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India: National Anti-Corruption Referral – a tool that helps you to report corruption

During the few last years, initiatives against corruption have increasingly taken centre stage, involving the public and private sector, non-governmental organizations, the media and the youth.

In the course of UNODC’s ongoing work on probity in public procurement and corporate integrity, stakeholders from the above sectors identified a significant information gap regarding “where” and “whom to” report a corrupt act. Both citizens and professionals felt it was difficult to identify the relevant contact person in a government department – at the national or state level to report an act of corruption. Although numerous anti-corruption and vigilance bodies exist across the country, the information is scattered across multiple platforms within the public domain.  In response to this, the idea rose to consolidate  contact information on anti-corruption and vigilance desks in one platform and make it available to the public.

launchphoto AC Referral 2

On 29 May 2014, UNODC launched the National Anti-Corruption Referral of key contacts in vigilance and anti-corruption desks across India’. The referral provides relevant contact information on vigilance desks in a variety of institutions at the national level, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, Central Vigilance Commission and the Enforcement Directorate. It also covers respective information on government departments in the top twelve service areas which have a high level of interaction with the private sector, including customs, health, highways authorities, credit institutions and land and property registration authorities. The referral is structured by departments and states, containing data from 28 states, 7 union territories and 82 economic centres as well as a total of 25 ministries/government departments. It contains the remarkable number of 10,000 entries.

At the launch, Mr J M Garg, Vigilance Commissioner, Central Vigilance Commission acknowledged the referral as the first of its kind in India. He encouraged the audience to make use of the Referral as it allows to easily find information, make inquiries and report corrupt acts.  

The Referral was compiled after extensive public record research on Ministries and departments at the national and state levels, which showed a high level of engagement with the private sector. Suggestions and inputs were also received from senior Government officials, private and public sector officials through numerous consultative interactions.

The Referral is available electronically at:  http://indiaanticorruptionreferral.com

The National Anti-Corruption Referral was created under the UNODC projects ( i) Public-private partnership in probity in public procurement and (ii) Incentives to Corporate Integrity and Cooperation. Both projects are supported by the Siemens Integrity Initiative.

(This story originally appeared in the UNODC website.)

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UNDP to launch Social Innovation Fund on Anti-Corruption for Development in Asia-Pacific

Using text messages to crowdsource corruption information. Establishing citizens’ accountability forums to review development plans and budget allocations at the local level. Digitizing scholarship data to increase school enrolment of girls from marginalized groups. These are just three of some 14 anti-corruption initiatives being considered for the Social Innovation Fund on Anti-Corruption for Development.

A joint effort of UNDP’s Global Anti-Corruption Initiative (GAIN) and the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre (APRC), the Social Innovation Fund will announce its awardees during a Regional Dialogue on “Transparency, Accountability and Voices against Corruption – Accelerating Human Development in Asia-Pacific” to be held in Bangkok, 12-13 June 2014.

According to Elodie Beth Seo, Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser, UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, poor governance and discrimination remain key development challenges despite the high economic growth in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The Fund intends to encourage UNDP country offices and partnering NGOs to come up with innovations that address corruption in a way that reduces poverty.

The Fund has received expressions of interest from country offices and partnering NGOs from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

At least three initiatives will be selected to receive grants of US$50,000 each. Awardees will be announced on 13 June, the final day of the Regional Dialogue on “Transparency, Accountability and Voices against Corruption” Bangkok.

About 70 participants from 27 countries are expected to attend the dialogue. They will include representatives from UNDP country offices in Asia-Pacific and headquarters, delegates from national anti-corruption agencies, as well as representatives from non-government organizations and development partners.

Ahead of the Regional Dialogue, a Knowledge Fair on 11 June will allow participants to showcase their transparency, accountability, and anticorruption initiatives. The Knowledge Fair also will be an opportunity for them to pitch for new initiatives that they would like to propose as part of the competition.

* * *

For more information about the Social Innovation Fund and the Regional Dialogue, please contact:

Elodie Beth Seo
UNDP Regional Anti-Corruption Advisor
Asia-Pacific Regional Centre
Email: mailto:elodie.beth@undp.org

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16 African countries convened in Dakar to discuss current practices on Asset Declaration in West and Central Africa

Dakar, 26-28 May, 2014 — Chaired by  the President of Senegal H.E Macky Sall, and organised by  the UNDP Global Anti-Corruption Initiative (GAIN), UNODC, the World Bank, the Center for the Studies and Action Research on Governance, Open Society Institute for West Africa(OSIWA) and the Governance and Peace Programme of USAID in Senegal, the conference  aimed to obtain a realistic overview on the legislation and practice of Asset Declaration in West and Central Africa and share technical experiences between countries from the region, including best practices, innovations, and political, economic and judicial implications of asset declarations.

16-africancountries-dakar conference

 

The conference adopted a statement outlining guiding principles to encourage the countries of the region to put in place adequate practices and policies in terms of collecting and verifying the asset declarations, and adopt an action- research programme on asset disclosure in the countries in the region.

Read full story in French.

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Vietnam PM approves US$1.6-m UNDP anti-corruption project

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a US$1.6-million project to enhance anti-corruption efforts in Vietnam. The project is funded jointly by the United Nations Development Programme and the Vietnam Government. It will strengthen the Vietnam Government’s anti-corruption capacity through fully observing provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and raising the role of the non-state sector in anti-corruption activities.

Read the story in Voice of Vietnam.

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“Refuse To Be Corrupt” cafe project unveiled by UNDP for Thai youth

The UNDP-sponsored Thai Youth Anti-Corruption Network unveiled its first youth advocacy project on June 11, 2014 to lay the foundation for a corruption-free future in Thailand. The project, “Refuse To Be Corrupt” cafe chain, will be piloted early next year.
 
tyanti corruption 2boys

Photo courtesy of Thai Youth Anti-Corruption Network.

The unveiling of the project was marked by the partnership signing ceremony between UNDP, True Coffee, Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand, Khon Kaen University, and Ubon Ratchathani University. The partnership will provide students with professional knowledge and means to set up and run the cafes. The cafes will serve as active communities for the students to tackle the enemy of Thai society: Corruption. This is a space created by the youth, for the youth.
 
In Thailand, corruption is a serious and complex issue, affecting many strands of Thai society, but “the future must not belong to the corrupt few who steal the country’s resources,” said Luc Stevens, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Thailand in remarks during the ceremony. “The future of Thailand must be won by educated youth who seek transparency, accountability and justice. This is a vision we will support.”
 
The first two “Refuse To Be Corrupt” cafés are to be set up in the campuses of Khon Kaen University and Ubon Ratchathani University and will later expand to other places. The “Refuse To Be Corrupt” cafés will give young people a space to sit down and discuss issues, share their views among their peers, and organize events and map out plans to tackle corruption. The profit of the cafes will go directly to support their anti-corruption activities.
 
“This is an innovative idea to really engage the students. They are already excited, and we, in the private sector, are proud to help the students to understand corruption and give them an opportunity to run their business responsibly and corruption-free,” said Pramon Sutivong, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand.
 
tyanticorruption assembly 300x200

Photo courtesy of Thai Youth Anti-Corruption Network.

Thai Youth Anti-Corruption Network is an active group of over 6,000 students from over 90 universities across Thailand on a mission to eliminate corruption through the empowerment of young people. Founded in 2011, the Network ran a series of campaigns to raise awareness among the youth.
 
This partnership signing ceremony was held ahead of UNDP’s regional dialogue on “Accelerating Human Development in Asia-Pacific: Transparency, Accountability and Voices against Corruption”. UNDP has an on-going Global Anti-Corruption Initiative, and the “Refuse To Be Corrupt Cafes” are one of many innovative ideas that UNDP is working on in the Region to support a healthy growth of a new generation of civil citizenship.
 
The effort is supported by universities and the private sector, led by True Corporation Plc. “We are honoured to have the opportunity to lend our hands to create the venues for students to undergo various creative activities for the society. Aside from the knowledge and lessons learned from running their own business, the students can also contribute to the creation of a knowledge-based society as well as raise fund for their future projects,” said Mr. Virat Techanirattisai, General Manager, True Lifestyle Retail Co., Ltd.  
 
Students from the two participating universities will attend an anti-corruption camp in August. They will then submit proposals to run their own social enterprise café in September. The winning team will then be put in charge to organize regular events and activities on corruption issues when the cafe opens early next year.
 
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Kwanpadh Suddhi-Dhamakit, Programme Analyst with UNDP in Thailand
Email: kwanpadh.suddhi-dhamakit@undp.org
 
Website: www.tyanticorruption.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TYAnticorruption