News

The President of the Republic of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina officially signed on Monday its commitment to implement the new national strategy against corruption recently adopted and committed by the same throughout the country in a new impetus to combat this phenomenon. By 2025, Madagascar arose as a challenge to become a state of law where economic, social and environmental development is free from corruption.

“We are aiming for a Corruption Perceptions Index 63/100 by 2025” says Jean Louis Andriamifidy, CEO of the Independent Anti-Corruption Bureau during the presentation of the key elements of the new strategy against corruption in Madagascar this Monday. This would involve a significant improvement compared to 28/100 score recorded by the countries in the 2014 Index of Transparency International. “By June 2016, with the establishment of all the structures provided for in the new strategy, we hope to improve already 5 points note Madagascar compared to 2014,” he said in his presentation.

Developed with technical and financial support of UNDP and under the guidance of a steering committee composed of the Minister of Justice, the President of the Superior Council of Integrity (CSI) and the General Director of BIANCO, and a Technical Committee composed of technicians from the Ministry of Justice, CSI, and BIANCO, the new national strategy against corruption put on three strategic objectives: strengthening the rule of law so as to have a state capable of meeting the aspirations of the citizens of Justice, creation of conditions for the emergence of economic development, and promoting the emergence of a strong national leadership expressing the political will. Particular attention will be given to areas of justice, security, public service, public finance, natural resources, decentralization, education and the private sector to implement the strategy and its 38 lines of activities.

For more information, click here.

Read more

23 Sep 2015 by Patrick Keuleers, Director, Governance and Peacebuilding, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support

Ending impunity was the main topic at the 16^thInternational Anti-Corruption Conference that took place this month in Malaysia. Most topics discussed at the conference resonated well with the proposed Sustainable Development Goal 16 on building peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

Goal 16 is a victory for the anti-corruption movement as for the first time, the development agenda makes an explicit link between good governance and fighting corruption and peace, justice and inclusive development.

This does not come as a surprise. There is now empirical evidence that once a critical threshold is reached, increasing levels of corruption result in increased levels of violence, impunity and insecurity. There can thus be no sustainable peace in a society plagued by endemic corruption and impunity.

There can also be no sustainable peace when those who hold power, be it political, economic or criminal, can purchase their impunity. And there can be no peace, nor justice when large groups of people are discriminated against because they are unable to overcome the many illegal hurdles that prevent them from enjoying their rights.  

Breaking the culture of corruption and impunity requires a comprehensive governance approach that involves, among other things, efforts to strengthen the rule of law, ensuring equal access to justice and public access to information. It calls for the development of effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.

Because of the impact of corruption on the poor, at UNDP we focus much of our work on analyzing corruption risks in key social sectors: education, health and water and sanitation, and soon also in the security sector. But the nature of corruption has changed to become far more complex and engrained in obscure and increasingly global networks.

Where the capacity of national integrity institutions is totally overstretched in the face of endemic corruption and impunity, new forms of international cooperation are needed to restore the legitimacy of sovereign institutions. The “International Commission against Impunity”, established in Guatemala in 2006 to help national institutions tackle the deeply ingrained corruption and related impunity, is one example of the international assistance needed to restore trust in the functioning of national integrity institutions.

With more sophisticated problems comes the question of resources to tackle them. At the International Conference on Financing for Development in July, member states adopted the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) which provides a financing framework to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The measures proposed emphasize the need to consider all sources of finance, public and private, domestic and international to complement each other. The Action Agenda also puts more emphasis on building capacities for domestic resource mobilization. That is why UNDP and the OECD launched the Tax Inspectors without Borders initiative, to provide tax management support to countries facing particular development challenges – least developed countries, Small Island Developing States and states struggling from severe dimensions of fragility.

Improved mobilization of domestic resources will not be possible without curbing the various forms of corruption and money laundering that severely reduce the taxable resource base. If the world community expects developing countries to take more responsibility for financing their sustainable development agenda, then support for strengthening their national integrity institutions will need to be increased, not reduced.

It also means that impunity for crimes of corruption can no longer be tolerated, anytime, anywhere.

Read more

The 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) took place in Putrajaya, Malaysia, from the 2nd – 4th September 2015.  UNDP, as one of the major organizing partners of the IACC, was well represented as the majority of participants from the UNDP Global Dialogue joined the IACC. UNDP played a crucial role at the conference. Mr. Patrick Keuleers, Director/Chief of Profession of Governance and Peace-building Cluster of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support represented UNDP in the opening panel of the IACC titled “Ending Impunity: People, Integrity, Action”.

UNDP also co-organized the following workshops with various partners: (1) Corruption-Free Development? Ensuring a Transparent Monitoring Framework Post-2015, (2) Assessing Corruption Risks in the Judiciary: What Role for the Community? (3) Collective Action against Corruption, and (4) Beyond Confrontation: Exploring Women’s Empowerment and Partnership Strategies to Increase Transparency and Accountability. Both the plenary and workshops were well-attended.  The Conference, which brought together nearly 1,200 people from 130 countries, ended with the Putrajaya Declaration: Zero Tolerance for Impunity.The next IACC is decided to be held in Panama City in 2016. For UNDP’s participation at the IACC, Click here to view pictures.

Read more

UNDP, through its Global Anti-corruption Initiative (GAIN), continues to lead the discourse on anti-corruption by bringing members of the anti-corruption community together, through its biennial Global Anti-Corruption Policy and Programme Dialogue on Anti-corruption to exchange experiences, knowledge and expertise with one another. The 6^th Global Dialogue was held from 31 August to 1 September2015 in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in conjunction the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference(IACC). The first day of the dialogue focused on policy issues such as positioning anti-corruption in the context of the post-2015 development agenda while the second day targeted anti-corruption programming including priorities, partnerships, resources, and results.

The Global Dialogue gathered about 100 participants from UNDP (more than 50 country offices, UNDP Regional Hubs in Addis Ababa, Amman, Bangkok, Istanbul and Panama, and UNDP global anti-corruption team), network of programme partners such as UNODC, UNESCO, WHO, OECD, Transparency International, Integrity Action, Global Integrity, Huairou Commission, U4, and key development partners such as Australia, Norad, SIDA, GIZ, DFID, and the U.S. State Department. The quality of discussion at the Global Dialogue strengthened UNDP’scapacity on anti-corruption and built confidence with donor and programme partners.

· Click here to view uploaded pictures from the Global Dialogue, GAIN Advisory Board meeting and the IACC on Flickr.

· Click here to view the video shown during the opening session

· Click here to view presentations from the Global Dialogue

For more information, please contact GAIN@undp.org. UNDP Staff and dialogue participants can access more information on the UNDP Teamworks Event Space.

Read more

Local communities around the world are finding allies in judicial reforms and new technologies in fighting for the rule of law, a graft-free justice sector, and fair and equal access to the justice process. This was a key takeaway from two events organized by the United Nations Development Programme’s Bangkok Regional Hub at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), held recently in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The events discussed methods and local experiences in increasing transparency and reducing corruption in the entire criminal justice chain.

For instance, participants in the events learned how community groups—with help from NGOs and government agencies—became empowered and skilled in helping the police ensure due process for villagers charged with crimes, monitoring how court cases are managed and conducted, and measuring the quality of performance of local magistrates, including the fairness of their rulings.

Participants recognized efforts in reforming the courts, but pointed to neglected parts of the criminal justice chain – for instance within the police and in penal institutions.

During the Gamechanger session titled Assessing Corruption Risks in the Judiciary: What Role for the Community?  on September 3, participants acknowledged the vital role of the community in promoting accountability within the justice sector, with Hon. Justice Zannah of Nigeria stressing that “There is nothing to fear from involving the community”.

The session upheld the importance of giving civil society groups access to information on verdicts and trials. Openness in the judiciary can foster not only integrity but also professionalism on the part of judges.

These discussions were held in the context of the new Sustainable Development Goals which will provide new, overarching global goals that aim to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change.

“Corruption, weak transparency in the justice sector significantly influences how countries regulate nearly all aspects of their citizens’ life—and by extension—how they will pursue the SDGs. Community involvement in cleaning up and making more well-functioning the justice system is a key feature of reforming the system,” said Elodie Beth Seo, who moderated the panel session.

The discussion continued on the 4th of September during an Expert meeting organized by UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub together with U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Center at Chr. Michelsen Institute and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).

The day-long event brought together over 40 participants from countries around the globe with representatives from UNDP country offices, judges, anti-corruption agencies and other government practitioners, representatives from civil society organisations as well as development partners.

Click here for source and more information. 

Read more