Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
For Improved Transparency And Accountability
ST/ESA/PAD/SER/181
Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Public Administration and Development Management
Preventing Corruption in Public Administration: Citizen Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability
Report of the Expert Group Meeting
Expert Group Meeting
Preventing Corruption in Public Administration:
Citizen Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability
25-28June 2012
New York, United States of America
United Nations
New York, 2012
ii Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
For Improved Transparency And Accountability
DESA
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a
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and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on
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intergovernmental bodies on joint course of action to address ongoing or emerging global
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policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes
at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities.
Note
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The designations “developed” and “developing” economics are intended for
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The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not imply any
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ST/ESA/PAD/SER/181
United Nations Publication
Copyright © United Nations, 2012
All rights reserved
iii Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
For Improved Transparency and Accountability
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Division for Public Administration and Development Management
Contents
Acknowledgments................................................................................................................. vi
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. ix
Chapter 1: ................................................................................................................................1
Current Challenges in Corruption Prevention .........................................................................1 Corruption is harmful ..................................................................................................................................... 1
BOX 1: Millennium Development Goals ................................................................................................... 2 International instruments and resources ......................................................................................................... 3
BOX 2: UNCAC Chapter II – Prevention Measures .................................................................................. 3 Current challenges .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2: ................................................................................................................................7
What We Know About Corruption in Public Administration: A Diagnostic Challenge ........7 What is it? ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
BOX 3: “Quiet” corruption......................................................................................................................... 8 Where and when does it happen? ................................................................................................................... 9
BOX 4: Corruption and trust .................................................................................................................... 10 Who, how and why? ..................................................................................................................................... 11
BOX 5: Corruption risk factors ................................................................................................................ 17
Chapter 3: ..............................................................................................................................18
What We Know About Preventing Corruption: An Implementation Challenge ..................18 Analysing conduct and context ..................................................................................................................... 18
BOX 6: Preventing Corruption: Lessons from Occupational Health and Safety ...................................... 19 BOX 7: The Singapore diagnosis ............................................................................................................. 20
Integrity systems ........................................................................................................................................... 21 BOX 8: An Ethics Infrastructure .............................................................................................................. 22
Implementing anti-corruption strategies ....................................................................................................... 23 BOX 9: Myth #6: Fight corruption by fighting corruption ....................................................................... 24 BOX 10: Mexico Ministry of Civil Service New Model of control and audit of public works ................ 25 BOX 11: The Integrity Assessment Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) ...... 27 BOX 12: Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework Independent Commission Against
Corruption, Mauritius ............................................................................................................................... 28
Chapter 4: ..............................................................................................................................30
Preventing Corruption: Turning What We Know Into What We Do ...................................30 The limits of regulation and law enforcement .............................................................................................. 30
BOX 13: SMS Information System Ministry of Justice Turkey ............................................................... 31 BOX 14: Administrative simplification to improve the efficiency of the government............................. 32 BOX 15: Asset declaration systems – designing for the context .............................................................. 33
Effective public institutions .......................................................................................................................... 35 BOX 16: Combining legal and administrative methods to prevent corruption in public
procurement .............................................................................................................................................. 36 BOX 17: Singapore Building and Construction Authority Promoting accountability for
procurement of public projects through the Contractor Registration System (CRS) ................................ 38 BOX 18: Mexico Ministry of Civil Service National Public Procurement System (Sistema
Nacional de Contrataciones Públicas) ...................................................................................................... 39 BOX 19: State Procurement Agency of Georgia Georgian Electronic Government Procurement
System (Ge-GP)........................................................................................................................................ 40 Developing human resources capacity to prevent corruption ....................................................................... 42
BOX 20: Proactive prevention – guidance for everyone .......................................................................... 43 BOX 21: More than an attitude: developing professionalism................................................................... 45
iv Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Department of Economic and Social Affairs
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BOX 22: Hong Kong ICAC Ethical Leadership Programme (ELP) for the Government ........................ 47 BOX 23: Best practices to promote reporting and protecting whistleblowers .......................................... 48
Engaging citizens to prevent corruption ....................................................................................................... 49 BOX 24: Corruption Prevention and ICT: UNDP's experience from the field ................................. 50 BOX 25: Prevention, education and research in anti-corruption agencies ............................................... 54
Developing capacity in citizen engagement ................................................................................................. 55 BOX 26: Using citizen engagement as accountability to prevent four types of corruption ...................... 56
Chapter 5 ...............................................................................................................................58
Building Capacity to Prevent Corruption .............................................................................58 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 59 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 60
Annex 1: Sources and References.........................................................................................63
Annex 2 : List of Participants ...............................................................................................69
Annex 3: Agenda ..................................................................................................................73
v Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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List of Text Boxes
BOX 1: Millennium Development Goals
BOX 2: UNCAC Chapter II – Prevention Measures
BOX 3: “Quiet” corruption
BOX 4: Corruption and trust
BOX 5: Corruption risk factors
BOX 6: Preventing Corruption: Lessons from Occupational Health and Safety
BOX 7: The Singapore diagnosis
BOX 8: An Ethics Infrastructure
BOX 9: Myth #6: Fight corruption by fighting corruption
BOX 10: Mexico Ministry of Civil Service New Model of control and audit of public works
BOX 11: The Integrity Assessment Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission
(ACRC)
BOX 12: Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework Independent Commission Against
Corruption, Mauritius
BOX 13: SMS Information System Ministry of Justice Turkey
BOX 14: Administrative simplification to improve the efficiency of the government
BOX 15: Asset declaration systems – designing for the context
BOX 16: Combining legal and administrative methods to prevent corruption in public
procurement
BOX 17: Singapore Building and Construction Authority Promoting accountability for
procurement of public projects through the Contractor Registration System (CRS)
BOX 18 Mexico Ministry of Civil Service National Public Procurement System (Sistema
Nacional de Contrataciones Públicas)
BOX 19: State Procurement Agency of Georgia Georgian Electronic Government Procurement
System (Ge-GP)
BOX 20 Proactive prevention – guidance for everyone
BOX 21: More than an attitude: developing professionalism
BOX 22: Hong Kong ICAC Ethical Leadership Programme (ELP) for the Government
BOX 23: Best Practices to Promote Reporting of Concerns and Protecting Whistleblowers
BOX 24: Corruption Prevention and ICT: UNDP's experience from the field
BOX 25: Prevention, education and research in anti-corruption agencies
BOX 26: Using citizen engagement as accountability to prevent four types of corruption
vi Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Acknowledgments
The United Nations Expert Group Meeting Proceedings on Preventing Corruption in
Public Administration: Citizens Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability
have been prepared under the leadership of Haiyan Qian, Director of the UNDESA Division
for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM).
An expert, Alexandra Mills provided valuable substantive inputs to these proceedings,
including in particular a technical background paper on “Causes of Corruption in Public
Sector Institutions and its impact on Development”, which helped frame the meeting
discussions/deliberations. John-Mary Kauzya, Garegin Manukyan, and Angela Capati-Caruso
provided drafting and substantive editing of the proceedings.
vii Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Department of Economic and Social Affairs
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Foreword
The key role of governance and anti-corruption as influencing factors has been recognized
and is increasingly prioritized in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and post-2015
global development agenda. However, in spite of the progress made towards modernizing the
public sector in both the developed and the developing countries, corruption remains, due to its
complexity, vitality and pervasiveness, a major challenge that slows down the economic
development and impedes the achievement of MDGs.
The MDG Summit Outcome Document stressed that fighting corruption at both the
national and international levels is a priority and that corruption is a serious barrier to effective
resource mobilization and allocation and diverts resources away from activities that are vital
for poverty eradication, the fight against hunger and sustainable development. It also pointed
out that the member States are determined to take urgent and decisive steps to continue to
combat corruption in all of its manifestations, which requires strong institutions at all levels. It
urged all States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to the United
Nations Convention against Corruption and begin its implementation.
In an environment of rapid change and global uncertainties permeated by the negative
consequence of unfolding financial crisis, it becomes imperative for the governments to
develop and implement effective anti-corruption strategies, empower individuals and
communities, promote greater government accountability and transparency, and strengthen
institutional capacity to improve citizen oriented service delivery.
The Joint Experts Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop (EGM/CDW) on
“Preventing Corruption in Public Administration: Citizens Engagement for Improved
Transparency and Accountability,” was organized in furtherance of DPADM objective to
strengthen public administration and to fight corruption in public sector with a view to making
public administration more open, transparent, accountable and responsive to citizens in all
countries, as recently reaffirmed by ECOSOC Resolution 2011/22 of 27 July 2011, which
among other things requested the Secretariat to continue activities around the themes of public
service delivery and engagement of citizens in accountability for preventing corruption.
Exploring the causes and consequences of corruption in public sector institutions and its
impact on development; examining the effectiveness of public sector institutional
arrangements for preventing corruption and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives;
identifying strategies for public sector human resources capacity development for preventing
corruption and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives; and promoting accountability
through transparency by harnessing the potential of ICT in governance for engaging citizens
were the major themes of the EGM/CDW, which attempted to find out some of the ways to
fight corruption in the Public sector.
viii Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Eighty-two (82) participants —of whom twenty-nine (29) were women (35%)—from
twenty-five countries (Australia, Austria, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China,
Ecuador, Georgia, Greece, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritius, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Slovakia,
South Africa, Singapore, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, United States of America, and Zambia) in five world regions attended the meeting.
They represented governments, civil society, academia, and regional and international
organizations.
The EGM/CDW highlighted the need for a multi-pronged strategy for mainstreaming
public service ethics and professionalism and helped identify a number of factors in human
capacity development, contributing to the erosion of ethical and professional values and
standards in public administration. The event, based on the lessons learned in preventing
corruption in the public sector, enabled participating experts, practitioners and academics to
arrive at a consensus on some recommendations concerning anti-corruption strategies and
citizen engagement.
Haiyan Qian
Director
Division for Public and Administration and Development Management
United Nations
December 2012
ix Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Executive Summary
The effects of corruption on the agencies of public administration can be particularly
pernicious. When corruption is believed to be the way the public sector, or one of its agencies,
routinely operates the damage goes beyond the loss of misdirected resources. Public
administration risks losing both its capacity to be effective and the trust of citizens in the fair
and impartial application of public resources and authority (Thompson 1992). In the public
domain it becomes difficult to guarantee compliance with public standards or respect for the
rule of law (Caiden 2001; Rothstein 2011). A particularly damaging institutional consequence
for the public administration is that competent and honest employees can be lost or deterred
from working for government at all, further reducing its capacity for integrity and
effectiveness (Quah 2007).
The challenge of controlling corruption in public administration has been brought into
sharper focus by the international commitment to achieving the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The intended beneficiaries of those goals suffer, disproportionately,
the costs of corruption and the waste of public resources caused by corruption has affected
both developed and developing economies in their attempt to meet the MDGs.
The international response to the challenges posed by corruption has produced an
international legal architecture comprising the Inter-American Convention against Corruption
(1996), the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and Civil Law
Convention on Corruption (1999), OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (1999), the African Union
Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003) and the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption (2005) among others. These instruments are supported by
model laws, policy frameworks, strategies, guidance for prevention and enforcement
mechanisms.
The amount of information now available for policy makers and governments to apply
presents a challenge in itself. The UNCAC resources alone present an impressive list of
ingredients from which to create an anti-corruption strategy. But knowing what to implement
when and where depends on an accurate diagnosis of the type of corruption and the conditions
that allowed it to happen.
The challenges of both diagnosis and implementation can be met by understanding the
context in which corruption occurs, building the capacity needed to deal with it and
maintaining continuity of effort. Once implemented, anti-corruption measures are not self-
sustaining. They depend on adequate public administration capacity as well as the support and
participation of citizens.
Why is it so important for citizens to be engaged in preventing corruption? One of the
EGM/CDW conclusions helps to answer this question by recognising the overriding
importance of tailoring anti-corruption strategies to their context (as the UNPSA entries aim to
x Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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do). Citizens are one of the best sources available to policy makers for understanding the
context of corruption. They can bring knowledge of the types of corruption and corruption
risks as well as the challenges for implementing anti-corruption policy that exist in the context.
Citizens form the societal values and expectations that help or hinder anti-corruption strategies
and, importantly, they may also be perpetrators of corruption who need to be discouraged.
If their contribution is so significant, why has it not received more attention in the past? In
the last 20 years corruption has been studied, classified, measured, defined and proscribed by
policy makers and practitioners, theorists and researchers - mostly in the disciplines of
political science, law, economics and philosophy. Prevention responses have predominantly
applied law enforcement methods. But, looking only to law enforcement capacity to prevent
corruption applies a prevention model that relies on an incomplete diagnosis of corruption.
Insights from many more disciplines now contribute to our understanding of corruption.
Social psychology, organizational theory, regulatory theory, business ethics, criminology and
behavioural economics, among others, all have something to offer the corruption prevention
endeavour. These disciplines indicate roles for citizens beyond penalties and compliance.
Better understanding of the relationship between corruption and societal factors, such as
human rights, gender equality, press freedom, social trust and the effectiveness of institutions
outside the public administration, also highlight the significance of citizens in preventing
corruption in public administration.
This publication brings together conclusions of papers, presentations and discussions from
a week of events held in June 2012 in New York under the auspices of UNDESA/ DPADM.
The United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) for 2012 were presented in the same
week and the category for Preventing and Combating Corruption included several initiatives
that acknowledged the role of citizens in preventing corruption in public administration.
The Joint Expert Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop on Preventing
Corruption in Public Administration captured the perspectives of experts in public
administration and corruption prevention including elected officials, statutory officers,
academics, researchers, advisers and practitioners from every continent as well as many
international agencies (see Agenda Appendix 1). Despite the diversity of topics and
perspectives, they developed recommendations that are based on initiatives presented in the
Workshop and the UNPS Awards and referred to in more detail in this publication.
1. Enhancing the effectiveness of public sector institutional arrangements for
preventing corruption and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives.
Activities that could give effect to this recommendation would build capacity in:
1.1 Enforcing and implementing regulation particularly by improving the design
and efficiency of regulation and targeting it better to those expected to comply with it.
xi Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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An example discussed was a Ministry of Public Administration in Mexico program to
improve the efficiency of the government by drastically reforming the regulatory framework to
reduce, standardize and simplify existing rules across the public sector (see Box 14).
1.2 Targeting corruption prevention initiatives to local circumstances particularly
considering the differences between international, national, local and organisational contexts
and the nature of various public sector functions.
If we accept that risk factors for corruption can be found at “the macro-level of
globalisation and nation states, the meso-level of organizations and the micro-level of
interactions of individuals” (Huisman and Vande Walle 2010), it is important to do the
analysis and the implementation at the site of the corruption problem. Currently much of the
data being used applied to prevention policy and interventions concerns national and
international levels of activity yet many of the standard responses are for implementation at
the organisation level.
Local and municipal government for example has particular corruption risks. A large
number of submissions to the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) have targeted
local government operations. An initiative from Romania ran a participatory corruption risk
assessment process run at local government level. Other initiatives from the Netherlands
(UNDESA 2011) and Mauritius (see Box 11) addressed corruption risks at organisational
level.
1.3 Building an evidence base of what works to prevent corruption so that policy
solutions can be tailored to specific circumstances and corruption risks.
Reliable data is needed by public sector agencies to develop their own responses and
capacities to prevent corruption. The Korea Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission
(ACRC) Integrity Assessment identifies corruption risks at the level of specific government
activities or tasks rather than agencies or sectors by assessing tasks at the organisational level.
Anti-corruption authorities (ACAs) with research capacity can be the location of an evidence
base for corruption prevention by using data from complaints received or other sources.
2. Public sector human resource capacity development for preventing corruption and
engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives.
The methods considered for implementing this recommendation were:
2.1 Building the professionalism of public administrators so that they act competently
and ethically
Many public managers have no experience or training before taking management
positions. The Hong Kong ICAC Ethical Leadership Programme (ELP) for the Government
(see Box 22) provides leadership training for public sector managers. Well trained public
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sector managers are in a position to communicate outside their public sector agency to the
citizens it serves about the professional ethics that apply to public officials particularly in
situations where they are pressured by societal expectations to act corruptly (Kauzya 2012).
2.2 Raising the awareness of corruption and ways to prevent corruption with
continuous occupational training for officials and by using public education campaigns about
the harm of corruption and the successes of anti-corruption efforts.
Programs such as those run by the Hong Kong ICAC Community Relations department
produce resources including for school-aged children,1 to help members of the public to
identify and act on corrupt conduct (See Box 25).
The 2012 UNPSA finalist, Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) publicity
campaign, was designed to inform citizens and public officials about corruption offences that
were poorly understood. Investigation of bribery by the MACC had previously targeted the
public officials who solicited or received bribes. This education campaign was used to inform
the public that paying a bribe is also a criminal offence and encourage reporting of bribes
paid2.
Many ACAs communicate other information about their work such as successful
outcomes of corruption investigations. Public awareness and information campaigns about
corruption or public integrity need not be the exclusive responsibility of government or anti-
corruption agencies and might be facilitated by community-based or grass roots organisations
or social media (see Box 24).
2.3 Encouraging reporting of corruption by developing best practices in
whistleblowing that protect against retribution, provide advice and allow anonymity.
The United Nations Ethics Office emphasises that best practice to promote reporting and
protecting whistleblowers includes raising awareness and encouraging speaking up about
corruption; executive sponsorship of the policy; protection from retaliation that is prompt,
robust, and comprehensive; and remedies for retaliation that are clearly defined and applied
(see Box 23).
3. Accountability through transparency: engaging citizens to prevent corruption in
the Public Sector such as through information and communication technologies.
The specific mechanisms identified for providing citizens with the resources to observe
and hold the public administration to account included:
1 www.icac.org.hk/en/community_relations_department/s/index.html accessed 8 June 2012.
2www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 8 December 2012
xiii Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Department of Economic and Social Affairs
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3.1 Making government information more easily accessible, such as about expenditure
of public funds and disclosure obligations of officials such as asset declarations, but also
routine facts about the cost of services and the proper roles of public officials.
In the Slovakian town of Martin, public concern about corruption in procurement
encouraged the city government to undertake a comprehensive transparency initiative to
ensure that all decisions described as “affecting the efficiency of the handling of public
resources and properties are done transparently” by making them all available online
(UNDESA 2011: 24).3
The same objective was behind two finalists in the 2012 UNPSA: the Georgia Civil
Service Bureau Online Asset Declaration System allows any citizen to monitor the asset
declarations of public officials; and the Saudi Ministry of social affairs database of non-profit
organisations who receive public funds.4 A contract monitoring system developed by Slovenia
Commission for the Prevention of Corruption combines information from several public
agencies to provide a comprehensive online database of information about government
business transactions5.
The Singapore Building and Construction Authority Contractors Registration System (see
Box 17) for any contractor wanting to be considered for a government construction contract,
features once-only registration and is transparent to government agencies and contractors. It is
intended to reduce opportunities for manipulation and increase public trust. The State
Procurement Agency of Georgia also won a UNPS Award for a procurement system that
executes every stage of all public procurements by all government agencies on line (see Box
18).
3.2 Building the capacity of citizens and civil society to participate effectively in all of
the roles they have with government whether reporting corruption, complying with regulation,
receiving services or as commercial partners.
Many of the UNPSA winners used information and communications technology (ICT) in
order to streamline services so that citizens find them easier to use. ICT systems are also
effective in reducing corruption risks in manual and face-to-face transactions: they operate
according to a predetermined process; they reduce the need and opportunity for discretionary
decisions; they increase the security of information, access and approvals; and they create
audit trails. Examples from the UNPSA include:
3 http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan049777.pdf accessed 9
December 2012 4www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 8 December 2012 5www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 8 December 2012
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electronic scanning of the original election result notices from voting stations to reduce the
risk of fraud and increase efficiency (South Africa Electoral Commission Result Slip Scanning
Project, UNDESA 2011);
an electronic database of migrant worker applications replacing a system of contracted
private labour hire brokers (Korea Human Resources Development Service Migrant &
Business-Friendly Recruitment System, UNDESA 2011);
a recruiting system that allows job applicants to submit applications by mobile phone
(Oman Civil Service Central, UNDESA 2011);
an electronic system for managing the application, award and monitoring of educational
scholarships (India (Andhra Pradesh) Centre for Good Governance ePASS).6
3.3 Engendering trust between government and citizens (as well as more generally in
the community) by responding to citizen complaints, delivering tangible results, and treating
citizens fairly.
To increase trust in local government tax officials in Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan
Government since 2008 has moved from closed examinations of tax appeals to an open court
system in which the taxpayer is represented by an advocate and officials must defend the
imposition of tax (UNDESA 2011). Reducing abuses and engendering trust in the court
system were some of the goals of an innovative project of the Ministry of Justice in Turkey to
use SMS technology to inform litigants of court appearances and decisions (see Box 13).
Three themes recurred throughout the discussions, presentations and papers that formed
the basis of this publication and the recommendations of the meeting.
The first is that, even in a healthily democratic context, citizen engagement is only one
possible ingredient in a “corruption prevention cocktail”. Nevertheless, it becomes one of the
essential ingredients if we consider all of the ways that citizens interact with government.
They may be using public services, consulting or lobbying, monitoring and scrutinising, being
regulated in commercial relationships such as for the procurement of goods and services by
government, or they may be reporting corruption.
Each of these types of interaction between citizens and government makes different
demands on public administration. All have the potential to be an opportunity for either
corruption or corruption prevention. For corruption prevention purposes, satisfactory
interactions between citizens and government can encourage social trust, an understanding of
public sector values, compliance with anti-corruption regulation and reporting of suspected
corrupt conduct (Langseth 2001; see Box 4).
6www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 9 December 2012.
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The second theme concerns how we know what corruption prevention measures will be
most effective in context. Citizens are one of the best sources for understanding corruption in
its context that policy makers have. They can bring knowledge about the types of corruption
and corruption risks in the local context and the challenges it poses for implementing anti-
corruption policy. Citizens form the societal values and expectations that can help or hinder
anti-corruption strategies and, importantly, they may also be perpetrators of corruption who
need to be discouraged.
Finally, there was an acknowledgment that success in corruption prevention will take time.
Corruption is notorious for its ubiquity, longevity and resilience and no country will ever be
entirely free of it. Rather than assume that the task of corruption prevention is futile, this
realisation should encourage us to produce accurately targeted strategies that incorporate long-
and medium-term objectives as well as short-term goals and, most of all, to develop the
capacity for as many players as possible to participate in that task.
Against the background of what we know about corruption and preventing corruption, this
publication points to some of the roles for citizens within the policy levers commonly used
against corruption and where the capacity of both citizens and public institutions can continue
to be developed.
… capacity and capacity building (or capacity development) are concepts
applicable at various levels: individuals; organizations integrated by individuals,
encompassing firms, civil society organizations and public sector organizations;
… institutions adopted by the people to guide their personal and collective
behaviours, … informal institutions of a societal nature, as well as formal
institutions such as laws and regulations; and whole large social systems, such
as countries.7
7 Villareal 2012:29.
1 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Chapter 1:
Current Challenges in Corruption Prevention
“……corruption has proven to be a major obstacle for countries and regions to
reach the MDGs by 2015 as pledged. The costs of corruption can be explicit,
implicit and hidden. Decision-makers must recognize these problems and find
solutions that integrate the MDG and anti-corruption agendas”8
Corruption is harmful
Every year data is published about the extent of public revenue and resources lost
to corruption. The damage to a nation’s economic development from resources wasted
on unproductive expenditure, such as bribes, and misallocated to those with influence
has long been recognised to impair trade, deter investment and increase the cost of
doing business.
Not only revenue but democratic legitimacy is also lost when public official effort
is diverted from the public interest to self-dealing and unfair allocation of public
entitlements. At the political level, unstable government and alienated citizens are all
recognised costs of corruption. The social consequences of corruption are seen in the
form of poor quality consumer products, reduced public safety and entrenched poverty
as government spending is diverted from public goods such as education and health
(Mauro 1998; Rose-Ackerman 1996).
The effects of corruption on the agencies of public administration can be
particularly pernicious. When corruption is believed to be the way the public sector, or
one of its agencies, routinely operates the damage goes beyond the loss of misdirected
resources. Public administration risks losing both its capacity to be effective and the
trust of citizens in the fair and impartial application of public resources and authority
(Thompson 1992). In the public domain it becomes difficult to guarantee compliance
with public standards or respect for the rule of law (Caiden and Dwivedi 2001;
Rothstein 2011). A particularly damaging institutional consequence for the public
administration is that competent and honest employees can be lost or deterred from
working for government at all, further reducing its capacity for integrity and
effectiveness (Quah 2007).
8 Transparency International 2010 The anti-corruption catalyst: Realizing the MDGs by 2015 TI Berlin.
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The circular relationship of these damaging phenomena to corruption adds to its
complexity. Deficits in economic development, institutional capacity or the rule of
law, have been said to “run in both directions” meaning that they could be a cause or a
consequence of corruption, or both (Lambsdorff 2005). Recently, this challenge has
been brought into sharper focus by the international commitment to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 which target these same issues -
health, education, human rights and economic development.
Achieving the MDGs is symbiotic with corruption prevention and reinforces the
importance of achieving them (UNDP 2008; OECD /DAC 2006) since the major
beneficiaries of those goals also suffer disproportionately the costs of corruption.
The waste of public resources caused by corruption affects both developed and
developing economies in their attempt to meet the MDGs. A major threat to the
achievement of the MDGs has emerged in the global financial crises of the past few
years which have reduced public spending on programmes to achieve the MDGs in
both low income countries and in donor countries. The financial position of most
donor countries has been affected by the crisis with the result that aid budgets have
been or may still be reduced. Low income countries (LICs) have not been able to
sustain spending in the areas targeted by the MDGs. Crises in food prices have been
particularly damaging (World Bank / IMF 2012) and most LICs are cutting MDG
spending, especially on education and social protection (Kyrili and Martin 2010)
together with “agricultural extension, environment protection, roads, energy [which]
have a direct linkage to the achievement of the (MDGs) and National Development
Strategies” (Kauzya 2012: 7).
BOX 1: Millennium Development Goals
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Source: UNDP
www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/povertyreduction/focus_areas/focus_mdg_st
rategies/
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International instruments and resources
In an effort to come to grips with the nature of corruption much of the early anti-
corruption activity produced research data, model laws, frameworks and strategies for
prevention ultimately producing international agreements for cooperation and
enforcement. The most prominent, in chronological order, are the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption (1996), the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention
on Corruption and Civil Law Convention on Corruption 1999, the African Union
Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption 2003, and most recently the
United Nations Convention Against Corruption entered into force in 2005.
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption represented a change in approach by introducing the potential for very
wide application, engaging locally enforceable policy levers and international
obligations, and enabling monitoring of enforcement. The United Nations Convention
Against Corruption (UNCAC) has applied the same attributes to a wider focus.
Explicitly incorporating the implementation of prevention policy and mechanisms has
encouraged wave of activity focused on the challenge of reducing or preventing the
incidence of corruption particularly in the public sector environment.
BOX 2: UNCAC Chapter II – Prevention Measures
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption includes 10 articles (an entire
chapter) devoted to prevention. They are interlinked and mutually reinforcing
measures that address both PUBLIC and PRIVATE sectors with the “key components
of enhance integrity, transparency and accountability” (Pilgrim). Signatories are
expected to implement:
Policies (Art.5)
“effective and coordinated anti-corruption policies” that “promote participation of
civil society, reflect the rule of law and proper management of public affairs, and
review legal and administrative measures”.
Law enforcement (Art.6 and Art.36)
Anti-corruption bodies to implement the policies and disseminate anti-corruption
knowledge that are independent, adequately resourced and properly trained.
Public sector (Art. 7)
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Civil servants’ recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion and retirement to be based on
merit and aptitude
Special measures for selection, training and rotation for public positions vulnerable to
corruption
Training programmes
Transparency in the funding of candidatures and political parties
Codes of conduct (Art. 8)
Public officials’ reporting of corruption
Disclosures of activities or gifts from which conflicts of interest may derive
Disciplinary measures
Public reporting (Art. 10)
Citizens’ access to information and decision-making process of public administrations
Administrative procedures to be simplified
Information on activities of public administrations to be published
Comprehensive Preventive Measures in Private Sector (Art. 12)
Enhanced accounting and auditing standards
Prohibition of off-the-book account and other acts
No tax deductibility of expenses constituting bribes
Proportionate and dissuasive civil, administrative or criminal sanctions
Promote cooperation between law enforcement and private entities
Prevent conflicts of interest
Participation of civil society (Art.13)
Ensure active participation of civil society
Enhance transparency in decision making processes
Provide public access to information
Encourage citizens to report on offences and protect the freedom to seek, receive and
publish information concerning corruption (subject to restrictions/ balancing of rights)
Source: Presentation by Julia Pilgrim “The United Nations Convention against Corruption
Chapter II: Preventive Measures” presented at Joint Expert Group Meeting and Workshop 2-
Preventing Corruption in Public Administration: Citizen Engagement for Improved
Transparency and Accountability 25 June 2012 New York.
The prevention provisions in Chapter II of the UNCAC (Articles 5 -14) also
include more preventative and proactive measures such as enhancing transparency and
public engagement, establishing standards, and reducing opportunities for corruption
in high risk activities such as the judiciary and public procurement. The UNCAC
gives the same importance to preventive measures as to control and punitive measures
(UNODC 2009:4).
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Many countries may put emphasis on control measures in such fields as legislation,
investigation and prosecution. Such an approach is only a part of effective anti-
corruption policies; it is also expensive and focuses on the failings of and the abuse of
rules, procedures and public funds. Emphasis should be given to prevention because it
not only safeguards the integrity of government and the political system and ensures
the application of rules, procedures and funds, but has wider benefits in promoting
public trust and managing the conduct of public officials.
These more proactive and preventative measures are left to states to implement
according to local conditions but technical support is provided in the UNODC
Technical Guide which acknowledges (2009:55):
consensus among policymakers and practitioners alike that in the case of
prevention and control of corruption, a comprehensive array of measures is
essential, especially in view of the multifaceted nature of the phenomenon.
States parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Conventions and the UNCAC now find
themselves in an era of implementation. Both instruments have been accompanied by
instruction manuals, handbooks, databases and training tools to measure and assess
corruption and guide technical and policy implementation. These resources deliver a
virtual supermarket of measures for policy makers to choose from in devising law
enforcement based anti-corruption strategies.9
Useful information continues to be produced by other sources. Data and technical
support for local initiatives is available from international NGOs and academic
research centres that study both corruption itself and prevention techniques that can be
used to develop skills and share best practice. Local efforts are also supported by
regional capacity building programmes and initiatives led by domestic integrity
agencies such as public service authorities, anti-corruption agencies and aid donors.
Current challenges
The amount of information now available for policy makers and governments to
apply presents a significant challenge in itself. The UNCAC resources alone present an
impressive list of ingredients from which to create an anti-corruption strategy. But
knowing what to implement when and where depends on an accurate diagnosis of the
type of corruption and the conditions that allowed it to happen.
9 Notable examples available through the UNODC TRACK portal such as the Legal Library and Stolen
Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) that support states parties to respond to bribery and corrupt
embezzlement by recovering, or cooperating in the recovery of lost state assets.
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There are continuing gaps in our knowledge about how and why corruption
happens and consequently how best to prevent it. At the same time we know that new
forms of corruption are continually emerging to adapt as conditions change. Its forms
are endless and many of them may never have been considered by theorists. The bad
apple theory of corruption maybe long gone but if we are to do more than detect and
punish individual perpetrators then an accurate diagnosis of the less apparent as well
as the obvious conditions is needed. Identifying activities and locations that are
vulnerable to corruption, the types of corruption they attract and the dynamics of that
corruption can inform decisions about the capacities needed to support prevention
efforts. This is a challenge of diagnosis that can be met with more and better evidence
which can, in turn, help to address the challenge of implementation.
Understanding corruption – how and why it happens - is the diagnostic challenge.
Understanding prevention – what works, when and where - is the implementation
challenge. Both diagnosis and implementation can be met by understanding the
context, building capacity and maintaining continuity of effort. The implementation of
anti-corruption measures will fail if they are not soundly based in an accurate
diagnosis of the corruption problem. But, these measures are not self-sustaining. They
depend on adequate public administration capacity as well as the support and
participation of citizens.
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Chapter 2:
What We Know About Corruption in Public
Administration: A Diagnostic Challenge
What is it?
Early typologies of corrupt behaviour proposed two types of corruption: grand and
petty. These are essentially illicit transactions distinguished from each other by the
amount of benefit conferred, the position of the public official involved (high or low,
political or administrative) and the degree of damage incurred by the corrupt act. As
corruption has become better understood the typologies have become more complex.
Both grand and petty corruption, for example, might also be classified as
administrative or political (UNDP 2008), incidental, systemic or systematic (Kpundeh
1998), passive or active (UNODC 2009), a way of life or a fact of life (Quah 2007),
well-organised or chaotic (Mauro 1998:13), administrative corruption or state capture
(Hellman and Kaufmann 2001). Typologies can overlap and combine so that state
capture, for example, is almost always a form of political corruption while the idea of
corruption as a way of life, rather than a fact of life, usually applies to acts that are
petty, administrative and systemic. There is no single “correct” analysis of corrupt
acts.
The word “corruption” has social, moral, political, economic dimensions with
significance in different contexts. Its kaleidoscopic character has made a workable
universal definition difficult although the definition in current international use, “the
misuse of entrusted power for private gain”10
usefully reduces corruption to its
component concepts and avoids identifying specific acts or offences. It is not restricted
to a particular context or transaction and can apply equally to conduct of either party in
a corrupt relationship, or to a perpetrator acting alone. It implicitly acknowledges that
“corruption” is an umbrella term for many types of behaviour (Gorta 1998) and cannot
be understood – or, for that matter, prevented – as a one behaviour or offence.
Traditionally typologies of corruption have been based on the concept of
corruption as an observable transaction, usually a bribe. In fact, behaviours that do not
always involve a simple exchange, such as misuse of official information and
resources, abuse of office (including nepotism, favouritism and bullying), exploiting
10
UNDP 2008; www.unpan.org/DPADM/ProductsServices/Glossary/tabid/1395/language/en-
US/Default.aspx
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conflicts of interest or personal interests, and the phenomenon labelled “quiet
corruption” (see Box 3) can all be equally harmful.
BOX 3: “Quiet” corruption
A recently documented form of corruption that is usually observed in service
delivery contexts has been called “quiet corruption” and described by the World Bank
as:
various types of malpractice of frontline providers (teachers, doctors, inspectors,
and other government representatives) that do not involve monetary exchange. These
behaviours include both potentially observable deviations, such as absenteeism, but
also hard-to-observe deviations from expected conduct, such as a lower level of effort
than expected or the deliberate bending of rules for personal advantage.
Quiet corruption is not limited to developing countries. Widespread timesheet
manipulation was discovered in parts of an Australian public railway operator and had
been for decades. Nicknamed “job and knock” it was most common in services to
maintain and repair railtrack such as welding. One employee was calculated to have
obtained more than $30,000 in a 15 month period with 89% of his timesheets
fraudulently recording one third more hours than he was actually at work. The practice
was so pervasive that it was impossible for RailCorp to accurately estimate actual
labour requirements for infrastructure maintenance and infrastructure projects. Despite
being clearly unlawful workers justified it as an “incentive” to get the work done as
quickly as possible; “that’s how we were rewarded”; or a “pat on the back” simply for
having completed the job.
There was evidence that supervisors’ tolerance of “job and knock” allowed it to
continue and encouraged new staff to adopt it. A focus on outcomes was said to be
used to justify bending rules to get things done so that as long as rail track was being
repaired or maintained, management and staff were willing to ignore proper tender
procedures and record-keeping requirements.
Non-reporting of misconduct was well-known to management and was a
behavioural norm making effective management almost impossible, because without
accurate knowledge of staff activities managers were unable to exercise control. The
workplace environment imbued staff who were inclined to report misconduct with a
sense that if they did so they would be disloyal. The effect of this behaviour is that
corruption was not reported and was covered up. Employees inclined to engage in
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corruption were probably more confident that they would not be caught as a result of
this behavioural norm.
Managerial inaction in response to fraud or non-compliance contributed to the
corruption in the Division. Staff and contractors realised there were few consequences
for misconduct or corrupt conduct. Witnesses agreed that it was generally believed that
nothing happened to you if you were caught doing something wrong.
There were no references to fraud and corruption in position descriptions for
managers in RailCorp despite their accountabilities including “identifying risks and
developing and implementing reduction strategies to minimise the impact of those
risks”. And there was no uniform performance review system for managers.
Sources: World Bank 2010 Africa Development Indicators 2010; ICAC 2008 Investigation into
bribery and fraud at RailCorp – Eighth Report December 2008 ICAC Sydney
Conceiving of corruption in ways other than a direct exchange between two individuals
allows more scope to diagnose the common dynamics of corruption that might help to guide
prevention policy. Identifying “syndromes” of corruption that operate, variously, as influence
markets, elite cartels, oligarchs and clans, or official moguls (Johnston 2005) is one example.
Theories that explain social relationships, structural and cultural contexts have all been
suggested as relevant analytical frameworks to develop our knowledge of the way corruption
happens and might be reduced (Della Porta 1999 cited in Warburton 2007). Many more
characterisations can be developed by applying a wider range of theoretical frameworks to the
analysis of the corrupt act.
Where and when does it happen?
We know that corruption is not exclusively a problem for any particular part of the world
or type of administrative system. But, we also know that it takes many forms and patterns and
that some forms of corruption occur more in some locations than others. Comparative studies
of the geographic location of corrupt activity have found relevant factors in a “region’s relative
wealth, political stability, social cohesion, cultural mores, administrative capability and degree
of modernization” (Caiden 2001: 26.). Countries are believed to be more corrupt if they
“depend on fuel exports, have intrusive business regulation and suffer from unpredictable
inflation” (Treisman 2007). The level of social, or “generalised”, trust in a location has also
been observed to have a relationship with corruption as (Rothstein 2011: 147):
Cities, regions and countries with more trusting people are likely to have better working
democratic institutions, more open economics, greater economic growth and less crime and
corruption.
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Other data indicates that some government activities appear to be more prone to corruption
than others. The most recent Global Corruption Barometer reported which government
functions they had paid bribes to in the previous 12 months (TI 2010-11):
police
registry and permit services
judiciary
utilities
medical services
education systems and
tax authorities.
Data maintained by Australian anti-corruption authorities show similar results for the
sectors or agencies of public administration most often reported for corruption in that country
(ICAC 2011a; CMC 1011; CCC 2011):
police,
health and human services,
local government (which has a significant regulatory role in these jurisdictions)
custodial or corrective services and
infrastructure agencies (including utilities)
BOX 4: Corruption and trust
Corruption is commonly characterised as a breach of the trust placed by the public in its
officials and, not surprisingly, the “distrust of public institutions” has been identified as a
consequence of corruption (World Bank Africa Development Indicators 2010: 6) and one of
the damaging consequences of corruption. But the relationship between corruption and trust is
circular and complex.
On the side of the corrupt perpetrator, particularised, or “in-group”, trust between
members of corrupt networks is necessary for maintaining networks such as organised crime
groups (Uslaner 2005; Warburton 2007). A lack of trust has also been identified as a
rationalisation, or “normative motivation”, for corrupt behaviour that comes into play when
perpetrators refuse to accept the legitimacy of an authority imposing rules or do not trust that
those rules will be properly applied (Batory: 2012). A survey of suppliers of goods and
services to government suggests that in Australia there is room for more trust in some
commercial relationships between government agencies and citizens. It found that
“approximately one-third of suppliers stated that they had not bid on one or more public sector
procurement contracts because of corruption concerns” (ICAC 2011c:7).
Corruption may also be a consequence of citizens being disinclined to trust each other. An
explanation for a lower incidence of corruption in contexts with high generalised or social trust
and a higher incidence in contexts with low social trust (Rothstein 2011: 146), proposes that
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corruption occurs when economic inequality lowers social trust (Uslaner 2005) with the result
that:
inequality > low trust>corruption>more inequality.
Without social trust individuals will not contribute to public goods such as paying tax or
abstaining from corruption instead acting solely from self-interest as a form of self-
preservation (Rothstein 2011: 148). An example was reported by Transparency International in
its National Integrity System Assessment of Greece (2011):
Overall, Greeks appear to show a deficit in terms of social capital and trust in their
interpersonal relations. Patron‐client relationships are often accompanied by indifference for
the public interest, formalistic interpretation of the law or its frequent bypass. The traditional
values that formed the foundation of post‐war Greece are in serious doubt. Greek people live
in a state of “corrupt legality” (Diamantopoulos Ath.,“Interventions”, in Transparency
International‐Greece, The State and Corruption: How are we going to cut the umbilical cord?,
2008, p. 145.), meaning that the law often condones or even fosters corrupt practices.
Corruption is endemic: not limited to any party or social class, nor to the public sector. For this
reason, the present research attempts a holistic approach to bring out the interactions between
the key institutions of the Greek society.Inside organisations such as public sector agencies
trust is an influential factor on employee behaviour.
Sources: Batory A 2012 “Why do anti-corruption laws fail in Central Eastern Europe? A
target compliance perspective” Regulation & Governance (2012) 6, 66–82; Rothstein B
2011 The Quality of Government: corruption , social trust and inequality in international
perspective University of Chicago Press Chicago and London; Transparency International
(TI) 2011 National Integrity System Assessment: Greece Executive Summary TI Berlin TI
website; Uslaner Eric M 2005 “The Bulging Pocket and the Rule of Law: Corruption
Inequality and Trust” paper for presentation at the conference The Quality of Government:
what it is, how to get it, why it matters Goteborg University, Sweden November 2005;
Warburton J 2007 The Social Nature of Corrupt Networks in the Queensland Police Force
1960-1987 PhD Thesis Department of Government and International Relations University
of Sydney March 2007; World Bank Africa Development Indicators 2010.
Who, how and why?
Just as the observable features of corruption – where and when it occurs are noticeably
variable so are the underlying reasons why it happens. Few studies of corruption claim to
identify deterministic causes and views about where to look for “causes” of corruption vary
with the analytical framework of the researcher. The act of bribing a public official might look
to an economist like rent seeking, to a prosecutor like a criminal offence and to a public
administrator like a failure of accountability. Each theory will suggest a different causal
sequence and response (deGraaf 2007: 45-6):
1. public choice theory assumes an official makes a rational choice to act corruptly
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2. bad apple theories assume an official with “bad” character necessarily acts corruptly
3. organisational culture theories propose that group culture and aspects of the workplace
encourage the official to act corruptly
4. clashing moral values approach maintains that societal or personal values and norms
permit corruption
5. ethos of public administration theories maintain that pressure on the official to perform
override integrity considerations and allow corruption
6. correlation theories propose no casual theory only correlations.
The human factors
Traditionally attempts to understand the causes of corruption focused on the individual
perpetrator. Corrupt public officials were designated “bad apples” and the only motivations
ascribed to them either “need or greed”. Bad apple theories rely on assumptions about an
individual perpetrator’s “character” and are less popular than they once were. Analyses of
perpetrators and their motivations have produced more sophisticated taxonomies. One from
the regulation literature that classifies perpetrators as amoral calculators, political citizens,
organisationally incompetent or irrational non-compliers (Black 2001: 9) while another
analysis of police corruption labelled perpetrators “grass eating” and “meat eating” (Knapp
1972).
The famous formula for corruption that combines three “ingredients” of corruption
“monopoly + discretion – accountability” (Klitgaard 1988:75) needed for an individual to act
corruptly is an economic analysis of corruption. Monopoly here refers to the “availability of
rents” such as trade restrictions, industrial policies and the presence of scarce natural resources
which allow public officials to exercise discretion and demand personal benefits (Mauro
1998). Together these ingredients describe a situation that provides an opportunity for
corruption. The ingredient missing from the formula is why an individual would exploit this
opportunity. Instead it assumes that the public official is a rational actor weighing up the
benefits to be gained from a corrupt act against the likelihood and consequences of getting
caught. The possible motivation for doing so is not apparent.
Individual motivation is more apparent in another approach that suggests that the
combination of drivers for corruption varies in each context and might include (Khan 2011: 4-
6):
a rational official
the potential for “off-budget” distribution by politicians
weak institutions
low salaries
low social acceptance of emergent rights.
The role of low salaries as an incentive for corruption has been both assumed and disputed
and low pay is clearly not the only incentive for a public official to act corruptly. The “human”
factors go well beyond the chance of financial reward (OECD 2007). A well-paid public sector
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manager will have different personal pressures than a counter clerk or a politician but may be
equally susceptible to corruption.
There are also incentives for those on the non-government or “supply” side of a corrupt
transaction that can arise from a perceived need to, either pay for benefits, such as licences or
public housing, or to pay to avoid costs such as tax or a regulatory penalty (Rose-Ackerman
1996) or to level a perceived unfair procurement process (OECD 2007). But, just as not
everyone who is lowly paid engages in corruption, not everyone who is obliged to pay tax or a
fine resorts to bribery.
An OECD study of bribery in procurement reported the range of motivations for both
bribers and bribees to engage in corrupt conduct. The list for public officials included personal
relationships with suppliers, workplace pressures or dissatisfaction and general personal
ambitions (OECD 2007: 50-51). Motivations for perpetrators of corruption of all kinds can be
classified as instrumental or normative (Batory 2012). Relevant instrumental motivations
might be the penalties or the cost to the perpetrator, detection or monitoring, and the autonomy
and information available to the potential perpetrator. Normative motivations on the other
hand might lie in social expectations or social norms arising from culture, tradition or family
ties.
Theories that characterise potential perpetrators in the organisational context can be
particularly relevant to corruption in public administration. Some countenance the possibility
that individuals may act corruptly for reasons that go beyond “need and greed”. Employees
might act contrary to rules as a result of simple opportunistic non-compliance or principled
non-compliance. Non-compliance can even result from ignorance about rules or ignorance
about whether a rule applies to them (Warren 2006: 132). One study based on perpetrator
interviews produced nine propositions about the process of “becoming corrupt” (Graaf and
Huberts 2008):
1. Next to material gain the most important motives for officials to become corrupt are
friendship or love, status and making an impression on colleagues and friends.
2. Officials “slide down” toward corruption; most processes of becoming corrupt can be
considered a slippery slope.
3. Often corrupt officials have dominant and strong personalities, know how to “get
things done”, take or get the freedom to do thinks independently, and overstep formal
boundaries of authority.
4. More “business type” public officials bring the risk of more corruption.
5. In most corruption cases, supervision of the corrupt official is not strong.
6. In most corruption cases, management has not promoted a clear integrity policy.
7. Because of loyalty and solidarity, colleagues are hesitant to report suspicions of
another’s corrupt activities.
8. The relationship between briber and the official is most often enduring.
9. Corrupt officials including those who operate outside so-called corrupt networks, do
not limit their corruption to one incident.
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The organisational context
It is clear that people who engage in corruption do not act in a vacuum. The contexts in
which they operate carry varying opportunities and potential incentives for corrupt conduct.
The context of almost all public sector corruption is an organisation of some kind – usually a
public authority or agency.
Inside each public agency, the nature of the work they do, the way they are structured, the
processes they use and the way they reward their staff can all contribute to the risk of
corruption. Cultures exert a powerful influence on behaviour and exist in communities of all
kinds and large public institutions commonly display subcultures and countercultures in their
various subdivisions and outposts. An agency’s policies, procedures and operating norms and
the quality of management can all affect employee behaviour by contributing to the ethical
climate (Victor & Cullen 1988) or culture (Thorne & Jones 2006) of an organisation.
Operating norms and practices can be systemic like “workarounds” that depart from
proper process and leave an agency exposed to corruption by creating an opportunity for a
motivated individual. Some norms and practices become the kind of “under the radar
behaviour” such as withholding effort or shirking that might constitute quiet corruption (see
BOX 3), or invisible risks in the workplace. In the language of fraud detection they can be ‘red
flags’ that indicate a larger problem if enough information is available to identify them. They
effectively become informal governance mechanisms that influence employee compliance in
the organisation in a generalised way rather than through a specific manager-employee
relationship.
The conduct of managers and supervisors, however, is particularly influential on
employees (Trevino and Brown 2005) and at least two types of managerial behaviour are
significant. The first is the way managers and supervisors respond to specifically ethical
issues. Apart from “individual ethics, personal ambition and poor supervision” relevant
behaviour includes tolerating or rewarding unethical behaviour, failing to consistently take
action about corruption and emphasising the “bottom line” of the organisation over other
values (ICAC 1999). But, failures of general management capacity – described elsewhere as
“organisational incompetence” (Ott and Shafritz 1994) – evident in the failure to supervise,
monitor performance or implementation, or to plan strategically are deficits in institutional
capacity which, in public administration, have been linked to failures to control corruption
(Khan 2012; Villareal 2012).
The wider public sector context
Political, economic, and societal factors that originate outside public sector organisations
can affect the organisational context and, in turn, the decisions of an individual perpetrator.
Policy changes in the public sector environment that result in organisational restructure and
the introduction of new functions can increase administrative uncertainty while increased
competition and commercialisation of an agency could lead to more opportunities to obtain
personal benefits.
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In many situations the agencies of public administration are at the front line of corruption
activity so that their capacity to prevent or resist corruption is critical to the success of any
prevention strategy. Historically the institutional culture of public administration has been a
form of protection against corruption (Theobald 1997) and prevention efforts within the
control of the public administration are often directed at supporting the professional integrity
of public officials (UNODC 2009).
A structural effect of the public sector reforms of the 1980s that introduced competition
and “market-type mechanisms” into the public sector (OECD 1995) has been to disaggregate
public administration from the traditional public service corps into smaller offices, agencies,
authorities and business units. The external “boundaries” of the institutions of public
administration have reduced or shifted with privatisation, outsourcing and the introduction of
competitive business practices. One consequence has been to increase the need for public
procurement which OECD has noted (OECD 2009: 9):
Of all government activities, public procurement is also one of the most
vulnerable to fraud and corruption … Bribery in government procurement is
estimated to be adding 10-20% to total contract costs.
Public procurement has been the single most represented public function in United
Nations Public Service Awards for Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public
Service in 2011 and 2012.
Ensuring the accountability of public services delivered by semi-privatised entities,
outsourced providers services and contracted staff can be difficult or expensive. Contracts
have been increasingly used as accountability mechanisms introducing a new set of risks from
contractor opportunism, poor legal drafting, reduced public accountability, high enforcement
costs, captured officials, and dissonant values in the performance of the contracted service.
The growth of contractualisation in public administration has also challenged the
traditional model of professional public administration. Staff employed from the private sector
on short term contract may not have the benefit of training or experience of the professional
ethics of public administration. Contractors are increasingly needed for technical expertise that
is not available inside the public agency can constitute a corruption risk if not supervised
adequately or recruited with due diligence (ICAC 2008a).
The answer may not be as simple as returning to the traditional Weberian bureaucracy
characterised by hierarchical structures, guaranteed lifelong careers, formalized recruitments
and strong legal protection for civil servants. In fact these measures can create a more isolated
or closed public administration away from political interference that creates an incentive for
politicians to create “para-administrative structures” away from constraints on power
concentrated in elected officials. It is argued that just as opening the policy process to citizens
for scrutiny of operations can reduce corruption opportunities, opening the administrative
design beyond a public service “corps” can also reduce opportunities by diversifying the
sources of power (Dahlstrom and Lapuente 2012).
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Ultimately no form of public administration can be assumed to be free of corruption.
Staying alert to corruption risks will be necessary in any administrative structure.
Rigorous recruitment processes that include background checking are now essential
corruption controls. The nature of management structures now means that managers
themselves are expected to constantly reiterate and demonstrate expected standards of conduct
in the absence of more centralised controls (OECD 2004; Waldersee 2012).
National and international contexts
For many years the analysis of corruption has been pitched at the international level. The
Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index has been used extensively since 1995
as the basis for indicators of the extent and likelihood of corruption in a given location. Since
1996 the World Bank Institute Worldwide Governance Indicators Research Project has added
to the body of information about enabling environments that might inform corruption
prevention policy. Aggregated data in relation to more than 200 countries, based on over 350
variables, from sources worldwide have produced six dimensions of “institutional quality or
governance” that can be used to measure the political, economic, and institutional aspects of
governance, one of which is corruption control (Kaufmann 2005: 82-3).
More recently the OECD has developed a diagnostic tool to help identify the
“international drivers of corruption” described as the “global or regional factors that influence
the domestic political economy” that nations are exposed to. It is said to be intended for use
“across a broad range of subject areas – including international relations, trade, investment, tax
co-operation and security” using a political economy model (OECD 2012: 18):
processes that cause corruption and governance weaknesses at the country level.
It then seeks to examine how international drivers interact with these processes
and attempts to explain likely outcomes. The aim of the analysis is to generate
relevant and practical recommendations for action. … The analytical tool
follows a four-step analysis of:
Step 1: Understanding the domestic political economy
Step 2: Identifying the international drivers
Step 3: Tracking the effects of the international drivers
Step 4: Drawing conclusions and assessing the scope for action.
The analysis from many sources acknowledges that “drivers” of corruption in fact occur at
three levels: the individual, the organisation and the enabling environment (OECD/DAC
2006). Part of that environment are a nation’s social and community characteristics that can
encourage corruption or impede anti-corruption reforms seen as complex and foreign to local
traditions and values (Kauzya 2012; ADB 2004).
Personal values based on history and tradition that are unique to the locality or people
constitute informal rules and norms that can be helpful or fatal to anti-corruption efforts
(Ocampo 2000). In many countries an individual’s social obligations to support family
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members or comply with historical tradition may well outweigh recently imposed public
service rules to treat strangers fairly (Boona 2012).
Once identified in a particular context, risk factors can be thought of as providing
individuals with incentives or opportunities – or “triggers” – for corruption in the context in
which they live and work – whether organisational, political, economic or social (de Graaf
2007:72):
Whether an official becomes corrupt depends on his or her disposition to become
corrupt. … Since these dispositions do not always lead to corruption, they cannot
be called causes in the strictest sense of the word. What is important is the
receptiveness of an individual to corruption, and whether that receptiveness is
triggered. … Dispositions can be so strongly determined by the social context
that it is hard to escape the behaviour of that context. When consistently
reinforced in certain ideas and acts, it is difficult for an agent to step outside that
culture.
BOX 5: Corruption risk factors
Factors which enable/optimise
occurrence of corruption:
Factors which aid in the perpetuation
of corruption:
Nature of the work performed:
Discretion exercised by position
Position in organisation
Service associated with delays
Working conditions
The role of salary and its relationship to need
Lack of benefits for remaining with employer
Employee dissatisfaction
Work pressures
Individual histories and dependencies
Ethical decision making history
Dependence on employer
Dependence on alcohol, drugs and gambling
Organisational culture:
Unclear messages about what is acceptable;
Attitudes of colleagues;
Example set by management;
Lack of reinforcement of ethical behaviour;
Other workplace practices.
Failure to identify the behaviour as
wrong
Factors which affect taking action
about corruption
Individual beliefs
Features of the wrongdoing
Organisational culture:
Unclear messages about what is
acceptable;
Attitudes of colleagues;
Example set by management;
Lack of reinforcement of ethical
behaviour;
Other workplace practices.
Source: Summarised from Gorta A 1998 Minimising Corruption Some Lessons from the
Literature ICAC
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Chapter 3:
What We Know About Preventing Corruption: An
Implementation Challenge
“the best prevention strategies are not the ones which propose the most
interventions; rather they are the ones that are best tailored to solve the problem
at hand”11
Analysing conduct and context
If the reasons for corruption go beyond need and greed then prevention must involve more
than crime and punishment. Just as the various forms of conduct that are called corruption can
be analysed and understood in their context so can the activities that will be effective
“prevention”.
Corruption has been linked with other “harms, threats or risks” such as “violence and
crime, pollution, fraud, occupational hazards, transportation hazards, many forms of
discrimination, product safety risks and so on” (Sparrow 2008:1) in the sense that techniques
to control these phenomena tend to have features in common. Regardless of the harm being
targeted, many of the same policy levers can be employed to address these problems (PIC
2011; see Box 6).
Using what we know about the “dynamics and dependencies” (Sparrow 2008: 27) and the
“enabling environment” (OECD /DAC 2006) of corruption is the first step to preventing it.
Analysis of how and why corruption occurs generally produces a mixture of situations,
attitudes and processes that might be better understood as enabling factors, indicators or
conditions that allow or facilitate corruption. None of these factors in isolation can be said to
cause a corrupt act to occur. Neither are they causes in the sense that corruption will
necessarily occur if they are present in a given location. They are more like risk factors for
diseases, or accidents, that combine – or align – in a given time and place to create an
environment that is conducive to an individual perpetrating a corrupt act. For prevention
purposes they indicate “areas or opportunities to intervene to prevent” something that might
happen in future (PIC 2011: 6).
11
Gorta 2008: 5
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BOX 6: Preventing Corruption: Lessons from Occupational Health and Safety
Identifying ‘integrity hazards’ and their associated corruptions and determining how best
to manage them are significant and practical steps that agencies can take to prevent corruption
or serious misconduct (before it happens). Organisations use Occupational Health and Safety
(OHS) strategies to minimise workplace injuries by identifying work-related safety hazards,
assessing the risk of injury arising from the hazards, determining strategies to treat the risk and
communicating these hazards and treatment strategies. A similar hazard identification,
treatment and communication process can be used to minimise corruption.
1. Identify integrity hazards as opportunities to intervene to minimise future corrupt conduct.
2. Take a systematic approach to identifying and managing integrity hazards and risks.
3. Look beyond the individual employees and link integrity hazards to the work undertaken
or to the work environment.
4. Examine near misses as a strategy to identify and understand integrity hazards and risks.
5. Consult workers to identify integrity hazards and risks
6. Communicate the hazards and associated risks to enable employees to recognise and
manage the hazards they face.
7. Tailor information and training to specific types of work.
8. Use indication training as one means to equip employees to recognise and manage the
integrity hazards and risks specific to their work.
9. Incorporate a focus on protecting the employee.
10. Learn from experience to improve strategies to minimise corruption risks.
Source: Summarised from NSW Police Integrity Commission 2011 Research and Issues
Papers Number 8 June 2011 Sydney; Prevention Prompts Number 2 July 2011 PIC Sydney.
Understanding the context or environment is just as necessary for successful prevention
because not all corruption prevention measures will be successful in all situations, rather “For
programs to work, they must identify the type of corruption they are targeting and tackle the
underlying, country-specific causes, or “drivers,” of dysfunctional governance.” (Shah 2007:
230).
The “diagnosis” of corruption in Singapore for example (see Box7) led to a particular set
of prevention measures chosen to respond to the identified drivers. Their success has also been
attributed to a number of conducive local conditions shared with some other contexts: “small
populations; stable government; high standards of living; efficient civil service systems; and
well-developed infrastructure” (Quah 2004: 4).
Using the popular anti-corruption measure of citizen engagement in governance to
increase transparency and the accountability of the public administration has been described as
likely to be effective against some types of corruption, less effective with others and ineffective
against another (Khan 2012).
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BOX 7: The Singapore diagnosis
Singapore which is often cited as a corruption prevention success story provides an
instructive example. In Quah’s analysis (2007:17) corruption was understood to be facilitated
by a combination of low salaries, inefficient administrative systems and inadequate
enforcement.
Efforts to address these factors were the basis for the development of an anti-corruption
strategy comprising:
an independent, well-resourced anti-corruption agency
a dynamic, monitored strategy
civil service salaries competitive with private sector
reduced red tape.
In addition to diagnosing the underlying contributory factors, the context also provided
conditions that facilitated the success of the strategy. An analysis of these reforms has
concluded that their success benefited from a context that featured “small populations; stable
government; high standards of living; efficient civil service systems; and well-developed
infrastructure” (Quah 2004: 4).
Source: Summarised from Quah Jon ST 2007 “Combating Corruption Singapore Style:
Lessons for other Asian Countries” Maryland Series in Contemporary Studies No 2 –
2007(189).
Each theoretical framework used to diagnose corruption in context employs different
diagnostic tool and is likely to recommend a different kind of response (Larmour 2006). Some
responses are reactive, such as investigations and penalties while others are preventative, such
as education, organisational controls and work processes (Huberts 1998):
Theoretical
basis
Prevention response
economic emphasises the need for the economic stimuli for corruption to be
reduced and suggests that such might be achieved by, inter alia, paying
higher civil service salaries
educational aims at altering the attitudes and values of the populace and civil
servants alike via training and education campaigns and engagement of
the media
cultural ensuring that the behaviour and attitudes of those in power are subject
to stringent codes of conduct and their behaviour filters down to civil
servants
organisational strengthening internal control systems such as auditing to detect corrupt
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or bureaucratic activity, and staff rotation to reduce the propensity for individuals to
establish themselves in entrenched corruption
political increasing in transparency in terms, for example, of the monitoring of
party finances and more broadly, a clearer and more definite separation
of powers in terms of the judiciary and the state
judicial or
repressive
measures
advocates harsher penalties for corrupt practices but also the creation of
independent anti-corruption agencies
Integrity systems
Anti-corruption strategies that aim to affect both incentives and opportunities for
corruption integrate a set of mechanisms intended to reinforce desired behaviour (eg,
education, leadership, culture, decision processes) and deter or detect impropriety (eg, law
enforcement, auditing, sanctions) referred to respectively as “values-based” and “rules-based”
– or “integrity-based” and “compliance-based”- methods (Paine 1994; Menzel 2005). The
regulatory compliance literature distinguishes between “deterrence and compliance” or
“punish and persuade” methods (Braithwaite 1985). The labels used are not as important as the
recognition that many types of mechanisms are needed to address the many types and causes
of corruption.
Because the components of a prevention system or strategy work in different ways they
can be selected and applied to different parts of the causal chain of corruption. The integrity
system concept is one that presents a list of reactive, preventative and proactive measures and
mechanisms to be applied in ways that meet the needs of the specific circumstances.
In the 1990s Transparency International developed a model National Integrity System
(NIS) comprising a set of institutions and multiple stakeholders that together support the
integrity of a nation using both enforcement and enabling methods (TI 2011a).
Figure 1: National Integrity System, Transparency International
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The OECD’s “ethics infrastructure” similarly proposed that standard public administration
institutions and activities can be coordinated to promote and maintain integrity at the public
sector level by setting standards, encouraging compliance and enforcing sanctions for breach
(OECD/PUMA 1996).
BOX 8: An Ethics Infrastructure
A well-functioning Ethics Infrastructure supports a public sector environment which
encourages high standards of behaviour. Each function and element is a separate, important
building block, but the individual elements should be complementary and mutually
reinforcing. The elements need to interact to achieve the necessary synergy to become a
coherent and integrated infrastructure. The elements of infrastructure can be categorised
according to the main functions they serve – guidance, management and control – noting that
different elements may serve more than one function.
Guidance is provided by strong commitment from political leadership; statements of
values such as codes of conduct; and professional socialisation activities such as education and
training.
Management can be realised through co-ordination by a special body or an existing central
management agency, and through public service conditions, management policies and
practices.
Control is assured primarily through a legal framework enabling independent investigation
and prosecution; effective accountability and control mechanisms; transparency, public
involvement and scrutiny.
The ideal mix and degree of these functions will depend on the cultural and political-
administrative milieu of each country.
Source: OECD 2000 Trust in Government Ethics Measures in OECD Countries OECD Paris
p 23; OECD 1996 Ethics in the Public Service: Current Issues and Practice OECD Paris.
Organisational integrity systems (Paine 1994) operate on the same principle but using
components that exist – or should exist – in all public sector organisations similar to models
of organisational fraud prevention systems such as (CMC 2005: 3-4):
1. Agency-wide integrated [fraud and corruption] policy
2. Risk assessment
3. Internal controls
4. Internal reporting
5. External reporting
6. Public interest disclosures
7. Investigations
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8. Code of conduct
9. Staff education and awareness
10. Client and community awareness.
Implementing anti-corruption strategies
An obvious danger of an integrity system approach, or indeed any kind of model, is that
they can easily become a shopping list of ingredients that policymakers will apply without
discrimination so that “… good ideas are pulled ‘out of the box’ and expected to work.
Whether they will work at all and how they might interact with each other are very
complicated questions” (Spector et al. 2005:228).
Decisions about what precise action can and should be taken in a particular context are
ideally based on evidence of corruption, knowledge of the context and the prevention goal to
be achieved. The UNCAC Technical Guide (p 3-4) advises addressing this implementation
challenge with a preparatory assessment of the degree of corruption vulnerability or risk in the
relevant context (UNODC 2009:3-4):
that identifies the trends, causes, types, pervasiveness and seriousness or impact
of corruption. This will help develop a better knowledge of the activities and
sectors exposed to corruption, and the basis for the development of a preventive
strategy, buttressed with relevant policies and practices for better prevention and
detection of corruption.
The OECD tool for analysing “international drivers of corruption” (OECD 2012; see
BOX) is a technique with the potential to refine prevention interventions by delivering a better
understanding of the context. It is designed for use at a national rather than organisational or
sector level, its audience or users are external to the unit of analysis (i.e. advisers, funders etc)
and the range of factors or drivers are limited, expressly, to those that can be identified by
using political economy analysis – specifically “elite strategies” (OECD 2012: 83-84).
Enterprise risk assessment and management is mandatory in many public and private
sector organisations and, as a prevention technique, imposes a small administrative burden.
The international risk management standard:
sets out principles, a framework and a process for the management of risk that
are applicable to any type of organization in the public or private sector. It does
not mandate a “one size fits all” approach, but rather emphasises the fact that
the management of risk must be tailored to the specific needs and structure of the
particular organisation.12
Although not intended specifically for corruption risks, it describes a generic five-step risk
management process that begins with understanding the context:
12
ISO 31000:2009 www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_and_leadership_standards/risk_management.htm
accessed 25 May 2012.
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establish the context;
identify risks (what can happen, when, where, how and why);
analyse risks (to determine the level of risk);
evaluate risks; and
treat risks.
A risk based approach is sufficiently simple to apply at most sites of corrupt activity
(national, regional, sectoral or organisational). It has the advantage of being open-textured so
that all sources of information about relevant risks and all methods of treating risks can be
incorporated.
Many techniques for understanding the relevant organisational, sectoral or national context
can be incorporated into a risk analysis regardless of the particular process used. In a move
away from perception-based data the UNODC Programme on Assessing Corruption Through
Evidence-based methods “adopts an evidence-based approach to quantify the extent and
describe the patterns of corruption at country level”13
.
Standard research methods such as surveys, literature reviews, case studies and analysis of
allegations and comparative methodology (UNODC 2009: 16-17; Gorta 2008) can be used to
expose the potential for corruption in a context, while ex post methods such as financial and
performance audits can enable learning from specific corrupt events using (Kaufmann, Kraay
and Mastruzzi 2007:5):
a wide variety of different indicators, both subjective and objective, individual as
well as aggregate, cross-country as well as country-specific, in order to monitor
results on the ground, assess the concrete reality of corruption, and develop
anticorruption programs.
A close examination of a particular context may even reveal that, in some circumstances,
the best prevention strategy is in fact not about corruption at all; anti-corruption campaigns,
anti-corruption commissions, ethics agencies, laws, decrees, codes of conduct and strategies
that concentrate on prosecution may not actually address the corruption incentives that exist in
a particular context and as a result not be genuinely preventative (Kaufmann 2005; see Box 9).
In some locations, for example, rather than establishing a specialised enforcement agency, a
better anti-corruption outcome might be achieved by less direct policy action that has no
immediate or apparent connection to the corrupt conduct being observed. More and better
schools (Rothstein 2011:163) or a fairer legal system (Uslaner 2005) or uniform public finance
standards (UNCAC Article 9) could be more effective.
BOX 9: Myth #6: Fight corruption by fighting corruption
A fallacy promoted by some in the field of anti-corruption, and at times also by the
international community, is that the best way to fight corruption is by fighting corruption—
13
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption.html accessed 6 December 2012
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that is, by means of yet another anti-corruption campaign, the creation of more anti-corruption
commissions and ethics agencies, and the incessant drafting of new laws, decrees, and codes
of conduct. Moreover, in some settings, the disproportionate emphasis on prosecutions—
typically of a few corporations or individuals, and often of the political opposition—at the
expense of a focus on prevention and incentives for integrity, has reduced the effectiveness of
anticorruption efforts. An instinctive tendency to over-regulate, which may take place in the
throes of a corruption scandal, is not infrequent, and can also be counterproductive. Excessive
regulations not only do not address the more fundamental causes of corruption, but often
create further opportunities for bribery. Overall, these anti-corruption initiatives-by-fiat appear
to have little impact, and often serve as politically expedient ways to react to the pressure to
“do something” about corruption. Often, this results in neglect of more fundamental and
systemic governance reforms.
Source: Daniel Kaufman “Myths and Realities of Governance and Corruption”, Chapter 2 in
Global Competitiveness Report 2005-06, World Economic Forum, October 2005 p 88.
This analysis suggests that matching the level of analysis to the level of application is
critical. Currently much of the data being used applied to prevention policy and interventions
concerns national and international levels of activity yet many of the standard responses are
for implementation at the organisation level.
If we accept that risk factors for corruption can be found at “the macro-level of
globalisation and nation states, the meso-level of organizations and the micro-level of
interactions of individuals” (Huisman and Vande Walle 2010), it is important to do the
analysis and the implementation at the site of the corruption problem.
For example a diagnosis of corruption that points to a corrupt syndrome involving elites is
not likely to be susceptible to a code of conduct for front line public officials or penalties for
failing to report corruption. Similarly, establishing an investigation agency at a national level
might be wasteful and counter-productive if the corruption problem is only serious in one
region or sector such as police or infrastructure and prevention initiatives can be directed at
specific administrative functions such as procurement.
Some recent initiatives have implicitly acknowledged the effect of context by examining
and responding to corruption in specific sectors or locations such as the OECD anti-bribery
typologies (OECD 2007; 2009; 2012) and the UNDP sector governance analysis of water,
health and education services (UNDP 2011a; UNDP 2011b; UNDP 2011c).
BOX 10: Mexico Ministry of Civil Service New Model of control and audit of
public works
This initiative relates to the creation of a new unit for control and auditing of public works
processes in Mexico. Since 2009, there has been a series of new policy initiatives from this
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unit including training, the hosting of international forums on the auditing of public works,
and the development of strategies for specific sectors, such as the health sector.
The unit focuses on prevention of corrupt acts and control of public works, analysing all stages
of the work process: from planning to completion. Risk analyses, internal assessments, and
monitoring tools were adopted to prevent errors and to detect possible corruption in time, as
well as ensuring that the work was completed in time, within the budget and with the desired
quality.
The initiative’s approach and goal was to create a cleaner, more transparent and accountable
government, with citizens partaking and trusting the public institutions. With the help of the
monitoring of public work processes, including visits, direct audits and quality control to
ensure that the processes meet the required standards, the quality of the processes has greatly
improved.
Source: UNPAN UNPSA 2012 Programme Handbook p 65, Regional 1st Prize winner 2012
Local and municipal government for example has particular corruption risks. The concept
has been adapted at subnational levels for example in a local integrity system model (LIS) that
can be used to compare integrity systems at the municipal or city level around the world
(Huberts, Anechiarico and Six 2008). A large number of submissions to the United Nations
Public Service Awards (UNPSA) anti-corruption category have also targeted local government
operations. An initiative from Romania that won an award in the 2011 UNPS Awards was a
participatory corruption risk assessment process run at local government level. It identified six
activities particularly vulnerable to corruption (issuing of building permits; control of
construction works, public asset management, public procurement, property registration and
human resources management) and devised specific treatment and prevention plans (UNDESA
2011).
Several initiatives awarded in the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA)
provide the kind of data needed by public sector agencies to develop their own responses and
capacity to prevent corruption. In 2012 one of the award winning entries was the Korea Anti-
corruption and Civil rights Commission (ACRC) Integrity Assessment. It identifies corruption
risks at the level of specific government activities or tasks rather than agencies or sectors by
assessing tasks at the organisational level. This gives public sector managers information
about their specific corruption problems that they can use to target their anti-corruption effort
efficiently. It was a conscious attempt to “shift the policy paradigm from punishment toward
prevention in order to address corruption in a more fundamental way and minimise the cost of
corruption” (see Box 10).
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BOX 11: The Integrity Assessment Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights
Commission (ACRC)
During the late 1990s and early 2000s the Korean government made strenuous efforts to
reduce corruption. In response to a perception that a reactive and passive anti-corruption
system focusing on detection and punishment could not solve the problem the Korea Anti-
Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) developed the Integrity Assessment.
The Assessment was intended to help to shift the policy focus away from punishment to
prevention and to encourage public sector agencies to voluntarily take action to reduce
corruption. It gives public sector agencies information about the level of corruption in the
tasks they perform so that they can focus their corruption prevention efforts more efficiently.
Unlike other tools to diagnose corruption it provides information about the level of corruption
on evidence and experience rather than on perceptions of corruption. It also differs from
previous methods that examine corruption in broad areas of government activity such as
national defence, education, and taxation, by using the task as the unit of analysis.
The Assessment is based on the results of a survey of the users (internal and external) of
more than 2,700 tasks of about 700 public organizations, including central administrative
organizations, local governments and public-related organizations. The number of respondents
has increased to over 250,000 which is the largest number of respondents for any survey
conducted by a government organisation.
Respondents are asked about their perception of corruption, their experience of corruption,
the transparency of process and the accountability of public officials. The scores calculated
from these results are disclosed to the public through the media showing the “integrity level”
of each public organisation.
Since the Integrity Assessment was introduced in 2002, the “overall integrity index” of the
Korean public sector has increased consistently and the level of corruption experienced by
citizens dealing with public service is declining. This information has been used as a reference
by lawmakers, media, and academics.
Many public sector agencies conduct the survey more frequently than the annual national
Assessment to enable more specific corruption risk management. The methodology can be
readily adapted and has attracted interest from several other countries in the region.
Source: Edited from Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) submission
to United Nations Public Service Awards 2012 (Regional 1st Prize Winner)
The same objective prompted three other initiatives entered in the 2012 UNPS Awards.
The 2012 award-winning project of the Mauritius ICAC to institutionalise strategic corruption
prevention also proposes a more genuinely preventative, rather than reactive, anti-corruption
approach but at the level of public sector agencies (see Box 11). Its distinctive features were to
identify and deal with specific agency level corruption risks and use the agency’s own
leadership and staff to implement the strategy with the ICAC as an available resource.
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BOX 12: Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework Independent Commission
Against Corruption, Mauritius
The Mauritius ICAC has a threefold role to investigate complaints of corruption, educate
the public about the dangers of corruption and oversee integrity systems in public sector
agencies. As part of this mandate the ICAC developed Corruption Prevention Reviews (CPRs)
to identify the corruption risks in specific government agencies and develop appropriate anti-
corruption measures to address them. These reviews have been in high demand by public
agencies but the ICAC found that they consume a lot of ICAC staff time and encourage public
sector agencies to rely on the ICAC for ongoing anti-corruption efforts.
As a solution the ICAC developed the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework
(PSACF) to be a self-administered, proactive tool for detecting and preventing corrupt
practices in organisations which also builds the capacity of public agencies to develop,
implement and sustain their own anti-corruption initiatives.
For the United Nations Public Service Award, the ICAC demonstrated the PSACF using
the example of two public sector organisations which regularly experience allegations of
corruption against their staff. The Civil Status Division (CSD) is responsible for registration of
birth, death, marriage and civil status certificates and was found through a CPR to have high
levels of staff autonomy and demands from the public for prompt certificate delivery and the
celebration of marriages (especially of minors under 16 years, which is illegal in Mauritius).
These factors provided opportunities for bribery, abuse of office, and favouritism in posting
officers to offices where registration of marriage between foreigners is high.
The CPR of the Mauritius Police Force (MPF), whose responsibilities include the
enforcement of road traffic offences, identified high levels of discretion of officers in the
exercise of their functions and the lack of a comprehensive database on contraventions as
factors allowing bribery in issuing and processing contraventions, tampering with data and the
protection of offenders from punishment for road traffic offences.
Both the CSD and MPF followed the main elements of the PSACF by:
having their management teams sign Anti-Corruption Commitments to demonstrate
their commitment to implement the framework,
designating a person at management level to head the project
setting up an implementation committee to formulate their own anti-corruption policy
which were disseminated to staff, management and stakeholders to ensure effective
implementation.
The next step is a corruption risk management (CRM) exercise by the implementation
committee to identify and analyse risks of corruption and develop methods to minimise and
manage the risks. Preventative strategies will be implemented and monitored by the
Implementation Committee, reviewed against performance indicators to measure the
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effectiveness of strategies and progress reported to management and the ICAC. The ICAC also
provides:
corruption prevention tools such as model policies, templates and guidelines
an ex officio member of the implementation committee to advise A representative of
the ICAC was also assigned to join the implementation committee to provide assistance and
guidance.
education sessions and programmes for expertise and technical knowledge (Capacity
Building Programme), and awareness of corruption offences and ethical obligations (Integrity
Building Programme).
As a result of the PSACF process both the MPF and CSD have permanent internal
structures to deal with corruption prevention and ethical issues and anti-corruption plans which
are publicly available on the agencies’ websites. The number of complaints of corruption in
the CSD has declined and the staff of the MPF are now reporting members of the public who
offer benefits. The MPF has applied the PSACF to the whole police force and 10 more public
sector bodies have begun to apply it.
Source: Edited from Mauritius Independent Commission Against Corruption submission to
United Nations Public Service Awards 2012 (Regional 1st Prize Winner)
The capacity needed in public administration to prevent corruption is generally thought of
in terms of specialized anti-corruption policies or agencies such as law enforcement skills and
effectiveness. In fact, because investigation and enforcement methods are essentially reactive
measures they have a limited preventative role. If corruption is understood to occur as the
result of a wide range of factors and enablers, public administration capacity can, and should,
be developed to address all of them. In addition to legal and regulatory frameworks, three
other areas can be prioritised to prevent corruption: the effectiveness of public institutions,
human resources management and the engagement of citizens.
These are the principal policy levers used in public administration against a range of
societal harms including corruption. Like responses to other harms, effective prevention will
start from an accurate understanding of the conduct and the context in which it happens. This
calls for capacity in research and data collection about what works in which circumstances
(deGraaf 2007), continuous learning and an open mind to other communities of practice
(Sparrow 2008) and, given the dynamic and complex character of the corruption problem,
some patience, because (Khan 2012:7):
The incremental steps that a society needs to take to address corruption depend
very much on identifying what can be feasibly achieved in that context and then
focusing public energies on making what is feasible happen. The result may not
be a measurable reduction of aggregate corruption and it is therefore very
important not to define a reduction in aggregate corruption indicators as an
immediate target. This is important in order to avoid demoralization and public
exhaustion with anticorruption agendas.
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Chapter 4:
Preventing Corruption: Turning What We Know Into
What We Do
If there is one lesson to be learnt from the history of anti-corruption activity, it is
that there are no individual solutions but a cocktail of measures, no silver bullets
but a mixture of successes and failures and no quick fixes but a long hard
learning process.14
The limits of regulation and law enforcement
Regulation and accompanying law enforcement is often the first response to any
undesirable phenomenon and laws proscribing bribery and misconduct in public office
have existed for centuries in many countries. In 2001 the World Bank reported that
because “enacting an anti-corruption law is a speedy, inexpensive way to start
addressing” corruption proscriptive anti-corruption laws had “proliferated throughout
the developed world” (Messick 2001: 1).
In anti-corruption terms a state’s legal systems play a unique role in raising
awareness by authoritatively articulating undesirable conduct, and in their potential to
deter corrupt conduct by prosecuting and imposing penalties. The behaviours
traditionally targeted by corruption offences have been bribery and actions that
equated to improper public official behaviour misconduct in public office or breach of
public trust. The range of specific types of corrupt behaviours commonly regulated
now includes those required by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption
(UNCAC) to be criminalized: bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, abuse of
office, illicit enrichment, and money laundering (UNODC 2004a).
Formal proscription of these behaviours is not always straightforward and policy
makers are faced with choices. Breaches of electoral law, lobbying regulation, post-
separation employment and mandatory disclosure rules can constitute either criminal
or administrative offences while less serious impropriety might also be dealt with in
administrative legal instruments such as civil service laws or codes that govern the
employment of public officials. UNCAC Article 8 requires codes articulating
standards of conduct.
14
deSousa 2009:12
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Proscribing conduct does not guarantee it will be prevented. Criminal, civil and
administrative instruments used to prevent corruption all face similar kinds of
challenges such as chronic non-compliance, a tendency to use laws and rules as a
quick fix, and the risk of overregulation and inefficiency. Understanding these
challenges can highlight opportunities for building the capacity of regulatory
frameworks.
Non-compliance with anti-corruption and other regulation can happen for several
reasons. It may be that a country “has all the requisite laws and institutions in place.
The challenge comes in enforcement of the laws” (Boona 2012).
Understanding the reasons for a lack of enforcement might lead to repealing or
amending failed laws so that chronic non-compliance or non-enforcement does not
undermine the credibility of the legal system. The perceived legitimacy of the
authority imposing rules, the fairness and reasonableness of those rules and trust that
they will be properly applied can all be relevant to citizens failing to comply with
regulation (Batory 2012).
Reducing abuses and engendering trust in the court system were some of the goals
of an innovative project of the Ministry of Justice in Turkey to use SMS technology to
inform litigants of court appearances and decisions.
BOX 13: SMS Information System Ministry of Justice Turkey
The SMS Information System, introduced by the Ministry of Justice, was designed to
address declining confidence in judicial bodies as a result of abuse of judicial procedures by
parties to proceedings, lawyers and even staff of the judiciary. Proceedings could be
commenced and finalised against individuals without their knowledge. Judgements could be
entered against parties in their absence when they did not receive notification of the
proceedings. In some instances lawyers might fail to attend court without informing their
clients resulting in an unfavourable outcome.
Turkey has the most concentrated population in its region and a very high rate of mobile
phone use - the number of mobile phones in Turkey equals the number of people. It also has a
high rate of court cases. However not all citizens have the same awareness of the law or the
capacity to assert their legal rights.
The aim of the System is to ensure that all parties to proceedings in law courts receive
accurate and reliable information about any proceedings that affect them. It provides an
automatic update of information directly from the court to the parties by SMS to their mobile
phones. This removes the opportunity for abuse of information and allows for all relevant
parties to receive the information they need to enforce their legal rights.
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The technical integration of all GSM operators and SMS services operating in Turkey
allows messages to be transmitted directly to a single sender name and only a single number
displayed without the intervention of a service provider. The System has proven to be reliable,
time saving and cost effective and is being used by all parties to legal proceedings and their
lawyers. Other government services have begun to apply similar SMS delivery systems.
The main impact of this initiative has been to increase the transparency of the judicial
system and trust in the judiciary. Parties to judicial proceedings can more easily identify any
abuses of process encouraging judicial offices to be more careful and try not to make any
mistakes. Subscribers to the SMS System have begun to lodge complaints with judicial
offices when they observe problems and to send appreciative emails about the System.
Source: Edited from Turkey Ministry of Justice submission to United Nations Public Service
Awards 2012 (Regional 1st Prize Winner 2012)
Excessive regulation is another possible incentive for non-compliance and
avoidance. A “panoptic” vision of corruption control that accumulates new regulatory
measures without discarding old ones has been associated with increased corruption
opportunities and economic burdens for those who comply (Anechiarico & Jacobs
1994: 472). Regular reviews of the amount and efficiency of regulation can be part of
a national anti-corruption strategy (see Box 14).
BOX 14: Administrative simplification to improve the efficiency of the
government
All Mexican Federal Public Administration (APF) agencies have internal rules whose
purpose is to regulate administrative activities carried out by these agencies. The Ministry of
Public Administration devised a strategy to reform the regulatory framework to reduce,
standardize and simplify existing rules across the APF. This involved generating quality
standards, automation and integration of internal processes of all agencies with a vision
centered on the citizen, across all nine areas. The government began a series of reforms,
including the elimination of unnecessary rules, placing limits on the issuance of new rules,
granting limited exceptions in attempts to issue provisions, and provide assurance through
transparency, to citizens concerning such reforms. Improvements include: a significant
reduction of rules, simplification of procedures for standardization, and an increase in the
efficiency of administrative processes.
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2011 Good Practices and
Innovations in Public Governance United Nations Public Service Awards Winners, 2003-2011
New York, 2011 p 26
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Legal regulation and enforcement can be a blunt instrument whose effectiveness is
improved when it is used in conjunction with administrative processes. An example from
Greece to control corruption in government procurement contracts uses law as a framework
for a traditional administrative oversight mechanism - audit. The process is conducted under
the auspices of the Supreme Audit Court which has the authority to invoke legal sanctions in
the event of impropriety or corruption found by the audit. The audit is used as a prevention
tool and the legal penalty reactively as a last resort combining the threat of judicial
enforcement with a capacity to perform (see Box 16).
Compliance can also be improved if legal regulatory measures selected are suited to the
purpose to be achieved. Asset declaration rules, for example, requiring public officials to make
regular public disclosure of their personal assets might be introduced in one jurisdiction for the
purpose of managing conflicts of interests of public officials. In another context these rules
might be part of a legislative regime to expose illicit enrichment (see Box 15). The design of
the system will vary with the outcome to be achieved.
Successful regulation will also be designed with a knowledge of the population it is
intended to target. Citizens who do not comply with regulation might be affected by the
possible penalties or the cost; the likelihood of getting caught; their capacity to comply; and
the amount of information they have about the regulation, their rights, how to comply or report
corruption. Ideally it will be implemented using an approach that would raise “awareness
among target groups, take existing social norms into account, and rely on positive incentives
as well as, or rather than, increasing penalties” (Batory 2012: 1).
The effectiveness of a legal framework in preventing corruption depends on the capacity
of individual public officials who develop regulation, public authorities who implement it and
the cooperation of institutions – cultural, social and political. Compliance with most
regulation requires knowledge, skills, time, and economic resources on the part of citizens.
Ultimately it can be undermined by regulation that cannot be complied with because those
being regulated do not have capacity to comply in terms of cost, information, skills or trust
(Villareal 2012). Regulation that is designed in a way that reduces the capacity required to
comply with it; easy to understand, to access and to comply with as well as easier to
administer allows all regulatory stakeholders to function as anti-corruption actors (Villareal
2012: 31; 47; Box 12; Box 13).
BOX 15: Asset declaration systems – designing for the context
Income and asset declaration (IAD) systems require that public officials declare their
income, assets, and financial interests. They are intended to prevent and help detect the use of
public office for private gain, and to help build a climate of integrity in public administration.
As a corruption prevention mechanism, an IAD system can provide timely and much-needed
guidance to officials about the principles and behaviors of ethical conduct in public office, and
remind them that their behavior is subject to scrutiny.
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There are a wide variety of approaches in IAD system design and implementation and a
wide variety of challenges faced by different systems … there is no single optimal approach to
IAD system design and implementation. Context is essential.
Understanding the context … the effectiveness of an IAD system is, to a large extent,
dependent on elements of the broader institutional, cultural, and political environment in
which it operates (effective prosecution in the courts for the enforcement of criminal
sanctions; the availability of banking, tax, or property databases for verifying declarations;
degree of institutionalization of ethics codes and their enforcement in the public sector, and so
forth). These elements could ultimately determine the effectiveness of an IAD regime. An
assessment of these factors prior to designing or upgrading an IAD system is, therefore,
important to ensure a good fi t between the agency’s role, functions, and procedures and the
broader environment. The key principle here is that context matters. These external factors
should also be reviewed as they evolve and change over time. And it is worth noting that an
IAD agency and its procedures may influence developments in the broader environment. For
example, an IAD agency can proactively work to alter public understanding and attitudes
toward ethics and corruption, thereby altering the environment in which it operates.
There is no single best-practice design that will achieve optimal outcomes in every
context, because these outcomes depend on factors that vary in scope and intensity across
countries. In practice, IAD systems are far from standardized internationally and may differ
within a country between branches of government and from federal to regional and municipal
levels. Despite these variations, there are a number of key questions that all policy makers and
administrators face when determining which type of IAD system to adopt, or when making
changes or improvements to an IAD system:
What needs or behaviors is the system intended to address? Decisions about the design of
an IAD system should be determined by the behaviors the system is intended to address, and
by consideration of the environment (institutional, political) in which it will operate. … for
countries where perceptions of corruption are high, a system designed to detect illicit
enrichment might be important. Assisting officials to detect and avoid potential conflicts of
interest, while a priority for most countries, acquires greater significance within an IAD
framework if oversight mechanisms are not institutionalized in public service—for example, if
there is not yet a code of ethics that civil servants understand and behave in accordance with,
or an environment in which line managers or designated ethics officials can credibly provide
oversight and guidance on potential conflicts of interest.
Source: Extracted from World Bank 2012 Public Office, Private Interests Washington DC: pp
1-5; 17; 20.
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Effective public institutions
We know that corruption is more prevalent when the institutions of governance and public
administration are weak or ineffective (Khan 2012). Corruption has often been described as
evidence of institutional failure, specifically the failure of public administration in one or more
of its many agencies
Public sector institutions are the place where corruption happens but they also play a
significant role in preventing corruption. They are needed not only to enforce anti-corruption
regulation but to implement some of the “more fundamental and systemic governance
reforms” that are sometimes overlooked when resources are focused on legal institutions
(Kaufman 2005:88).
Structurally, agencies of public administration take many administrative and legal forms.
They might be state authorities, departments, public offices, schools or hospitals that deliver
government policies and programs all with greater and lesser proximity to the budgetary and
authoritative centres of government.
We know that most corruption occurs at the boundaries of public sector organisations
where a government official interacts with the private actor such as in public procurement.
Recognising the high risk of corruption in procurement the UNCAC, in Article 9, requires the
development of public procurement systems that include:
(a) The public distribution of information relating to procurement procedures and
contracts, including information on invitations to tender and relevant or pertinent
information on the award of contracts, allowing potential tenderers sufficient time to
prepare and submit their tenders;
(b) The establishment, in advance, of conditions for participation, including selection and
award criteria and tendering rules, and their publication;
(c) The use of objective and predetermined criteria for public procurement decisions, in
order to facilitate the subsequent verification of the correct application of the rules or
procedures;
(d) An effective system of domestic review, including an effective system of appeal, to
ensure legal recourse and remedies in the event that the rules or procedures established
pursuant to this paragraph are not followed;
(e) Where appropriate, measures to regulate matters regarding personnel responsible for
procurement, such as declaration of interest in particular public procurements,
screening procedures and training requirements
In addition to these fundamental measures for preventing corruption in procurement many
governments are developing unique initiatives to suit their circumstances. In Greece, the
system of “domestic review” that allows for government contracts to be audited by the
Supreme Court of Audit before the contract is awarded uses a traditionally ex poste review
process in a preventative way to prevent corruption in public procurement.
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BOX 16: Combining legal and administrative methods to prevent corruption in
public procurement
Anti-corruption measures operate in many different ways. Some target individuals while
others are aimed at the systems within which individuals operate. They may apply at national,
organisational or international level and derive from legal or administrative sources of
authority on the basis of any of a range of technical or theoretical disciplines. The most
apparent difference is that they may be imposed before or after the corrupt act that they are
intended to prevent.
Most prevention initiatives possess more than one of these features, but this does not mean
that all available approaches are simply applied to every kind of corruption. This principle
informed the national system for the audit of public contracts introduced in Greece as a
measure to prevent corruption in the high risk activity of public procurement.
The procedure to be followed by all public authorities in awarding a public contract in
Greece has a well-defined legal framework regulated by national and European Union statutes.
Despite being governed by precise rules and a predetermined, auditable methodology,
procurement processes can still be undermined. Typical examples are when non-technical
members of evaluation panels are swayed by others, or panel members have personal
associations with tenderers. This sort of conduct is hard to prove beyond reasonable doubt and
may be part of a long-term relationship that no party will expose. In any case legal processes
are slow and expensive. Consequently a punitive prevention model based on legal remedies
was considered not effective to prevent corruption in procurement.
The judicial audit of public contracts by the Supreme Court of Audit that has been
introduced in Greece is preventative in time as well as in purpose. It begins immediately after
the selection of a preferred tenderer but before award of the contract and must be completed
before the contract is signed. An auditor or judge of the Supreme Court of Audit (depending
on the value of the contract) audits the entire procedure from start to finish by examining the
whole file of the procedure for breaches of the procedural rules. If breaches are found, the
Contracting Authority and the bidder are ordered to abstain from signing the public contract.
If none are found, the Contracting Authority and the bidder are ordered to sign the public
contract.
Any one of the Contracting Authority, the bidder, the other tenderers, or the Office of the
Commissioner General of the State (representing the public interest) can, within 15 days,
challenge the decision in a trial before the relevant Court which can annul the audit result. This
decision must be issued within 30 days and a final appeal can be made to the Grand Chamber
of the Court. If no appeal is made or substantiated, the initial decision is irrevocable and binds
all litigants.
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The system is preventive, and objective focusing on process without investigating the
actual events of the specific case or the intentions of the persons involved. It is based on the
principle that predetermined, defined procedures reflected in written procedures and supported
by a legal framework and make corrupt conduct more difficult to perpetrate.
Source: An edited summary of a paper by Ioannis P. Karkalis presented at
UNDESA/UNPADM Joint Experts Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop on
Preventing Corruption in Public Administration: Citizens Engagement for Improved
Transparency and Accountability 26-28 June 2012.
In the Slovakian town of Martin, public concern about corruption in procurement
encouraged the city government to undertake a transparency initiative which was a
prizewinner in the 2011 UNPS Awards. Part of the strategy was an online bidding system that
minimises corruption opportunities in public procurement.15
The finalists and winners in the United Nations Public Service Awards for Preventing and
Combating Corruption in the Public Service in 2011 and 2012 included more initiatives to
reduce corruption in public procurement than in any other activity of public administration.
Most initiatives used information and communication technology (ICT) applications to create
online systems for bidding for government contracts, registration for government tenders or
both.
A similar procurement system to coordinate procurement across the Egyptian
Government’s ministries received a regional award in 2011. The new on-line portal allows
suppliers to search for government tenders across Egypt and submit electronic proposals
ensuring equal opportunity for suppliers and price competitiveness for government (UNDESA
2011: 23) and reducing the risk of improper interference in the process.
In 2012 UNPSA finalists included the Saudi Arabia Commission for Tourism and
Antiquities Procurement and Contracts Portal which replaced a manual bidding system that
was slow, labour intensive and not transparent. The electronic bidding system requires bidders
to register only once, holds confidential information in a secure accessible format, and creates
an audit trail to enhance accountability.16
15
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan049777.pdf accessed 9
December 2012 16
www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 9 December 2012
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BOX 17: Singapore Building and Construction Authority Promoting
accountability for procurement of public projects through the Contractor
Registration System (CRS)
Public sector procurement of infrastructure and building services projects in Singapore
constitutes about 40-60% of total construction demand annually. The Contractor Registration
System (CRS) was set-up in 1985 to amalgamate the registers of all public sector agencies and
provide a one-stop registration service to all contractors who tender for public sector
construction projects.
Before 1985, contractors interested in government projects had to register separately with
each of the major government agencies responsible for public housing, schools, hospitals and
industrial and infrastructures on roads, drainage, waterworks and port facilities. Each agency
had its own construction project procurement criteria for pre-qualifying contractors for
inclusion in its register. Each register had its own procurement criteria, registration fees,
tendering limits, pre-qualification requirements and procedural rules. No registration
information was shared between agencies so that poorly performing contractors could be
awarded contracts from agencies unaware of their record.
The cost to potential contractors of complying with all of the relevant procurement rules
was high and the various systems of individual agencies were not transparent to contractors or
the public. There was also a corruption risk in an agency performing two potentially
conflicting roles in relation to contractors: regulating their admission to the agency’s register
and awarding contracts to them.
Since 1985 the Building Construction Authority has maintained the CRS independent of
all public sector agencies, reducing the opportunity for kickbacks and collusion in awarding
contracts. It is now mandatory for all government agencies wishing to procure construction of
building and infrastructure to use a contractor who is registered on the CRS.
To become registered contractors must satisfy a uniform set of criteria about experience,
financial resources and technical expertise. The BCA retains a searchable database of reports
on the performance of registered contractors in each project together with a list of contractors
debarred from tendering of public projects due to malpractice. This allows the BCA to
encourage the professional and technical skills of contractors. The number of registered
contractors has risen from 2000 in 1985 to more than 9500 today, including foreign companies
wishing to tender for projects in Singapore. The CRS has also attracted interest from other
countries in the region and other parts of the world.
Source: Edited from Singapore Building and Construction Authority submission to United
Nations Public Service Awards 2012 Regional 2nd
Prize Winner.
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The Singapore Building and Construction Authority Contractors Registration System (see
Box 17) also features once-only registration, is transparent to government agencies and
contractors reducing opportunities for manipulation and increasing public trust. The State
Procurement Agency of Georgia won a UNPS Award for a procurement system that executes
every stage of all public procurements by all government agencies on line (see Box 18).
Inefficiency in the delivery of public services is an obvious corruption risk as processes
that are slow or hard to understand can affect both incentives and opportunities for corrupt
conduct on both sides of a potential corrupt transaction (Rose-Ackerman 1996; ICAC 2003;
CIPE 2011). This was recognised by many of the submissions to the UNPS Awards in 2011
and 2012 which included initiatives to reduce the amount of regulation and streamline public
processes in order to in turn reduce the risk of corruption. In Mexico, the introduction of the
online National Public Procurement System was combined with a review of obsolete and
obscure procurement regulation as a way of increasing efficiency and reducing corruption
risks.
BOX 18: Mexico Ministry of Civil Service National Public Procurement System
(Sistema Nacional de Contrataciones Públicas)
This initiative relates to the National Development Program (2007-2012) which sought to
overhaul the public procurement system and related policies in Mexico. The National Public
Procurement System achieved inter-institutional coordination of public procurement policy,
eliminated obsolete and redundant regulations and established clear rules. Specialized areas
were strengthened, and procedures for dealing with disputes and sanctions were established.
Additionally, the system implemented CompraNet, an electronic system for government
procurement. Since 2009, the changes have led to savings of approximately 3,500 million
pesos, and a reduction in execution time of up to 95%. As of the second half of 2011,
CompraNet had served almost 10,000 users, consisting of more than 2300 units, and had 300
buyers from different agencies and entities. The outcomes of the new system also signified an
establishment of an evaluation mechanism that favours quality over price.
Source: United Nations Public Service Awards 2012Programme Handbook Awards Ceremony
and Forum p 66
These initiatives range from a comprehensive review of regulatory frameworks across
government to eliminate unnecessary rules and duplicated procedures, such the Mexican
Ministry of Public Administration administrative simplification program in 2011, to initiatives
intended to streamline specific government programs such as:
electronic scanning of the original election result notices from voting stations to reduce
the risk of fraud and increase efficiency - South Africa Electoral Commission Result
Slip Scanning Project (UNDESA 2011);
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an electronic database of migrant worker applications replacing a system of contracted
private labour hire brokers - Korea Human Resources Development Service Migrant &
Business-Friendly Recruitment System (UNDESA 2011);
a recruiting system that allows job applicants to submit applications by mobile phone -
Oman Civil Service Central (2011);
an electronic system for managing the application, award and monitoring of
educational welfare scholarships - India (Andhra Pradesh) Centre for Good Governance
ePASS (2012);17
automatic notification by SMS all parties to court proceedings of developments in their
case - Turkey Ministry of Justice SMS Information System (2012) (see Box 13).
These examples all use information and communications technology (ICT) to reduce
corruption risks that exist in manual and face-to-face transactions. Automated systems feature
many standard systemic corruption prevention techniques: they operate according to a
predetermined process; they reduce the need and opportunity for discretionary decisions; they
increase the security of information, access and approvals; and they create audit trails.
BOX 19: State Procurement Agency of Georgia Georgian Electronic Government
Procurement System (Ge-GP)
In 2010 the Georgian Electronic Government Procurement System (Ge-GP) replaced the
traditional paper-based tendering system for all government procurement in Georgia. The
reform of the state procurement system was part of a broader economic liberalisation strategy
and the general anti-corruption strategy. It aimed to achieve rational expenditure of funds
designated for the state procurement, promote healthy competition in procurement area to
guarantee fair and non-discriminatory market.
Corruption risks were endemic in the former State Procurement System providing
opportunities for kick-backs, bribery, trading in influence and unlawful acceptance of gifts.
The need for multiple paper copies made document registration and control difficult.
Some tenders required qualification documents from other agencies which were time
consuming to obtain.
Tenderers were often required to attend in person at the procuring agency’s premises
several times as part of the tender process which disadvantaged contractors who were
geographically remote.
The high cost of participation in tenders discouraged many companies and encouraged
the formation of a group of privileged suppliers.
17www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/language/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 9 December 2012.
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These practices are no longer necessary because by law all procurement procedures for
tenders valued over $3000 must be executed using the Ge-GP. In an effort to increase
transparency and a fair marketplace all procurement information is also now accessible and
available online including annual procurement plans of all procuring entities (over 3000),
tender notices, tender documentation, bids and bidding documents, decisions of tender
evaluation panels, all relevant correspondence, and all contracts.
Using an easily accessible electronic system allows even low value contracts to be
efficiently tendered for in an open and transparent way (previously, contracts could be directly
negotiated for goods valued at less than $30000 and services valued at less than $60000.) Even
bidders who are geographically remote can participate equally in tenders and the number of
tenders has risen from 2000 tenders in 2008 to more than 33000 in 2011. The Ge-GP also has
a facility to identify blacklisted companies automatically preclude them from tenders.
Source: Edited from State Procurement Agency of Georgia submission to United Nations
Public Service Awards 2012 Regional 2nd
Prize Winner
Anti-corruption agencies are also public institutions whose effectiveness is critical to the
prevention of corruption. These agencies are by definition and role distinctive and separate
from the mainstream public sector. Maintaining their unique skill sets and operational integrity
are among their greatest challenges. For this reason UNCAC Article 6 notes that (UNCAC Art
6(2):
Each State Party shall grant the body or bodies referred to in paragraph
1 of this article the necessary independence, in accordance with the fundamental
principles of its legal system, to enable the body or bodies to carry out
its or their functions effectively and free from any undue influence. The necessary
material resources and specialized staff, as well as the training that such
staff may require to carry out their functions, should be provided.
Since the 1990s, more than 30 countries have established some form of anti-corruption
agency (Meagher and Voland 2006) and they continue to appear. Often this is to comply with
UNCAC Article 36 or Article 6 (Hussman et al 2009) which requires the existence of anti-
corruption bodies to implement the policies and disseminate anti-corruption knowledge.
A number of initiatives entered in the UNPS Awards demonstrated the unique opportunity
that centralised or independent integrity agencies18
have in supporting the work of public
sector organisations to prevent corruption (see Box 11; Box 12).
The design of the classic tripartite model for anti-corruption agencies comprises three
main functions: investigation, prevention and education with the overriding twin goal of
exposing corruption or misconduct and promoting integrity. Typical of the prevention work of
18
Such as those from Korea, Romania, Mauritius, Slovenia and Malaysia; and from Netherlands Public
Ethics Office and Mexico Central Audit Unit.
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ACAs is an initiative of the Netherlands BIOS (Office for promoting ethics and integrity in the
public sector) to provide an independent specialised agency to support public sector
organisations maintain their own integrity strategies. Its role is to develop resources and tools,
disseminate research and knowledge about best practice, and facilitate coordination between
agencies (UNDESA 2011).
Anti-corruption authorities with research capacity can be the location of an evidence base
for corruption prevention. Data from complaints received can highlight corruption risks inside
organisations in addition to actual corrupt conduct. Formal surveys of citizens experience of
corruption, and corruption risks, are a valuable supplement to perceptions data (Treisman
2007; Lambsdorff 2005; Langseth 2001) and information from perpetrators using ACAs data
have been found to be useful (DeGraaf and Huberts 2008; Haigh and Tasker 2011). In some
contexts the independence of ACAs from the agencies of public administration will also make
them particularly suitable for supporting and promoting corruption prevention initiatives that
involve citizens as well as agencies.
Some of the key opportunities for developing the effectiveness of public institutions to
prevent corruption demonstrated by these examples are:
Using ICT to maintain efficient systems that reduce corruption risks and engage
citizens
Being aware of the specific risks facing each public sector organisation or the tasks it
performs
Maximising the prevention role of anti-corruption agencies to support public sector
organisations to treat these risks.
Developing human resources capacity to prevent corruption
Institutional responses to corruption often focus on an individual public official.
Corruption investigations seek to find culprits, lay blame and punish. The best to be hoped for
in such a situation might be that a sufficient penalty will deter others from doing the same. But
because corruption is complex simple deterrence will not always work unless part of a larger
strategy.
Many of the corruption risk factors that originate with individuals (the “people” factors)
can be addressed to some extent by the organisation using its human resources policy and
practice. Developing capacity in human resources management (HRM) has the potential to
prevent corruption at two levels. The first is ensuring that individual public officials have the
skills and motivation to do their work ethically. At the wider organisational level the way
individuals are managed and rewarded can support or undermine individual motivation to do
the right thing. The relevant UNCAC provisions appear in Article 7 Public sector (see Box 2).
Factors that motivate public officials vary but the question of remuneration of public
officials is longstanding in the anti-corruption literature. Early analysis maintained that
increasing public sector salaries would only increase the size of bribes but in fact the role of
low salaries as a corruption risk may be more complex. When public sector salaries are at least
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competitive with the private sector (as recommended by the UNCAC Technical Guide:
UNODC 2009: 16) public officials may have less incentive to ask for a bribe than those who
are “under the pressure of unmet critical needs such as food, housing, education and health for
themselves and their dependants” (Kauzya 2012: 16). A low paid, but not impoverished,
public official who feels, nonetheless, aggrieved by the salary and entitled to pick up extra
benefits where possible, may be less inclined to ask for a bribe but still inclined to accept one.
Alternatively, good workers who are offered a higher salary to join a private firm might not do
so if they have other incentives to stay, thereby retaining important public sector skills which
are also valuable weapons against corruption (Quah 2004).
A perception of unfair treatment in terms of pay or other reasons is one risk factor for
deviant workplace behaviour (Tomlinson and Greenberg 2005) that can be managed by human
resources practices. Policies such as those listed in UNCAC Article 7 that ensure fair
remuneration and advancement and access to entitlements are a core part of an organisation’s
corruption prevention framework.
Attendance at training programs is often prescribed for individuals who engage in less
serious forms of corrupt conduct as a rehabilitative measure. But, as envisaged in the UNCAC
Technical Guide (UNODC 2009: 16) training programs should be a standard element of
organisational integrity systems (Paine 1994). All public officials need guidance and
reminders about the professional ethics expected of them and regular training can keep public
officials aware of essential preventative action such as managing conflicts of interest (see Box
20) and whistleblowing (see Box 23). This is particularly important for preventing the kind of
inadvertent non-compliance or “unintentional deviance” (Warren 2005:133) that can be the
beginning of a slippery slope into more serious behaviour if not controlled.
Public officials who work in isolated locations with high exposure to corruption risks such
as public procurement or revenue collection are likely to benefit from more frequent or
targeted corruption awareness training. They are also more likely to be affected by
organisational prevention policies controlling conflicts of interest, the receipt of gifts and
benefits and asset disclosure. The UNCAC groups these guiding and correcting corruption
prevention policies with codes of conduct in Article 8 as awareness raising measures for public
officials.
BOX 20: Proactive prevention – guidance for everyone
Regulation, such as conflicts of interest and anti-corruption laws, applies to the following
groups of public officials in different ways:
The incorruptible – Whose conduct reflects the nation’s values and who comply with
the applicable laws, rules, and regulations, provided the official knows what those rules and
regulations are and understands them
To guide their actions, these officials require only an understandable conflicts of interest
code, timely advice and training, and clear personnel rules.
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The corrupt – Whose conduct reflects a view of public service as a means to personal
enrichment, scorning the nation’s values and disregarding applicable laws, rules, and
regulations.
Having little regard for the public interest, these officials must be removed from public
service as quickly as possible and criminally prosecuted.
The corruptible – Whose conduct will usually reflect the nation’s values and who will
generally follow the applicable laws, rules, and regulations, but who are susceptible to the
temptation to go astray.
These officials require not only knowledge of the conflicts of interest code, timely advice
and training, and clear personnel rules but also convincing proof that the code, rules, and
official misconduct criminal laws will be strictly enforced. Anti-corruption laws focus
overwhelmingly on the corrupt official. These laws address corrupt activity like bribery and
kickbacks and theft of government funds and services. The enforcement of these laws requires
undercover agents and wiretapping and sting operations.
Throughout the world, most public servants are honest and want to do the right thing. So
what are we doing for those honest public servants? Are we providing them with guidance on
how to stay out of ethical trouble? Are we protecting them against superiors or co-workers or
outside forces that try to lead them astray? Are we reassuring our citizens that our public
servants are serving the public and not themselves? Do we have a system in place that keeps
our honest public servants honest and that discourages dishonesty, not by punishing it but by
preventing it? Are we creating a culture of integrity, not because of a fear of being caught but
because of a commitment to values? That is what a conflicts of interest system does. And that
is why it is so critically important. Yet, too often in the concern over corruption and the rush to
combat it, a government fails to address the needs of its honest officials.
A conflicts of interest system guides the incorruptible and helps deter the corruptible. It
has virtually no effect on the corrupt – on the bribe receivers and kickback takers; for them
society has those undercover operations and criminal laws and jail time. But that is for
prosecutors, not for conflicts of interest agencies. Conflicts of interest agencies are not in the
business of catching crooks.
Source: Summarised from a paper prepared by Mark Davies for UNDESA/DPADM Joint
Experts Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop on Preventing Corruption in
Public Administration: Citizens Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability
26-28 June 2012 pp4-5
Codes of conduct are sometimes derided as meaningless pieces of paper but they can
articulate the professional ethical standards that public officials aim for so that they clearly
understand what is acceptable and what is not. Ideally all of these measures will give practical
effect to the aspirations of codes of conduct and, together, encourage professionalism among
public officials that (Kauzya 2012:3):
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can be located at the point where expertise in terms of knowledge and skills meet with
integrity and ethics to form a competent whole of a highly capable, committed,
responsible, and responsive public service.
Developing professionalism in the public service is more complex than codes and training
because professionalism does not operate in a vacuum but in organisations (see Box 21). At
the very least, it calls for competent work performance (Kauzya 2012: 15) to ensure the
“correct, honourable and proper performance of public functions” (UNCAC Article 7(1) (d))
which includes core job competencies as well as an ethical attitude. The role of general
competence as a control on corruption is not well explored in the research literature but
evidence from corruption inquiries reports that managers and supervisors can be unable to
detect corrupt behaviour by subordinates who had more knowledge of workplace functions
and technical processes (Mills and Cooper 2007).
BOX 21: More than an attitude: developing professionalism
Professionalism needs to be taught in its principles, practices, and conduct. However,
since “teaching” is not the same thing as “developing” even if the two are linked. If
professionalism is an amalgam of character, attitude, conduct, excellence, and competence, the
question is: of all these what can be developed and how? What needs to be done and how in
order to develop professionalism in the Public service? This is a critical question for Ministries
responsible for public service, human resource managers in the public service, and
management development institutions. It is tantamount to wasting time and resources to only
focus on Public service agents in developing professionalism for preventing corruption in the
public service.
Societal norms and values must be examined and progressively changed to align them
with the requirements of professionalism in the public service; in other words there must be
efforts to develop an anti-corruption citizenry. Public governance systems, institutions and
structures must be revisited and readjusted to suit the needs of developing professionalism.
And capacity for professionalism, integrity and ethics must be developed among the human
resources including leadership in the public service.
Developing professionalism needs to be undertaken holistically to include society,
governance and the public servants … supportive institutional arrangements including
systems, structures, laws, rules and regulations as well as professional infrastructure such as
professional associations are necessary for professionalism to be developed. Above all
leadership is critical in supporting the growth of professionalism for example by developing
the following capacities:
institutional capacity by assessing the institutional set up in the public service including
organization structures, systems, laws, rules, and regulations, codes of conduct and
institutional arrangements for enforcement of such codes
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service and development-oriented leadership - an institution/organization that seeks to
promote and develop professionalism among its employees must clearly stipulate what
professionalism entails
human resource management practices - how are agents selected, recruited, deployed,
supervised, motivated, etc.
training and an on-going commitment to learning and improving skills - developing
professionalism in the public service entails the development of public servants who are
experts at their jobs and who conduct carry out their work ethically and with integrity …
ensuring that the necessary competences are developed through training and other staff
development activities is critical to the development of professionalism.
motivation and incentives using improvements in the remuneration of public servants to
ensure that they do not get the temptation to behave unprofessionally under the pressure of
unmet critical needs such as food, housing, education and health for themselves and their
dependants.
professionalization infrastructure such as supportive institutional arrangements
including systems, structures, laws, rules and regulations as well as professional infrastructure
such as professionals associations are necessary for professionalism to be developed
an anti-corruption citizenry because there are some societal norms and values that may
encourage or even support corruption in the public service … in certain societies, sometimes
there exist contradictions between the values of the society a public servant lives in and those
demanded by the bureaucracy of a Public Service that employs him/her.
Source: Summarised from a paper delivered by John-Mary Kauzya at UNDESA/UNPADM
Joint Experts Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop on Preventing Corruption
in Public Administration: Citizens Engagement for Improved Transparency and
Accountability 26-28 June 2012.
Managers also have roles as organisational leaders. Management behaviour has been
recognised as a significant organisational influence on the ethical (and unethical) behaviour of
individual employees. Particularly influential are the ‘individual ethics, personal ambition and
poor supervision’ of senior managers (Clinard 1983: 70).
The specific actions that can be expected of public sector senior managers to prevent
corruption in their organisations include (ICAC 1999: 1; 23):
taking effective and visible action against corrupt behaviour
effective training for middle managers
being consistent in their actions and communications with staff
ensuring that middle managers as well as top management are reflecting the desired
values and behaviours.
The role of trust in the capacity of organisations to prevent corruption has also been noted.
Specifically, the way managers apply the “roles, rules, and structured relations of the
organization … to increase employee trust in management include (ICAC 1999:33):
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opportunities for professional development
job security and
perceptions that the performance appraisal system is fair”.
Many public managers have no experience or training before taking management
positions. Awareness of these issues can be incorporated into leadership training for senior
managers to ensure that their actions do not undermine corruption prevention efforts (See Box
22).
BOX 22: Hong Kong ICAC Ethical Leadership Programme (ELP) for the
Government
An effective prevention program to promote ethical culture in an organization involves the
adoption of a code of conduct to help staff to deal with ethical issues they are sometimes
required to handle. The code is a basic part of integrity management, as it shapes the culture of
the organization and sets out the management’s expectation of its staff’s ethical standard. The
ICAC encourages and assists GBDs and public bodies in drawing up their code of conduct,
which should cover the organization’s uncompromising stand against corrupt practices and its
adherence to good governance. It should also clearly state the restrictions in respect to staff
accepting commissions, gifts and entertainment, as well as other integrity related issues, such
as managing conflict of interest and maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information, and
the consequence of non-compliance. For Government departments, officers who have
breached the code are subject to disciplinary actions, which could take the form of suspension
or removal from office, loss of pension etc.
To reinforce the code of conduct, the CRD of ICAC conducts regular integrity training for
Government officers to strengthen their understanding of the anti-corruption legislation and
the provisions of the code, to heighten their awareness of the corruption risks involved and to
remind them of the importance of upholding a high standard of integrity. Apart from
government officers, the ICAC also provides integrity and anti-bribery training for staff of
PBs, which include public hospitals, public utilities companies, public transport companies,
Tertiary Education Institutes, etc.
Apart from providing regular integrity and anti-bribery briefings to Government officers,
to further enhance probity culture and promote ethical leadership in the civil service, the ICAC
and the Civil Service Bureau of the Hong [10] Kong Government jointly launched the ELP in
December 2006. Under the ELP, each GBD is requested to appoint a senior directorate officer
as the organisation’s Ethics Officer, to be responsible for developing and sustaining ethical
culture in the GBD and assumes the overall responsibility for all integrity management work.
The Ethics Officers are each required to submit to the Civil Service Bureau an annual integrity
management plan. The plan helps the Ethics Officers to identify inadequacies in their
respective organizations and the corrective actions required, such as strengthening of existing
controls, organising integrity trainings on specific themes such as conflict of interest and
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misconduct in public office, or requesting ICAC’s assistance in conducting corruption
prevention studies on high risk areas. At present, there are some 150 Ethics Officers, with
whom the ICAC has built a strong partnering relationship in promoting an ethical culture and
implementing the integrity management plans.
Periodic seminars on different topics concerning integrity, conduct and discipline are also
organized for the Ethics Officers and their assistants to enhance their awareness in issues
relating to corruption prevention and governance. A website called “Online Community for
Ethics Officers” has also been developed to facilitate the sharing of resources and reference
materials on integrity management and enhance communication between the Ethics Officers,
the ICAC and the Civil Service Bureau.
Source: Extract from paper by W H Mok for UNDESA/UNPADM Joint Experts Group
Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop on Preventing Corruption in Public
Administration: Citizens Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability 26-28
June 2012.
Senior public managers are also in a position to communicate outside their public sector
agency to the clients and constituents that it services about the professional ethics that apply to
public officials particularly in situations where they are pressured by societal expectations to
act corruptly.
In summary, the human resources capacity that can be developed to prevent corruption lies
in engendering professionalism, maintaining a fair and equitable workplace that facilitates
whistleblowing, and providing sufficient education and guidance to public officials and the
wider community about the core competencies and ethics of public administration and the
corruption risks it carries.
BOX 23: Best practices to promote reporting and protecting whistleblowers
A. Articulate the critical importance of reporting concerns/speaking up
(1) Legal, social, or moral duty to contribute to group’s welfare by identifying concerns
and problems requiring attention from recognized authority. This permits concerns to
be addressed before they escalate or become intractable.
(2) Method for speaking up is easy to access and easy to use.
(a) Clear procedures and channels for reporting concerns (i.e., central reporting
mechanism) are available to individuals at all levels.
(b) Reporter must be able to provide essential information about concern or problem.
(3) Reporter’s duty is to share information, not to investigate, find facts, reach a
conclusion, or take responsibility for outcome.
(4) Reports are always confidential. Reporter may choose to remain anonymous. Good
faith reports are protected.
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(5) Purpose for encouraging speaking up and making reports is to identify and cure
problems before they escalate or become intractable.
B. Under executive sponsorship, adopt a comprehensive, clear, and widely distributed policy
that prohibits retaliation in order to protect those who have made reports of wrongdoing.
(1) Persons who are protected (and types of information that will warrant protection) are
clearly defined in terms of community, organization, employer, and/or government.
(2) Policy of protection from retaliation should extend to a wide range of reported
wrongdoing, not just a limited set of infractions or concerns.
(3) Types of prohibited retaliatory actions are clearly defined.
(4) Outline the remedies available to the whistleblower who has experienced detrimental
action because he/she has made a report of wrongdoing.
C. Raise awareness about speaking up and protecting whistleblowers in order to encourage
reporting of concerns (i.e., training and education, as well as informal discussions,
overseen by senior management).
D. Make interim protection measures available during the investigation and resolution process
in order to protect status quo and to limit additional potential harm to the whistleblower.
E. Investigate reports of retaliation. Investigations should be prompt, thorough, effective and
respectful. Investigation process is open, transparent, and trustworthy.
F. Periodically, evaluate and review the effectiveness of whistleblower protection.
G. Annually, issue a public report summarizing matters and outcomes.
MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS
H. Protection from retaliation must be prompt, robust, and comprehensive.
I. Remedies and sanctions for retaliation are clearly defined, applied, and provided.
Source: United Nations Ethics Office, 28 June 2012
Engaging citizens to prevent corruption
Citizens engage with government in many ways. They may be using public services,
consulting or lobbying, monitoring and scrutinising, being regulated, in commercial
relationships such as for the procurement of goods and services by government, or they may
be reporting corruption.
Each of these types of interaction between citizens and government makes different
demands on public administration. All have the potential to be an opportunity for either
corruption or corruption prevention. For corruption prevention purposes, satisfactory
interactions between citizens and government can encourage social trust, an understanding of
public sector values, compliance with anti-corruption regulation and reporting of suspected
corrupt conduct (Langseth 2001; see Box 4).
Accountability and scrutiny
The role of citizens in preventing corruption is based on both the principle that the public
administration should be accountable, and the practical power of external scrutiny to make it
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accountable. The theory is that if public officials are less likely to act corruptly if they are
being observed and may have to explain their actions. Equally, engaged citizens who
understand and support government processes maybe less inclined to try to improperly
influence an official decision.
As envisaged by the UNCAC Article 10, legal obligations for public administration
agencies to provide access to information, give reasons for administrative decisions or publish
annual reports are generally used to enable citizen scrutiny. Several submissions to the UNPS
Awards in 2011 and 2012 also used procedural or ICT methods to enable citizens to monitor
the activities of government.
To increase trust in local government tax officials in Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan
Government since 2008 has moved from closed examinations of tax appeals to an open court
system in which the taxpayer is represented by an advocate and officials must defend the
imposition of tax (UNDESA 2011).
Another local government UNPS Award winner in 2011 was an initiative from Slovakia to
ensure that all decisions described as “affecting the efficiency of the handling of public
resources and properties are done transparently” by making them all available online
(UNDESA 2011: 24). Similar objectives were behind two finalists in the UNSPA 2012: the
Georgia Civil Service Bureau Online Asset Declaration System which allows any citizen to
monitor the asset declarations of public officials; and the Saudi Ministry of social affairs
database of non-profit organisations who receive public funds.19
A sophisticated contract monitoring system developed by Slovenia Commission for the
Prevention of Corruption was a finalist in the UNPS Awards in 2012.20
It is an online
database that combines information from several public agencies to provide comprehensive
information about government business transactions. It shows ownership and management
structures of Slovenian corporations and can produce reports to show “contracting parties, the
largest recipients of funds, related legal entities, date and amount of transactions and also
purpose of money transfers” presented as graphs or in printouts.
The news media have traditionally been seen as leaders in facilitating public scrutiny of
government and an independent media is regarded as an element of a national integrity system
(see Fig. 1). More recently less structured methods of public scrutiny that use existing
community groups with no obvious governance role have emerged as mechanisms for public
oversight of public official conduct. Many of these use the internet or electronic social media
formats (see Box 24)
BOX 24: Corruption Prevention and ICT: UNDP's experience from the field
19
www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 8 December 2012 20
www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 8 December 2012
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The approach of UNDP to corruption prevention addresses the supply side of corruption
through institutional reform, legal reforms and promoting anticorruption strategies and plans.
On the demand side UNDP encourages civic engagement, public awareness, education and
oversight by the media and community organisations.
The unprecedented spread of Information and communications technologies (ICT),
including social media, is changing the socio-economic and political dynamics in developing
countries. ICT have provided added ammunition in corruption prevention. Data gives
corruption a face, and ICT makes the availability, accessibility and dissemination of data easy.
Correlations have been found to exist between corruption and levels of ICT penetration, e-
government development, freedom of speech and the capacity for non-government
organisations to advocate. UNDP’s recent experiences highlight the role of three emerging
models of social media that can be used to support public transparency and accountability.
Information sharing media such as blogs, forums, social networks and video hosting sites, like
YouTube, facilitate disclosure of instances of corruption. Crowdsourcing technology such as
‘Truthmeters’ and electronic petitioning can be used to monitor service delivery and report
failures. The crowd-to-community model combines crowdsourcing with mechanisms that
allow visitors to interact with a project and between each other, transforming a ‘crowd’ into a
community of action. Two recent examples are:
The Huduma platform (used in Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines and India) allows citizens
to report public service failures directly to authorities and to service providers by SMS, email,
voice or video. It provides voice to citizens and offers service providers with real time
actionable data to respond to citizens’ concerns and measure improvement in service
provision.
In Kosovo, Kallxo.com is an online platform for citizens to report and monitor official
responses to reported corruption, organized crime, fraud, conflicts of interest, and other cases
of abuses of official capacity, neglect, inaction, infringement of rights of Kosovo citizens, or
infringement of general interests by any branch of government.
The success factors for using social media tools against corruption include:
posting new information regularly,
maintaining an emotional narrative and virtual interaction
coverage by traditional as well as online media
transparent verification mechanisms, e.g. photos, documents, comments by other
visitors
support from reputable individuals or institutions including relevant high-ranking
public officials with a proven track record in the field
converting information into action that leads to desirable outcomes, e.g. corrupt tenders
are cancelled, streets are fixed.
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Source: Edited summary of a presentation by Tsegaye Lemma, Anti-Corruption Specialist,
BDP/UNDP at UNDESA/UNPADM Joint Experts Group Meeting and Capacity Development
Workshop on Preventing Corruption in Public Administration: Citizens Engagement for
Improved Transparency and Accountability 26-28 June 2012
Commercial suppliers and partners
Monitoring the behaviour of public officials is only one of the reasons for citizens to
engage with government. Increasingly citizens are interacting with government as contractors
and suppliers. Public and private sector partners frequently follow different operating
objectives and standards of conduct. Governments’ private sector partners and suppliers may
not always appreciate the practical implications of the ethic of stewardship in public
administration that (Kauzya 2012: 5):
Everything at the disposal of the Public Servant (i.e summarized as time, treasure, talent,
and treatment) is from the public entrusted to him/her for the satisfaction of the needs of the
public.
As many businesses establish their own fraud and corruption controls there are
opportunities for government to develop partnerships for prevention by implementing
standards of conduct and practice that protect commercial relationships from corruption.
Consequently the UNCAC in Article 12 requires the establishment of comprehensive
preventative measures in private sector including:
Enhanced accounting and auditing standards
Prohibition of off-the-book accounts and other acts
No tax deductibility of expenses constituting bribes
Proportionate and dissuasive civil, administrative or criminal sanctions
Promote cooperation between law enforcement and private entities
Prevent conflicts of interest
Government–business relationships can be vulnerable to corruption when trust between
the parties is undermined by concerns that government will act corruptly. A lack of
information and communication from government to contractors can raise suppliers’
suspicions that they are not being treated fairly (ICAC 2011c).
The most useful information for contractors is likely to be about their performance and can
be provided using regular performance reports such as those used by the Singapore Building
Construction Authority (BCA) Contractor Registration System (CRS) (see Box 17).
Contractors in Singapore are obliged to adhere to certain standards in order to pre-qualify for
government work using transparent criteria available online to the public. Contractors are
informed about their performance using reports from the agencies they were engaged by and
can be paid a bonus if workmanship is of high quality and penalised if it is poor.
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Adherence to best practice in commercial and service relationships and communicating
expected standards of performance and business ethics can improve awareness of the proper
role and processes of government and reduce supply side incentives to act corruptly.
Awareness of anti-corruption and reporting
Citizens will not be inclined to scrutinise or to report corrupt behaviour if they do not
recognise it as wrong or even know that regulation exists. Ideally ‘Information campaigns
should be part of the process for the introduction of new rules seeking to curb corrupt
practices.’ (Batory 2012: 79).
The UNPSA 2012 finalist Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) campaign
was designed to inform citizens and public officials about corruption offences that were not
new but poorly understood. It was used to complement the MACC’s investigations work
which consumes over 70% of its resources. Investigation of bribery by the MACC had
previously targeted the public officials who solicited or received bribes. This education
campaign was used to inform the public that paying a bribe is also a criminal offence and
encourage reporting of bribes paid21
. It is an example of a social marketing information
campaign that can be applied to corruption prevention by ACAs and other government
agencies that run their own public education campaigns (Kindra and Stapenhurst 1998).
Educating the public about corruption and prevention is a core function of the
conventional anti-corruption agency (ACA) model and can go well beyond information about
the existence of criminal offences. Programs such as those run by the Hong Kong ICAC
Community Relations department produce resources for school-aged children, a YouTube
channel and a television drama22
to help members of the public to identify and act on corrupt
conduct when they encounter it (See Box 25). At a municipal level the Metropolitan
Commission Against Corruption in Quito Ecuador recently ran a comprehensive education
campaign about preventing corruption called Honesto Quito .23
Many ACAs communicate
other information about their work such as successful outcomes of corruption investigations.
Public awareness and information campaigns about corruption or public integrity need not
be the exclusive responsibility of government or anti-corruption agencies and might be
facilitated by community-based or grass roots organisations or social media (see Box 24).
Sometimes the most basic information can help to prevent corruption. Citizens who are better
informed about the proper processes of government, may be less suspicious of transactions
they do not understand and more able to detect wrongdoing when they do see it. Users of
public services who know whether there are fees for a service and, if so, the amount of the fees
and who to report to if they are overcharged, may be less vulnerable to exploitation by corrupt
public officials and more inclined to report wrongdoing.
21
www.unpan.org/DPADM/UNPSDayAwards/KnowledgeBaseofUNPublicServiceAwards/tabid/1260/langu
age/en-US/Default.aspx accessed 8 December 2012 22
www.icac.org.hk/en/community_relations_department/s/index.html accessed 8 June 2012. 23
www.unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan050013.pdf accessed 8
December 2012
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Convincing citizens of the reasons for anti-corruption efforts and public integrity may also
be necessary in situations where (Kauzya 2012: 14):
… there exist contradictions between the values of the society a public servant lives in and
those demanded by the bureaucracy of a Public Service that employs him/her.
In this situation engaging citizens may be necessary to establish values or a common
language for ethical public service in addition to any scrutiny or reporting role. Reforms
imposed without reference to these local values, whether organisational, sectoral or national,
can easily fail or, worse, be counter-productive (Batory 2012) if they fail to address informal
as well as formal rules and norms (Ocampo 2000). Consequently anti-corruption reforms are
said to work best if approached from the “bottom up” as well as the “top down” (Theobald
1997; Lambsdorff 2008). In some instances this could involve citizens in aspects of the reform
such as developing codes of conduct using broadbased consultation techniques like the
regional seminars for citizens established in the Pernambuco region of northern-eastern Brazil
to engage citizens in debating and prioritising policy proposals in a transparent way.24
BOX 25: Prevention, education and research in anti-corruption agencies
Many anti-corruption programmes have been considered instruments of the state, mainly
targeting the civil service and/or other relevant regulatory institutions. The Hong Kong
experience has shown that the education and awareness raising function is crucial in each anti-
corruption strategy.
Transparency is needed to establish a minimal level of credibility for prevention purposes
and as a measure of success. Hong Kong’s ICAC is noted for its unique outreach programme.
It has used press releases, public information announcements, interviews, documentaries,
posters, informational leaflets, meetings, public speaking and worked with schools and
universities to convey an anti-corruption message to the public. It sponsors sporting, cultural
and entertainment events that are aimed at youth and that emphasize anti-corruption themes. In
1995, it spearheaded a collaborative effort with six major chambers of commerce to found the
Hong Kong Ethics Development Centre to promote ethics in corporate governance. Today,
nearly one in ten reports of corruption in the private sector is made by senior business
managers (ref: ICAC website).
Apart from general education measures, the [anti-corruption agency] ACA should also be
in a position to develop, propose and, where appropriate, implement preventive measures,
and/or to collaborate closely with other agencies that have a mandate to do so. Hong Kong’s
ICAC has an extensive mandate in this area.
24
Department of Planning and Management of Pernambuco 2012 (Secretaria de Planejamento e Gestão do
estado Pernambuco) Participatory Regional Seminars,
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan049653.pdf
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This is to examine the practices and procedures of government departments and public
bodies in order to facilitate the discovery of corrupt practices and to secure the revision of
work methods/procedures which may be conducive to corrupt practices. Further, it is to
instruct, advise and assist any person, on the latter’s request, on ways in which corrupt
practices may be eliminated and to advise heads of government departments or of public
bodies of changes in practices or procedures compatible with the effective discharge of their
duties which the Commissioner thinks are necessary to reduce the likelihood of corrupt
practices. Prevention (and the community education and awareness-raising that goes with it)
has been a core activity of the Hong Kong model, often informed by the revelations of
investigators working on the enforcement side. This enabled the Commission to develop a
coherent and coordinated set of strategies, with results that are the envy of many. Those who
have tried to copy the model have largely failed because they have lacked both this coherent
approach and the resources necessary to carry it through.
Botswana’s DCEC, Singapore’s CPIB and New South Wales’ ICAC have similar
mandates. Indonesia’s KPK also has a broad mandate to monitor the governance of the State.
It can conduct reviews of the management system of all state institutions; if the
recommendations made by KPK are not adhered to, the KPK is to report this to the President,
the Parliament and the State Auditor. Tanzania’s PCB (Research, Control and Statistics
Division) carries out research on various policies, laws, regulations and operations of different
institutions in order to detect loopholes that lead to corruption. It also conducts research on
methods for combating corruption adopted in other countries. Part of these preventive
measures is the ability to take account of lessons learned and use them to propose amendments
to laws, regulations and procedures.
In some countries the ACA is authorized to make such recommendations to both
administrative and legislative bodies, publicly if necessary. The CPCB in Latvia and the SIS in
Lithuania are entitled to analyse legal acts and make proposals for review. The SIS has the
power to propose legislation to the President and to Parliament.
The capacity to conduct research into public opinion as well as trends and the nature of
corruption is essential in order to devise effective strategies for combating corruption. In its
assessment, the European Commission found that lack of research capacity in Latvia and
Lithuania was a concern, and it was recommended that capacity be developed in this regard.
Source: UNDP 2005 Institutional Arrangements to Combat Corruption: A Comparative Study,
UNDP Bangkok pp 9-10.
Developing capacity in citizen engagement
In addition to those already discussed, the UNCAC envisages some methods for
engagement in Article 13 Participation of civil society which requires that signatories ensure
the active participation of civil society, enhance transparency in decision making processes,
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provide public access to information and encourage citizens to report on offences and protect
the freedom to seek, receive and publish information concerning corruption. The terms of
reference for the UNCAC Review Mechanism also suggest entry points for civil society
involvement such as:
28. The State party under review shall endeavour to prepare its responses to the
comprehensive self-assessment checklist through broad consultations at the national level with
all relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, individuals and groups outside the
public sector.
Specific avenues for building the capacity to develop citizen engagement can be found in:
the use of ICT resources to increase accessibility,
social marketing and related communication methodology to and
maintaining good business practices between the public and private sectors.
The capacity of citizens to participate and comply can be enhanced by ensuring that they
have equitable access to services, opportunities to easily monitor government and adequate
information to recognise corruption.
BOX 26: Using citizen engagement as accountability to prevent four types of
corruption
Four types of corruption with different determinants
Type I Market-Restricting Corruption
The best approach is to remove damaging capacities or discretion.
Type II State-Restricting Corruption
The long-run reduction of corruption involves the legalisation of rent seeking. Immediate
policies are to improve state capabilities and processes but incentives of ruling coalition
critical.
Type III Political Corruption/ Inadequate Institutionalization
Net effect depends on whether political stability and growth can be maintained. Long-run
transition to rule-following politics and formal institutions depends on a broadbased
productive sector emerging.
Type IV Predation/Theft
Terms of ‘exchange’ between parties to the corrupt act become one-sided or disappear. This
type of corruption dominates when the state is collapsing or if ruling coalition is very narrow
and has very short time horizon.
Policy Implications for the role of accountability and citizens’ engagement
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Some types of corruption are difficult to remove in the short term (for instance Type III
corruption): important to prioritize and attack the most important areas that are a) very
damaging and b) can be feasibly targeted.
Accountability and citizens’ engagement is most likely to pay dividends with type I
corruption and least likely to have an effect on type III corruption
Type II corruption is very important as it can constrain developmental activities of states:
Improved bureaucratic/technocratic capacities can help to improve outcomes if policies
are aligned with ruling coalition interests and constraints
Citizens’ pressure against type II corruption can be very useful if it focuses on
outcomes and delivery and does not set itself high targets of total elimination of corruption
Type IV corruption is most difficult to address and requires state building in countries
where state is collapsing or reconstituting more stable ruling coalitions in countries where
ruling coalition has short time horizon.
Source: Extract from Khan, Mushtaq H Transparency, Accountability and Citizen’s
Engagement presented to the Committee of Experts on Public Administration, Eleventh
session, New York, 16-20 April 2011 pages 9-10
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Chapter 5
Building Capacity to Prevent Corruption
… capacity and capacity building (or capacity development) are concepts
applicable at various levels: individuals; organizations integrated by
individuals, encompassing firms, civil society organizations and public
sector organizations; … institutions adopted by the people to guide their
personal and collective behaviours, … informal institutions of a societal
nature, as well as formal institutions such as laws and regulations; and
whole large social systems, such as countries.25
This publication brings together conclusions of papers, presentations and
discussions from a week of events held in June 2012 in New York under the auspices
of UNDESA/ UNPADM. The Joint Expert Group Meeting and Workshop on
Preventing Corruption in Public Administration: Citizen Engagement for Improved
Transparency and Accountability discussed current challenges facing anti-corruption
efforts and heard about examples where capacity is being developed to prevent
corruption particularly by engaging citizens to prevent corruption in public
administration. Despite the diversity of topics and perspectives, that meeting reached
some conclusions and produced three high level recommendations that reflected the
main themes that were reiterated throughout the week and have been explored in this
publication.
The United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) for 2012 were presented in
the same week. The Award category for Preventing and Combating Corruption
included several examples of initiatives that acknowledged the role of citizens in
preventing corruption in public administration.
Why is it important for citizens to be engaged in preventing corruption? If they
can make such a significant contribution why has it not received more attention in the
past? In the last 20 years corruption has been studied, classified, measured, defined
and proscribed by policy makers and practitioners, theorists and researchers - mostly
in the disciplines of political science, law, economics and philosophy. Prevention
responses have predominantly applied law enforcement methods but looking only to
law enforcement capacity to prevent corruption relies on a prevention model which
25
Villareal 2012:29
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rests on a diagnosis of corruption that is incomplete. It assumes that all corruption
occurs as the result of a rational cost benefit analysis of a single transaction. It ignores
the processes by which perpetrators arrive at the transaction in favour of concentrated
measurement of the observable transaction at the end of the process (Warburton
2007b).
Insights from many more disciplines now contribute to our understanding of
corruption. Social psychology, organizational theory, regulatory theory, business
ethics, criminology and behavioural economics, among others, all have something to
offer the corruption prevention endeavour. These disciplines indicate roles for citizens
beyond penalties and compliance.
Analysis of the relationship between corruption and broader societal factors such
as human rights, gender equality, press freedom, social trust and the effectiveness of
institutions outside the public administration all represent opportunities for increasing
the roles of citizens in preventing corruption in public administration.
Against the background of what we know about corruption and prevention and
what we currently do to prevent corruption, this publication points to some of the roles
for citizens within the framework of existing policy levers commonly used against
corruption and where the capacity of citizens and public institutions can be – and are
being - developed further.
Conclusions
Three themes recurred throughout the discussions, presentations and papers that
formed the basis of this publication and the recommendations of the meeting.
The first is that, even in a healthily democratic context, citizen engagement as a
method of accountability is not a panacea for corruption (Villarreal 2012). It is only
one possible ingredient in a “corruption prevention cocktail” and, like the others, is
likely to be more effective in some contexts than others (see Box 26). It, nevertheless,
becomes one of the essential ingredients if we take a broader view that includes all of
the ways that citizens interact with government – as regulatees, contractors, recipients
of services, employees, voters or whistleblowers. Regulatory frameworks will not be
effective if citizens do not – or cannot - comply with laws and rules. Institutions will
be vulnerable to corruption if citizens are not aware of what constitutes proper and
ethical public administration or, if those citizens are employed as public officials, how
they should conduct themselves. Public officials will have difficulty maintaining those
standards if citizens expect them to act corruptly and no one will report corruption if
they cannot recognise it or know who to report it to. Each of these relationships is an
opportunity to prevent corruption by education, example or simply by building trust.
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The second theme concerns how we know what will be more effective in context.
A background paper for the Workshop argued that there is a profound need for more
contextual evidence about corruption at individual, organizational and macro levels as
empirical research about which anti-corruption methods work under what
circumstances is scarce (deGraaf 2007). A plethora of indices and sources of relevant
perceptions data now exist26
and information from surveys of actual experience of
corruption are becoming available to complement perceptions data. We already know
a lot about what corruption looks like and when and where it happens. To prevent it,
we also need to know how and why it happens at the times and places it does. Citizens
are one of the best sources for understanding corruption in its context that policy
makers have. They can bring knowledge about the types of corruption and corruption
risks in the local context and the challenges it poses for implementing anti-corruption
policy. Citizens form the societal values and expectations that can help or hinder anti-
corruption strategies and, importantly, they may also be perpetrators of corruption who
need to be discouraged.
Finally, there was an acknowledgment that success in corruption prevention will
take time. Corruption is notorious for its ubiquity, longevity and resilience and no
country will ever be entirely free from it. Rather than assume that the task of
corruption prevention is futile this realisation should produce accurately targeted
strategies that incorporate long- and medium-term objectives as well as short-term
goals and, most of all, to develop the capacity for as many players as possible to
participate in that task.
Recommendations
The Joint Expert Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop on
Preventing Corruption in Public Administration captured the perspectives of experts
in public administration and corruption prevention including elected officials, statutory
officers, academics, researchers, advisers and practitioners from every continent as
well as international agencies (see Agenda Annex 3). It developed the following
recommendations that suggest directions for continuing work that will build the
capacity of both citizens and public administrators to prevent corruption.
26
Other indices include Transparency International Bribe Payers Index; Bertelsmann Transformation Index
(BTI); European Bank & World Bank Business Environment And Enterprise Performance Survey
(BEEPS); World Bank Country Policy And Institutional Assessment (CPIA), World Economic Forum
Global Competitiveness Index; Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer, Global Integrity
Global Integrity Index, Heritage Foundation & Wall Street Journal Index Of Economic Freedom; Political
Risk Services Group International Country Risk Guide; Mo Ibrahim Foundation Ibrahim Index Of African
Governance / Center On Budget And Policy Priorities Open Budget Index.
61 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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1. Enhancing the effectiveness of public sector institutional arrangements for
preventing corruption and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives.
The activities that could give effect to this recommendation would build capacity
in:
Enforcing and implementing regulation particularly by improving the design
and efficiency of regulation and targeting it better to those expected to comply
with it.
Targeting corruption prevention initiatives to local circumstances particularly
considering the differences between international, national, local and
organisational contexts and the nature of various public sector functions.
Building an evidence base of what works to prevent corruption so that policy
solutions can be tailored to specific circumstances and corruption risks.
2. Public sector human resource capacity development for preventing corruption
and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives.
The methods identified for implementing this recommendation were:
Building the professionalism of public administrators so that they act
competently and ethically
Raising the awareness of corruption and ways to prevent corruption with
continuous occupational training for officials and by using public education
campaigns about the harm of corruption and the successes of anti-corruption
efforts.
Encouraging reporting of corruption by developing best practices in
whistleblowing that protect against retribution, provide advice and allow
anonymity.
3. Accountability through transparency: engaging citizens to prevent corruption
in the Public Sector such as through information and communication technologies.
The specific mechanisms considered for providing citizens with the resources to
observe and hold the public administration to account included:
Making government information more easily accessible, such as about
expenditure of public funds and disclosure obligations of officials such as asset
declarations, but also routine facts about the cost of services and the proper
roles of public officials.
Building the capacity of citizens and civil society to participate effectively in all
of the roles they have with government whether reporting corruption, complying
with regulation, receiving services or as commercial partners.
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Engendering trust between government and citizens (as well as more generally
in the community) by responding to citizen complaints, delivering tangible
results, and treating citizens fairly.
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Annex 1: Sources and References
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67 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
For Improved Transparency and Accountability
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Division for Public Administration and Development Management
Stapenhurst F and Langseth P 1997 “The role of the public administration in fighting
corruption” International Journal of Public Sector Management Vol 10 No 5 pp 311-
330.
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Thorne & Jones 2005 ‘Organisational Deviance and Culture: Oversights and Intentions’
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Tong 2007 Building a Public Sector Integrity System for Effective Governance: the
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Transparency International (TI) 2011a National Integrity System background rationale
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Transparency International (TI) 2011b National Integrity System Assessment: Greece
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Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2010-11 TI Berlin
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UNDP 2009a A Trainer’s manual on measuring corruption at the country level UNDP
UNDP 2009b User’s Guide to Measuring Public Administration Performance UNDP
Oslo
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UNDP 2011b Fighting Corruption in the Health Sector: methods, tools and good
practices
68 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
For Improved Transparency and Accountability
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UNDP 2011c Fighting Corruption in the Education Sector: methods, tools and good
practices
United Nations Ethics Office 2012 ‘Best practices to promote reporting and protecting
whistleblowers’ presented at UNDESA/UNPADM Joint Experts Group Meeting and
Capacity Development Workshop on Preventing Corruption in Public Administration:
Citizens Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability 26-28 June 2012
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Convention against Corruption—Basic Documents United Nations Vienna
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69 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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Annex 2 : List of Participants Country First Name Last Name Title Organisation
1 Australia Mr. Peter Heijkoop Executive Director Universal Financial Management Solutions Pty Ltd
2 Australia Ms. Alexandra Mills UNDESA Consultant UNDESA
3 Australia Ms. Meredith Edwards Emeritus Professor University of Canberra
4 Austria Ms. Julia Pilgrim Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer Corruption and Economic Crime Branch, Division for Treaty
Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
5 Austria Mr. Georg-
Florian
Grabenweger Policy Advisor, International Transition Team International Anti Corruption Academy (IACA)
6 Bhutan Ms. Neten Zangmo Chairperson Anti-Corruption Commission
7 Bolivia Ms. Erika Karla Calderon
Monrroy
8 Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Ms. Ankica Tomic Head of department for international
cooperation
Ministry of Security
9 China Mr. Wah-hoi Mok Assistant Director, Corruption Prevention Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC/HKSAR)
10 China Mr. Kwong-
man
Fok Principal Corruption Prevention Officer Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC/HKSAR)
11 Ecuador Mrs. Rosario Utreras President Quito Honesto
12 Ecuador Mr. Carlos Pólit Faggioni Contralor General del Ecuador y Presidente de
la OLACEFS
OLACEFS
13 Ecuador Mr. Paul
Williams
Cueva Contraloria General del Ecuador
14 Ecuador Mr. Nelson Dueñas López Coordinador General de la contraloria
15 Ecuador Mr. Peter Dineiger OLACEFS
16 Georgia Mr. Tato Urjumelashvili Chairman State Procurement Agency
17 Georgia Mr. David Marghania Head of IT Department
18 Georgia Mr. Shota Chachkhunashvili Chief Information Officer National Agency of Public Register
19 Georgia Mr. Lasha Todria Chairman of Committee on Human Rights and
Civil Integration
Parliament of Georgia
20 Greece Dr. Ioannis Karkalis Vice Commissioner General of Greece and
Special Adviser to the Director on
Anticorruption Issues
European Public Law Organization
70 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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21 Jordan Mr. Zuhair Alkayed Associate Professor for the Doctorate Program
in Public Administration
World Islamic Sciences and Education University (WISE)
22 Kenya Mr. Julius Muia Secretary National Economic and Social Council, Presidency
and Cabinet Affairs Office/Office of the President
23 Kenya Ms. Beatriz Muiruri Ministry of Water and Irrigation
24 Kenya Mr. Bernard Muiwa Ministry of Water and Irrigation
25 Mauritius Mr. Anil Kumar Ujoodha Director-General and Chairman of the board of
ICAC
ICAC
26 Mexico Mr. Joel Salas Head Transparency and International Cooperation Unit, Ministry of
Public Administration
27 Mexico Mr. José Castelazo President Instituto Nacional de Administracion Publica (INAP)
28 Mexico Mr. Max Aranda Vice minister of Procurement and
Administrative Responsibilities
Ministry of Public Administration of Mexico
29 Mexico Mr. Juan Paratore Garcia Head Control and Audit of Public Works Unit
30 Mexico Mr. Noel Gonzales Segura Second Secretary Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations
31 Mexico Mr. Javier Dávila Secretaría de la Función Pública
32 Republic of
Korea
Dr. Seongjun Kim International Cooperation Division, The Board of Audit and
Inspection of Korea (BAI)
33 Republic of
Korea
Mr. Minchul Shin Researcher Research, Audit and Inspection Research Institute of the Board
of Audit and Inspection(BAI),
34 Republic of
Korea
Mr. Sangsik Kim Assistant Chairman for Planning Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission
35 Republic of
Korea
Ms. Yoonjung Jung Deputy Director Anti-Corruption Survey & Evalution Division. Anti-Corruption
and Civil Rights Commission
36 Republic of
Korea
Mr. Eunsoo Jung Deputy Director International Relations Division, Anti-Corruption and Civil
Rights Commission
37 Republic of
Korea
Ms. Younkyung Lee Assistant director the International Cooperation Division of the BAI,
38 Singapore Ms. Phua Hui Chun Building and Construction Authority
39 Singapore Ms. Jeanny Das Building and Construction Authority
40 Singapore Mr. Neo Choon Keong Building and Construction Authority
41 Singapore Dr. John Keuny Building and Construction Authority
42 Singapore Ms. For Wai Xee Building and Construction Authority
43 Slovakia Mr. Robert Dubravec Head Architect Office
71 Expert Group Meeting Strengthening Public Preventing Corruption In Public Administration: Citizen Engagement
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44 Slovakia Mr. Jozef Petras Senior Project Manager Project “Transparency Town”
45 South Africa Mr. Libisi Maphanga Chief Information Officer Electoral Commission (IEC)
46 Sweden Mr. Carl Dahlstrom Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor Quality of Government Institute (QoG)
47 Tanzania Mr. Mick Kiliba Public Service Management
48 Turkey Mr. Judge Mesut Orta President of IT Department Ministry of Justice
49 Turkey Mr. Ali Riza Cam Judge/Deputy Director
50 UAE Ms. Khamis Matar Al
Muzainah
Deputy Commandant General Dubai Police
51 UAE Mr. Taresh Eid Al Mansoori Director Department of Human Rights
52 UAE Mr. Tarish Al Mansoori Director Department of Human Rights
53 UAE Mr Mohammed Abdullah Al Mur Department of Human Rights
54 UAE Dr. Meshkam Mohammed Al
Awar
Dubai Police Academy
55 UAE Mr. Abdul Quddos Al-
Obaidli
Director Department of Total Quality
56 UAE Mr. Abdulla Ahmed
Ashkanani
Department of Total Quality
57 Uganda Ms. Emma Boona Member of Parliament Member of Public Accounts
58 UK Dr. Indira Carr Expert in Corruption, Professor of Law University of Surrey
59 USA Mr. Tsegaye Lemma Specialist, Anti-Corrpution Democratic Governance Group, Bureau for Development
Policy, Programme on Anti-Corruption for Development
Effectiveness (PACDE), United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
60 USA Mr. Don Fox Acting Director and General Counsel United States Office of Government Ethics
61 USA Prof. Taryn Vian Associate Professor of International Health,
Expert in Corruption, Faculty Director, Global
Management MBA-MPH Degree Program
Boston University School of Public Health
62 USA Ms. Nicole Anand Projects Manager Global Integrity: Innovations for Transparency and
Accountability
63 USA Dr. Yahong Zhang Assistant Professor School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers
University
64 USA Ms. Cecilia Lavena Doctoral Candidate School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers
University
65 USA Ms. Anna McDonald University of Southern California
66 USA Mr. David Winder New York University
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67 USA Mr. Deniz Susar Chief UNPAN Management Unit, DPADM, DESA
68 USA Ms. Payel Chowdhury Intern DMB, DPADM, DESA
69 USA Ms. Angela Capati-Caruso Senior Governance and Public Administration
Officer
DMB, DPADM, DESA
70 USA Mr. Marc Holzer Dean of School of Public Affairs and
Administration
Rutgers University
71 USA Mrs. Joan Dubinski Director United Nations Ethics Office
72 USA Mr. Mark Davies Executive Director Conflicts of Interest Board of New York City
73 USA Ms. Elia Armstrong Officer-in-Charge DMB/DPADM/DESA
74 USA Ms. Bharati Sadasivam Director UNDP Partnerships Bureau/Civil Society Division
75 USA Dr. Lois Warner John Jay College of Criminal Justice
76 USA Mr. John-Mary Kauzya Chief, Public Administration Capacity Building
Branch
PACB/DPADM/DESA
77 USA Mr. Gary Manukyan Governance and Public Administration Officer PACB/DPADM/DESA
78 USA Ms. Flor Velazco-Juarez Technical Cooperation assistant PACB/DPADM/DESA
79 USA Ms. Patricia Penuen Technical Cooperation Assistant DMB/DPADM/DESA
80 Zambia Ms. Kayobo NG'andu Director Prevention and Education, Anti-Corruption Commission of
Zambia
81 Mr. Paulo Rodriguez
82 Khameis Al-Mazaines
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Annex 3: Agenda
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Division for Public Administration and Development Management
Joint Experts Group Meeting and Capacity Development Workshop
on Preventing Corruption in Public Administration:
Citizens Engagement for Improved Transparency and Accountability
Programme
Monday, 25 June 2012
General Assembly Hall (UNHQ)
Visitor’s Centre at 46th
Street and 1st Avenue
10:00 - 18:00
The 2012 United Nations Public Service Day
Award Ceremony and Forum
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Crowne Plaza Hotel – Broadway Ballroom 4th
Floor
1605 Broadway, between 48th
and 49th
Street
09:00 – 09:30
Main Facilitator: Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, PACB/UNDESA
General Rapporteur: Professor Meredith Edwards, CEPA
Registration
09:30 – 09:40 Opening of Meeting: Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, PACB/UNDESA
09:40 – 11:00
09:40 – 09:45
09:45 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
Session I: Causes and consequences of corruption in public sector
institutions and its impact on development
Chairperson: Professor Carl Dahlstrom, Quality of Government Institute
(QoG), Sweden
Presenter 1: Hon. Ms. Emma Boona, MP, Uganda, Expert/UNDESA
Presenter 2: Ms. Alexandra Mills, Consultant/UNDESA
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10:15 – 11:00
General Discussion
11:00 – 11:20
Coffee Break
11:20 - 13:30
11:20 - 11:25
11:25 - 11:40
11:40 - 11:55
11:55 - 13:30
Session II: Effectiveness of public sector institutional arrangements for
preventing corruption and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives
Chairperson: Dr. Roberto Villareal, IRA/UNDESA
Presenter1: Ms. Julia Pilgrim, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Officer/UNODC
Presenter 2: Mr. Joel Salas, Head, Transparency and International Cooperation
Unit, Ministry of Public Administration, Mexico
Breakout Groups
Group A: Legal provisions in national anti-corruption legislation,
including codes-of-conduct
Co-facilitator: Dr. Ioannis Karkalis, Vice Commissioner of the State,
Special Adviser on Anticorruption, European Public Law
Organization, Greece, Expert/UNDESA
Co-facilitator: Dr. Indira Carr, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Group B: Institutional mechanisms: anti-corruption offices/commissions;
citizen advisory councils
Co-facilitator: Dr. Marc Holzer, Dean, School of Public Affairs and
Administration, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey
Co-facilitator: Mr. Carlos Polit Faggioni, Controller General of Ecuador and
President of OLACEFS
Group C: Anti-corruption policies, institutions and mechanisms at
different levels of government
Co-facilitator: Mr. Mok, Wah-hoi, Assistant Director, ICAC/HKSAR, Hong
Kong, China
Co-facilitator: Mr. Mark Davies, Executive Director, Conflicts of Interest
Board of New York City, USA
13:30 – 15:00 Lunch Break
15:00 – 15:30
Breakout Groups Report in Plenary
15:30 – 17:30 Session III: Public sector human resources capacity development for
preventing corruption and engaging citizens in anti-corruption initiatives
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Department of Economic and Social Affairs
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15:30 – 15:35
15:35 – 15:50
15:50 – 16:05
16:05 – 17:30
Chairperson: Professor Jose Castelazo, INAP, Mexico, Expert/UNDESA
Presenter 1: Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, PACB/UNDESA
Presenter 2: Mr. Sangsik Kim, Assistant Chairman for Planning, Anti-
Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, Republic of Korea
Breakout Groups
Group A: Training
Facilitator: Mr. Georg-Florian Grabenweger, IACA/Vienna, Austria
Group B: Assets declaration
Co-facilitator: Mr. Don W. Fox, Acting Director and General Counsel, United
States Office of Government Ethics
Co-facilitator: Mr. Max Kaiser Aranda, Vice Minister of Procurement and
Administrative Responsibilities, Ministry of Public
Administration, Mexico
Group C: Whistler blowers’ protection
Facilitator: Mrs. Joan Dubinsky, Director, UN Ethics Office
17:30 – 18:00
Breakout Groups Report in Plenary
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Crowne Plaza Hotel - Broadway Ballroom 4th
Floor
1605 Broadway, between 48th
and 49th
Street
09:30 – 11:00
09:30 – 09:35
09:35 – 09:50
09:50 – 10:05
10:05 – 11:00
Session IV: Accountability through transparency: Harnessing the potential of
ICT in governance and engaging citizens to prevent corruption in the public
sector
Chairperson: Professor Taryn Vian, SM, Ph.D, Boston University School of
Public Health
Presenter 1: Mr. Tsegaye Lemma, Anti-Corruption Specialist, BDP/UNDP
Presenter 2: Judge Mesut Orta, President, IT Department of Ministry of
Justice, Turkey
Breakout Groups
Group A: Open data and freedom of information procedures
Co-facilitator: Mr. Julius Muia, Secretary, National Economic and Social
Council, Presidency and Cabinet Affairs Office/ Office of the
President, Kenya
Co-facilitator: Mr. Slava Cherkasov, DMB/DPADM
Group B: Applications
Co-facilitator: Ms. Nicole Anand, Global Integrity
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Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Division for Public Administration and Development Management
Co-facilitator: Ms. Dasho Neten Zangmo, Chief, Anti-Corruption Commission,
Bhutan
Group C: Citizens as watchdogs and contributors
Co-facilitator: Mr. Jozef Petras, Senior Project Manager, Project
“Transparency Town”, Bratislava, Solvakia
Co-facilitator: Ms. Erika Karla Calderon Monrroy, Former Director of
Planning Ministry of Transparency and Fight Against
Corruption, Bolivia
11:00 – 11:20 Coffee Break
11:20 – 11:50 Breakout Groups Report in Plenary
11:50 – 12:20
Special Plenary Session: Brainstorming on capacity-building for preventing
corruption in public administration
Chairperson: Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, PACB/UNDESA
General Rapporteur: Professor Meredith Edwards, CEPA
12:20 – 13:00
Presentation and discussion of overall conclusions and recommendations
(to be continued the following day, Thursday, June 28 at South-South News
building)
13:00 – 15:00 Lunch Break
15:00 – 17:30
UNPSA FORUM Meetings in Plenary
Thursday, 28 June 2012
South-South News Building 48th
Floor 1 Dag Hammarksjold Plaza, 885 2
nd Avenue, between 47
th and 48
th Street
09:30 – 13:00 Resumed session of the meeting: The way forward, lessons learnt,
conclusions and recommendations
Chairperson: Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Chief, PACB/UNDESA
General Rapporteur: Professor Meredith Edwards, CEPA
Presentation and discussion of overall conclusions and recommendations
Concluding Remarks
Closing of Meeting