UNDP’s anti-corruption programme work:
This Global Initiative for Measuring Corruption is part of UNDP’s Global Anti-corruption programme, which is UNDP’s main vehicle for providing policy and programme support on anti-corruption and coordinating UNDP’s anti-corruption work both internally through UNDP regional hubs and country offices and externally with other relevant partners.
As UNDP has one of the largest Global Policy Networks (GPN) in more than 170 countries, anti-corruption work in UNDP is undertaken across many sectors in all regions through a variety of global, regional and country-level programming. It contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by integrating anti-corruption solutions in service delivery sectors, strengthening institutional capacity of institutions to prevent and address corruption, leveraging technology and innovation for integrity and anti-corruption, and leveraging anti-corruption knowledge and advocacy on anti-corruption.
UNDP also brings its experiences on the management of Global Environmental Facility (GEF), Innovation Facility, Accelerator Labs, and other vertical and Multi-Partner Trust Funds.

Objectives

The objective of this initiative is to develop new evidence-based methodologies and tools for measuring corruption that can be used to measure countries' performance and progress in combating corruption. The initiative will focus on developing and rolling out global corruption and anti-corruption indicators in three areas: integrity in public procurement, compliance and effectiveness of global anti-corruption measures, norms and standards, and experiences of businesses with bribery (bribery measurement).
The initiative considers the 'Vienna Principles Towards a Global Framework for the Measurement of Corruption'
The initiative builds on experiences and information collected by the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) Global Programme on Measuring Corruption (GPMC).
The initiative aims to develop the methodologies in the above-mentioned three areas. These methodologies will be rigorously reviewed and validated by a group of experts. This initiative will then test the standardized methodologies and indicators using the publicly available data initially from the G20 countries (plus 3-4 non-G20 countries) to see the robustness, validity and reliability.

Priorities and deliverables

The initiative unfolds in three phases:

Phase One (2024): Develop and standardize global corruption and anti-corruption methodologies focusing on public procurement integrity, compliance and effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, norms and standards,
and experiences of businesses with bribery. This phase involves drafting frameworks, pilot-testing methodologies, and advocating for standardized indices with support from UNDP.

Phase Two (2025 and 2026): Strengthen member states' capacity to produce and utilize corruption data through guidance, training, and technical
support provided by UNDP and other partners.

Phase Three (2027 and beyond): Develop a comprehensive approach based on findings from previous phases, ensuring sustained progress with donor support and continued collaboration with UNDP.

Why UNDPs Global Initiative for Measuring

Over the past two decades, substantial strides have been made in measuring corruption. Various indicators and methodologies have been devised to gauge perception, experience, and the extent of corruption. However, until recently, the complexity of corruption posed challenges to its measurement. With the advent of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the question is no longer 'whether corruption can be measured' but 'whether and when countries will consistently measure corruption to track and monitor the progress on tackling corruption'.

Robust corruption and anti-corruption measurement (e.g., data and evidence) are fundamental for countries to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-corruption initiatives, the impact of anti-corruption reforms and most importantly, learning from what works, what doesn't and why. The standardized tools, methodologies and data will significantly contribute to evidence to inform policy decisions on anti-corruption reforms.

With this background, UNDP, with support from the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (NAZAH) launched a new 'Global Initiative for Measuring Corruption' in December 2023 at the 10th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP10) to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). This initiative aims to contribute to the implementation of the UN Statistical Framework to Measure Corruption, UNCAC resolutions on measuring corruption. The initiative also aims to strengthen global discourse and dialogue on objective, open, and evidence-based corruption and anti-corruption measurement.