News

Sarah Dix and Jairo Acuña-Alfaro, UNDP Policy Advisors

Agenda 2030 and its novel Goal 16 on peaceful, just and inclusive societies clearly recognize that sustainable development should be governance-informed development.  Goal 16 is larger than the sum of its parts and calls for innovative ways to advance responsive and accountable institutions as an integral dimension to sustainable development. At the policy level, this is done with evidence.

On 9 December on occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, many countries around the world discussed different ways to break the chain of corruption. There is agreement on this intention, but breaking has to be done without harming. There is increasing recognition that context matters, and an understanding of incentives, rents and informal practices matters in the design of anti-corruption strategies.

In Viet Nam, UNDP has pioneered the largest and longest multi-year social accountability instrument that asks citizens about their experiences with governance and public administration. The data and evidence are endogenous to the country’s actual rules and regulations and are helping policy makers identify reform bottleneck and design action plans to improve performance and increase citizens’ satisfaction with public services.

Taking the policy discussion forward, UNDP hosted a thematic discussion on how anti-corruption and governance-informed development can help create a more equitable society in Viet Nam through evidence-based approaches to policy research. Two rigorous and pioneering policy papers found interesting and useful evidence to advance the intention to substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all its forms (vg target 16.5).

The findings based on PAPI data are novel and of significance for policy makers. The first paper entitled “Local governance, corruption, and public service quality: Evidence from a national survey in Viet Nam” asks how does corruption affect quality of healthcare and primary education? And how do transparency, accountability, and citizen participation help reduce corruption? The research reject the idea that, in the absence of efficient institutions and administrative systems, corruption may facilitate development. That is, it finds that corruption reduces the quality of primary education and healthcare, and that effect is consistent over several years.

The second paper, entitled “Do good governance and public administration make economic growth more pro-poor? The case of Viet Nam”, explores the relationship between governance, poverty and income inequality within Viet Nam, in an effort to understand basic channels through which governance and public administration affect poverty reduction, particularly at the sub-national level. The research suggests that there may be a positive but decreasing effect of governance on per capita income. That is, improving governance and public administration appears to have greater payoffs for income growth in low-income provinces than high-income provinces. This is relevant, as better governance also reduces income inequality. As a result of these possible income-increasing effects and the inequality-reducing effect, poverty decreased significantly.

The evidence generated contributes to our understanding of drivers of inequality. They are of particular relevance given that corruption and inequality are seen as threats to governance, quality public services and equal opportunities for all in Viet Nam. Both papers provide key evidence to support policy makers to design and target better interventions. Four policy implications are particularly relevant for advancing the localization of aspirations from Goal 16:

• Viet Nam cannot and does not need to wait for further development before addressing corruption.
• Combating corruption is imperative for sustainable development.
• Transparency, accountability, and citizen participation do reduce corruption, despite existing, complex administrative systems.
• The government’s commitment to fostering good governance principles is critical for anti-corruption success.

How to support Viet Nam to realise all the targets by 2030 is an important question for us at UNDP, globally and the country levels. These two policy papers provide very much needed evidence and data to illuminate the ways forward in three distinct ways to start acting now leaving no-one behind in implementing Goal 16.

• Better governance appears to improve income distribution and reduce poverty.
• Strengthening citizen and business actors’ participation in the governance of market institutions will not only make them work better, but will reduce corruption, and in turn, poverty and inequality. 
• This includes participation in the design, implementation and monitoring of the new institutions, policies and regulations.

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In September 2015, world leaders from 193 UN member states gathered in New York to adopt the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To achieve this universal agenda, we’ll need robust and transparent investment in infrastructure to lay the physical foundations for progress on many of the goals. 

Agenda 2030 aims for a world that is profoundly different from the one we know today: free from poverty, environmentally secure for future generations, prosperous, more equal, just, peaceful and inclusive, and better governed. Corruption in the infrastructure sector represents a major threat to this vision.

These were among the challenges debated at a recent International Conference on Public Construction Transparency, organised by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.

Sustainable Development Goal 9 on resilient infrastructure and sustainable industralization is the most direct commitment to accountable investments in the construction sector. Other goals — such those on education, health, water and sanitation, climate change, energy, sustainable cities or the conservation of ecosystems — will all require important infrastructure developments to reach their targets.

According to the OECD, emerging economies alone will need US$22 trillion of investments in infrastructure over the next 10 years. The Global Construction 2030 report forecasts that the value of global construction will reach $17.5 trillion by 2030.

Transparency International warns that up to one third of this investment could be lost to corruption. Data from the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) further suggests that a similar amount could be wasted through mismanagement and inefficiency. These figures are staggering. 

Quality infrastructure is positively related to human development. In contrast, high levels of corruption in the construction sector can lead to the wrong decisions on the kind of infrastructure needed, excessively high prices being paid for construction design and implementation. It can also result in poor quality of construction materials, which can lead to disasters and loss of human lives. There is also growing evidence that high levels of corruption and the injustice that comes with it, fuel social tensions and conflict.

Given the magnitude of potential losses to corruption in the infrastructure sector, mounting to trillions of dollars annually on a global scale, clean construction is also of paramount importance for achieving Goal 16 on building peaceful, just and inclusive societies. It will indeed not be possible to have peace and security when corruption siphons of trillions of tax payers’ money and development funds. This deprives communities of important development dividends, denying justice, safety, security and services to a large portion of the population.

Targets 16.4 and 16.5 therefore put the fight against corruption and illicit financial flows at the centre of the peace and development agenda. There can be no development without peace, and there can be no peace without development. We will fail on both these aspirations, if we remain unable to substantively reduce all forms of corruption.

Quality infrastructure can transform economies, boost employment, provide safer environments and improve lives.  Investments in fighting corruption in public infrastructure therefore guarantee important returns in human development. Increased transparency and accountability in the construction sector is thus a sine qua non for a successful outcome of the 2030 development agenda.

Click here for original article.

By Patrick Keuleers, Director of Governance and Peacebuilding, UNDP

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On the International Anti-Corruption Day, the Carla’s Dreams music project urges young people of the Republic of Moldova to rely only on their own efforts and break the corruption chain. Their message appears in a short video produced with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Moldova.

The members of Carla’s Dreams said that “The topic of this video is very important for children and young people, as it is imperative for them to understand that confidence in themselves, their skills and knowledge is the greatest power they can have. Grades and results achieved using different tricks like plagiarizing and nepotism can be deceptive. The situations illustrated in this video happened to some of us as well during our school years. This is precisely why we liked the idea of participating in such a project”.

The video will be broadcast by several TV stations with both national and local coverage, as well as shared on social networks.

Dafina Gercheva, UN resident coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova, stated that “Although, at first glance, phenomena such as cronyism, plagiarism and cheating seem minor issues, nevertheless, they trigger and are part of corruption in the education system. We urge young people to break the corruption chain and be confident in what they know, hold and can get as a result of their daily efforts”.

In addition, the UNDP also supported a drawing contest entitled “Talent does not accept bribes. Integrity portrayed in pictures” dedicated to the International Anticorruption Day. The contest gathered over 500 works made by pupils and students of Moldovan art schools and colleges. The competition selection committee analyzed and appointed 13 winning works, while another 26 young artists were offered prices for participation.

The International campaign “Break the Chain of Corruption” is being implemented in Moldova several years in a row on December 9, the International Anti-Corruption Day, within the “Youth for Transparency in the Education” project implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Education.

In addition, as part of this project, students from 22 rural lyceums in 11 rayons of the country were involved in activities aimed at raising awareness and identifying solutions for preventing and combating corruption in schools and promoting academic integrity. Moreover, the young people involved in the event, following their participation in the Fairplay Autumn School, wrote a hymn for youth who want to bring change in the education system. The games played at Fairplay were reproduced by young people in their schools, and also at the National Pupils Council, to raise awareness and encourage youth to act against corruption in the education system.

The International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated internationally since 2003. Beginning with 2009, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have joined efforts to promote this campaign globally and urge governments, the private and non-governmental sectors, the media and citizens worldwide to take action against corruption.

Contact Information

For additional information, please contact Tatiana Solonari, Communications Consultant, JILDP, mail: tatiana.solonari@undp.org, phone: 022-820-840; 069377215

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Global attitudes towards corruption have changed dramatically.  Where once bribery, corruption and illicit financial flows were often considered part of the cost of doing business, today corruption is widely — and rightly — understood as criminal and corrosive. The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our plan to end poverty and ensure lives of dignity for all, recognizes the need to fight corruption in all its aspects and calls for significant reductions in illicit financial flows as well as for the recovery of stolen assets.

Corruption has disastrous impacts on development when funds that should be devoted to schools, health clinics and other vital public services are instead diverted into the hands of criminals or dishonest officials.

Corruption exacerbates violence and insecurity. It can lead to dissatisfaction with public institutions, disillusion with government in general, and spirals of anger and unrest.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption provides a comprehensive platform for governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society, and individual citizens. Through prevention, criminalization, international cooperation and assets recovery, the Convention advances global progress toward ending corruption.

On International Anti-Corruption Day, I call for united efforts to deliver a clear message around the world that firmly rejects corruption and embraces instead the principles of transparency, accountability and good governance. This will benefit communities and countries, helping to usher in a better future for all.

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