proper school. After InternewsKosovaand BIRN received reports through a platform which was created to report corruption cases and proved beneficial for other issues as well. They conducted in-depth research, interviews with teachers and parents and visits to the school, and, at the end, the case was addressed by the Ministry of Education which publicly promised that the school will be built in 2014.
In partnership with InternewsKosova and theBalkan Investigative Reporting Network(BIRN), UNDP has developed a web-platform “www.kallxo.com” which allows Kosovo citizens to report corruption in real time through multiple channels, including social media, SMS and the web. By visualizing and mapping reported corruption cases in the internet, the project aims to attract citizens’ participation and raise awareness on the level and form of corruption occurring in Kosovo.
One year after launching the platform, approximately 900 cases were reported, ranging from corruption in government, educational institutions, fraud at the local level, misconduct of public officials, etc. Because of this success, www.kallxo.com is now also increasingly being used to report inefficiencies in delivering public services at the local level. To date, around 30 municipalities in Kosovo have placed an iFrame of www.kallxo.com on their official website to facilitate the municipality’s interaction with the citizens.
Highlights
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is one of the driving forces behind the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), which convenes its 5th Global Conference in Manila from January 30 to February 2, 2013.
UNDP and GOPAC have been partners for almost a decade, with the UNDP Bureau for the Arab States funding the launch of GOPAC’s regional arm, the Arabian Parliamentarians Against Corruption (ArPAC) in 2004.
In the last few years, UNDP has taken a two-pronged approach to support ArPAC—training members on various anti-corruption themes, and providing assistance in drafting legislation related to freedom of information and ill-gotten wealth.
On a global scale, UNDP has tapped its vast network of lawmakers and leaders to raise awareness about GOPAC. They have sponsored three national workshops—in Burkina Faso, Timor Leste and Morroco—for GOPAC members, members of parliament and civil society.
This year, UNDP is sponsoring an ArPAC representative to attend the 5th GOPAC Global Conference in Manila. The event brings together 600 delegates from 86 countries all over the world, including members of parliament, leaders in industry and civil society and non-government organizations.
UNDP Country Representative Toshihiro Tanaka is one of several distinguished speakers at the 5th Global Conference. Tanaka will discuss the Effective Implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The UNDP-GOPAC Assessment Tool for Parliamentarians will be launched during the conference.
“The UNCAC is one of our greatest weapons in combating widespread corruption in the world today,” said GOPAC Chairperson-Elect Senator Edgardo J. Angara. “We must make sure that our parliamentarians, who exercise oversight powers, will be able to make the most of this tool.”
Sharing the twin principles of anti-corruption and parliamentary strengthening, UNDP and GOPAC expect to the seeds of their long-term cooperation to bear much fruit in the Philippines, the Arab region and the rest of the world.
Contributed by Gerardo David BERTHIN
Two UNDP’s Practice Areas from the UNDP Regional Service Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (RSC-LAC), Energy & Environment and Democratic Governance, sponsored and co-organized the Regional Forum on “How to Prevent Corruption in REDD+ and the “Regional Workshop on Participation, Advice and Consent of Stakeholders in the Preparation Phase of REDD+,” on January 29-31 and February 1st-2nd respectively in Lima, Peru. Both meetings brought different actors, governmental and non-governmental, civil society representatives, indigenous peoples, academics and UNDP officials, from 8 countries in Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru).
The Corruption Prevention Forum was inaugurated by Manuel Pulgar Vidal -Environment Minister of Peru; Rebeca Arias, Resident Coordinator of the UN System and UNDP Representative in Peru; and Julio Arbizú, Peru’s Anti-corruption Attorney General-, all of whom put in perspective and relevance the importance of REDD+ as a tool for climate change and as a key element of prevention against corrupt practices.
Similarly, between February, 1st and 2nd a workshop on “Participation, Consultation and Stakeholders in the Preparation Phase of REDD+” was held. The event was inaugurated by Eduardo Durand, General Director of Climate Change, Desertification and Water Resources of the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM), and Pierre-Yves Guedez -Regional Technical Advisor from the UNDP RSC-LAC / UN-REDD+-.
Through the exchange of experiences, the identification of potential partners and human resources and the involvement of various institutions, both forums aimed at generating inputs from participants for a draft national plan in order to integrate anticorruption issues in the national strategies of REDD+, to identify partners, roles and responsibilities and deadlines, in addition to ensuring consultation and participation of key sectors.
The five days in both events were jointly facilitated by two UNDP Practice Areas from the UNDP RSC LAC, Democratic Governance and Energy & Environment. The facilitators were Estelle Fach, from UNDP REDD +; and Gerardo Berthin, Fernando Pinel, Jose Arturo Santos, Pierre-Ives Guedez and Adriana Ballestin from the UNDP RSC-LAC. During the events the focus was on key topics such as: the importance of governance and anticorruption; financing climate change and REDD+; tools to prevent corruption risks; public information as related to accountability; the implications of joint work with social actors; and conflict management. Also it was an opportunity to present the national initiatives which are taking place in LAC countries such as, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay and Panama to learn about good practices and lessons learned. All of these, under a participatory and deliberative methodology to be able to identify potential problems before hand and find solutions together.
Last but not least, these events have allowed REDD+ and anticorruption policymakers, as well as an array of actors, to have a space for discussion and deliberation on potential strategies on how to prevent the risks of corrupt practices in REDD+, as well as in terms of how to ensure the participation of key sectors and actors.
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Each year, corruption is estimated to have cost more than 5% of global GDP (US$2.6 trillion)[1]. This estimation could reach up to 25% of GDP in Africa