The document discusses several key aspects of corruption and transparency based on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). It summarizes the damage caused by corruption globally in terms of costs. It also discusses transparency measures and systems in the public sector that are mandatory and optional requirements under key articles of UNCAC, such as codes of conduct for public officials, public procurement processes, and declarations of conflicts of interest. Civil society participation in preventing and fighting corruption is also highlighted as a mandatory requirement of UNCAC.

1. LONDA ESADZE
UNCAC Civil Society Coalition
Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC),
Anti-Corruption Mentor, UNODC

2. Danger of Corruption
In 1993, when Luciano Violante, then President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies,
was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Committee, he asked a State
witness for information on the investments and money-laundering techniques
used by his organization.
“He replied, ‘If you have some money to invest, what do you do?’
“I answered, ‘I would ask an expert for advice.’
“To which he replied, ‘And so do we. If investment proves sound what do you do?’
“‘I go back to that same expert,’ was my reply.
“‘Exactly like us. And if it turns out to be a bad investment, what do you do?’
“‘I look for another expert, and go to someone else.’
“‘So do we. Except that we first kill the previous expert and make sure the second
one knows what we’ve done. That’s the difference between you and us.’”
But the really clever ones do not murder. Murder may remove an obstacle
but it makes a lot of noise. Corruption is silent and wins an accomplice.
That’s why it is more danger!

3. Damage of Corruption
Cost of corruption exceeds by far
the damage caused by any
other single crime
• World Bank – More than 1 trillion
US$ is paid in bribes a year
• Asian Development Bank – Cost of
corruption = up to 17% of GDP
• The harm exceeds the proceeds –
US$ 1 bribes = US$ 1.7 damage

4. Corruption have cost Arab countries
nearly $1trillion
The losses accounted for nearly a third of the total
income earned by the Arab countries between 1950
and 2000, these funds could have increased the
citizen’s income by nearly $200 a year - said the Arab
Anti-Corruption Organization (AACO)

5. Corruption is like octopus, affects:
Human Rights
Human Security
Democracy
Rule of Law
CORRUPTION
Sustainable
Quality of Life Development
Markets

6. Corruption scenarios: where do we stand?
There is no totally corruption free country.
In very corrupt countries corruption encompass all forms of illegal
exchanges by high or/and low officials, and nepotism at all levels of the
state structure. “Patron-client” relations and informal networks create
vertical, interrelated corruption pyramids. Corruption is very well
structured from the top down and between various state agencies. Society
is essentially divided into a few wealthy entrepreneurs with close contacts
to state agencies and the higher echelon of public officials, on one hand,
and common citizens, on the other. For the first group the rule of law does
not apply, for the second group – the rule of law doesn’t apply either. Thus
corruption is as a part of culture and in some cases only way for
survival..
In “partially corrupted” countries we are facing transformation from
“petty corruption” to “grand (elite) corruption”. Petty
corruption/bribery in many citizen-Government interactions are
eliminated or reduced, but corruption has become more sophisticated and
latent and has moved to the spheres where big money and power rest:
budgeting, special funds, procurement, privatization…
Relatively corruption free countries are concerned on corruption and
suspicious transactions in the private sector.

7. Current trends of fighting corruption in
transition countries
There are some specific aspects and trends of corruption
characterized for countries in transition in general:
Systemic Network of Corruption Pyramids
Patron-client relationships, nepotism and cronyism
Horizontal and vertical structures of corruption in Public
sector
Reducing petty corruption/bribery in many citizen-
Government interactions, but increasing grand corruption
Judiciary
Lack of transparency and communication with the public
in explaining reforms

8. Dilemma: “Anti-Corruption” or Democracy?
Violations of Human Rights and principles of Democracy are often
performed under “anti-corruption slogans”.
“Anti-corruption” serves as main justification for many institutional
failures
Highly-publicized fight against corruption is politically motivated and
is used to strengthen control over all sectors, and monopolize power.
Selective justice and double standards
Despite of relatively well-developed framework of laws aimed at
preventing conflicts of interest among public officials promotion in
civil service remains plagued with nepotism and cronyism.
Anti-corruption speculations should not become as the populist,
legitimising messages of new leaderships regimes worldwide
it is very important to study the relationship between foreign assistance
and domestic corruption and ensure that “Donor Sponsored Anti-
Corruption” not become commercialized industry.

9. The Development of International AC Standards before the UNCAC:
Conventions
1996: The first regional convention, the Inter-American Convention against
Corruption, is adopted.
1997: The European Union Convention on the fight against corruption involving
officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States
1997: The OECD Convention against Bribery of Foreign Public Officials is
adopted.
1998-1999: The Council of Europe produces two anti-corruption treaties, the
Criminal Law and the Civil Law Conventions on Corruption.
2000: The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is adopted.
2000: recognizing the need for a global convention focused only on corruption,
the UN General Assembly authorizes an ad-hoc group to negotiate a “broad and
effective” treaty that takes a “comprehensive and multidisciplinary” approach to
the problem.
2003: The African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption is
adopted in Maputo,Mozambique.
Two further instruments in the fight against corruption in Africa are the
Southern Africa Development Community Protocol against Corruption (SADC
Protocol) and the Economic Community of West African States Protocol on the
Fight against Corruption (ECOWAS Protocol).

10. UNCAC is both a legal and political
manifestation of international consensus

11. UNCAC ratification status
2003: The UN Convention against
Corruption is adopted.
2005: The UN Convention against
Corruption comes into force after
its 30th ratification in December.
Signatories : 140
Ratifications/Accessions : 150

12. UNCAC highlights
covers all regions;
tackles the responsibilities of developed, as well as developing countries;
focuses on the prevention of corruption, not just its criminalisation;
covers private as well as public sector corruption: bribe-payers and
bribe-takers;
outlaws the payment of bribes to foreign public officials, going beyond
a similar prohibition in the OECD Convention and covering new
trading powers such as India and China;
identifies as a priority the return of stolen assets to their country of
origin and requires the prevention and punishment of corruption-
related money laundering;
strengthens transparency, accountability and participation in public
decision-making;
calls for financial and technical assistance to developing countries for
UNCAC implementation.

13. Structure of UNCAC: consists of 8 chapters
and 71 provisions

14. Major Achievements
The diversity of preventive measures, criminalization of
corruption in both public and private sectors, broadening
of the concept of liability of legal persons, extension of the
statute of limitations on corruption crimes, enhancement
of the role of civil society and access to information,
reinforcement of anti-money laundering measures, and
encouragement of mutual legal assistance among states.
The biggest UNCAC innovation has to do with asset
recovery, which consists of measures for direct recovery of
property, international cooperation for purposes of
confiscation, and return and disposal of assets.

15. Some Weaknesses and Fears
Now the review mechanisms are in place, but it does not consider full
publication of country reports and has only made non-mandatory
provisions for governments to receive input from civil society, instead of
ensuring that these inputs are given to independent reviewers.
A mixture of mandatory and discretionary provisions.
As with many international agreements, the devil is in the details: the
language is often notably vague in many areas and the parties are often
given great discretion in how (and whether) to apply particular
provisions. Treat of arbitrary interpretation by the state parties.
Therefore the Convention should not be used as a political tool: it is
important that State Parties avoid using it principally to attack political
opponents especially in less democratic countries (e.g. selective
prosecution or Article 7(3), dealing with campaign finance and transparency of
the funding of political parties. The possibility of reasonably limited, but still
anonymous ontributions to political parties financing from private persons often
is only way for survival for the opposition parties in authoritarian or semi-
authoritarian regimes, as private legal or/and physical persons are afraid to
provide them open financial assistance under authoritarian rules).

16. CoSP 3: adoption of UNCAC Review (Doha)
Mechanism
On November 13, 2009 the III Conference of State
Parties to the UNCAC in Doha, Qatar has finally
agreed a review mechanism. Under the new
mechanism, all States will be monitored every
five years to see how they are living up to their
obligations. Findings, based on self-assessments
and peer reviews by experts, will be compiled in
country review reports. The executive summary of
these reports will be made public. The country
reports will identify gaps in national anti-
corruption laws and practices.

17. UNCAC Review: Good and
Bad News for SCOs
The resolution adopting the review mechanism
encouraged governments to include civil society
and private sector inputs to their self-assessments
and left it optional for governments to decide
whether to allow a country visit and whether to
involve civil society and the private sector to make
inputs during the country visits. In July 2010 the
Implementation Review Group (IRG) that oversees the
review mechanism met for the first time in Vienna and
adopted guidelines for governmental experts and
the secretariat, which to our disappointment do
not reference these various options.

18. CSO participation & transparency
in the UNCAC review process
Transparency, accountability and civil society
participation will be key to the success of the UNCAC
review process.
If your country has not ratified the UNCAC, you can
start by promoting UNCAC ratification and
implementation. Wherever possible, work together
with other national CSOs and the private sector.
If your country has ratified the UNCAC, you can
participate in and strengthen the review process by
monitoring the process and advocating for the full
implementation of the Convention in your country.

19. Monitor your country's compliance with its
obligations under Chapters III and IV of the
UNCAC
Civil society input is valuable at many stages of the
review, including during:
the country self-assessment phase
the country visit by the review teams
the publication of official reports or executive
summaries
implementation review group meeting
conference of states parties

20. CSO participation & transparency
in the UNCAC review process
Why get involved in UNCAC review?
Build public awareness of UNCAC obligations
Communicate expectations about performance
Enhance accuracy of assessment
Demonstrate role of civil society in anti-corruption
Use official platform for outreach to Government,
National public, International community

21. How get involved in UNCAC review?
Process issues: Advocate and monitor
Transparency
CSO participation
Content issues: Monitor and advocate
Access to information
Implementation of laws and regulations
Enforcement of laws and regulations

22. Process issues Phase 1
Phase 1:
Government appointment of focal point
Government self-assessment
Key advocacy goals
Access to focal point
Consultation on self-assessment
Prompt publication of self-assessment
Recommended actions
Inform government that you will publish a report on
process
Advocate access, consultation, prompt publication
Prepare inputs for self-assessment phase

23. Process issues Phase 2
Phase 2:
Peer review and dialogue phase
Key advocacy goals
Country visit
CSO inputs to review team
Recommended actions
Provide information on other governments that allow
country visits and CSO inputs, including in other review
systems
Prepare report on implementation and submit to
government & review team

24. Process issues Phase 3
Phase 3:
Publication of results of review: executive
summary or full report
Key advocacy goals
Publication of full report
Recommended actions
Prepare a CSO report on the review process and
on country compliance with UNCAC and publish it
online
Prepare CSO analysis of published review results

25. The UNCAC gaps analysis - What to do
All national legislation directly or marginally
dealing with anti-corruption issues has to be
studied, analyzed and benchmarked against
the provisions of the UNCAC; gaps analyzed
and legislative packages for further
amendments and changes have to be
developed.
The product of these reviews is a matrix and a
narrative report containing the analysis and
more importantly a set of recommendations
on how to fully ensure compliance with the
Convention.

26. UNCAC Key Articles for CSOs
Article 10 requires States parties to take measures to
enhance transparency in their public administration
relative to its organization, functioning, decision-
making processes and/or other aspects, in accordance
with the fundamental principles of their law.

27. UNCAC Key Articles for CSOs
Mandatory requirement: Participation of society
Until the UNCAC other anti-corruption standards only partially
saw a role for NGOs in the prevention of and the fight against
corruption and in raising public awareness, however they did not
provide further details on how these tasks can be carried out to
achieve maximum impact. UNCAC made a serious impact on
this situation.
Art 13(1) states that: Each State Party shall take appropriate
measures to promote the active participation of individuals and
groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-
governmental organizations and community-based
organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against
corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the
existence, causes and gravity of and the threat posed by
corruption.

28. Preventive anti-corruption policies and practices
Article 5, paragraph 4, mandates international
collaboration aimed at the prevention of
corruption. For this purpose, States parties may
wish to consider participating in international
programmes and projects.

29. Transparency measures and systems in the
public sector: Articles 7 to 9
Article 7 - Public sector
Article 8 - Codes of conduct for public officials
(Mandatory)
Article 9 - Public procurement and management of
public finances (Mandatory, also included in the self-
assessment check-list)

30. Transparency measures and systems in the public
sector: Mandatory requirements
Article 8: to promote integrity in public
administration and to synchronize systems, measures
and mechanisms introduced in the course of
implementing the article with the relevant initiatives
of regional, interregional and multilateral
organizations.
Introduction of codes of conduct for the performance
of public functions

31. Article 8:Codes of Conduct, Conflict of interests
The most important instruments to prevent and avoid conflict of interest are:
Restrictions on ancillary employment;
Declaration of personal income;
Declaration of family income; Declaration of personal assets;
Declaration of family assets;
Declaration of gifts;
Security and control of access to internal information;
Declaration of private interests relevant to the management of contracts;
Declaration of private interests relevant to decision-making;
Declaration of private interests relevant to participation in preparing or giving policy advice;
Public disclosure of declarations of income and assets;
Restrictions and control of post-employment business or NGO activities;
Restrictions and control of gifts and other forms of benefits;
Restrictions and control of external concurrent appointments (e.g. with an NGO, political
organisation, or government-owned corporation);
Recusal and routine withdrawal of public officials from public duty when participation in a
meeting or making a particular decision would place them in a position of conflict);
Personal and family restrictions on property titles of private companies;

32. Transparency measures and systems in the public
sector: Optional requirements
Article 7 (Public Sector), paragraph 1: to adopt,
maintain and strengthen systems for the recruitment,
hiring, retention, promotion and retirement of civil
servants and other non-elected public officials. These
systems must: (a) Be based on principles of efficiency,
transparency and objective criteria such as merit, equity
and aptitude; (b) Include adequate procedures for the
selection and training of individuals for public positions
considered especially vulnerable to corruption and the
rotation, where appropriate, of such individuals to other
positions; (c) Promote adequate remuneration and
equitable pay scales, taking into account the level of
economic development of the State party; (d) Promote
education and training programmes

33. Transparency measures and systems in the
public sector: Optional requirements
Article 7
States parties endeavour to adopt, maintain and strengthen systems
that promote transparency and prevent conflicts of interest
to establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make
declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, as a minimum:
(a) Their outside activities;
(b) Employment;
(c) Investments;
(d) Assets; and
(e) Substantial gifts or benefits; from which a conflict of interest may
result with respect to their functions as public officials (para. 5).

34. Transparency measures and systems in the
public sector: Optional requirements
Article 7
Recruitment and Hiring procedures of public servants
Promotion in Public Service: Staff rotation can be used a
corruption prevention measure, especially, for those
positions that are vulnerable to corruption, as it prevents
the institutionalization of corrupt activities.
Socio-Economic Protections of Public Servants
Transparency in Campaign Financing: to enhance
transparency in the funding of candidature for elected
public office and the funding of political parties.

35. The UNCAC Coalition: Who we are
The UNCAC Coalition is a global network of over240
civil society organisations (CSOs) in over 100
countries, committed to promoting the ratification,
implementation and monitoring of the UN
Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Established
in August 2006, it mobilises civil society action for
UNCAC at international, regional and national levels.

36. The UNCAC Coalition: Who we are
The UNCAC's framework is so comprehensive that it is relevant
for a wide range of CSOs. Consequently, the Coalition includes
international, regional and national groups working in the areas
of human rights, labour rights, governance, economic
development, environment and private sector accountability.
The member groups include AccessInfoEurope, AfriCOG, Basel
Institute on Governance, BRAC University Institute of
Governance, Christian Aid, Commonwealth Human Rights
Initiative, GAATW, Global Witness, Institute for Security Studies
in Africa, PSI Link, Tax Justice Network, Tearfund, Transparency
International, UNICORN and many many more. The secretariat
for the Coalition is provided by Transparency International, one
of its founding members.

37. The UNCAC Coalition: What we do
The Coalition engages in joint action around common positions on
the UNCAC, facilitates the exchange of information among
members, and supports national civil society efforts to promote
the UNCAC. Coalition members share views via the Coalition
website and internet mailing list and ad hoc working groups.
The Coalition's primary campaign objective during 2006 – 2009
was to secure an effective, transparent and participatory
monitoring mechanism for the UNCAC. To this end, members
engaged in joint advocacy ahead of and during key
intergovernmental meetings. This phase ended with the
adoption, in November 2009, of an UNCAC review mechanism
that started operation in July 2010. The Coalition now seeks to
ensure that civil society groups can contribute to the review
process and to support them in making quality submissions. It
also aims to gain government agreement to publish review
reports for public scrutiny.

38. The UNCAC Coalition: What we do
The Coalition also sets advocacy targets in relation to
specific UNCAC-related topics, such as access to
information, asset recovery and protection of
whistleblowers and anti-corruption activists.
A particular focus for the Coalition will remain the
sessions of the UNCAC Conferences of States Parties
(CoSP)—the next session will be in Morocco in
October 2011. Coalition members attend these
intergovernmental meetings as observers. They meet
with government delegates, submit statements,
publish a newsletter, produce blogs, press releases and
hold press briefings and much more.

39. Why joint action is important
Effective anti-corruption work demands efforts not
only from governments, but also from civil society
organisations, the private sector and the greater
public. The need for participation of civil society and
the importance of access to information are explicitly
recognised in Article 13 of the UNCAC.
Without pressure from civil society groups,
government anti-corruption commitments may
remain mere window dressing. Without coordinated
global action by a wide range of civil society groups,
the UNCAC may not achieve its promise.

40. Join us
An international member organisation, defined as a civil
society organisation working in three or more countries or with
affiliates in three or more countries.
A member organisation, defined as a civil society organisation
other than international, with any national affiliates of an
international member considered separate from that member.
An individual affiliate member, defined as a natural person
with no affiliation to a member organisation. Individual
members require an endorsement letter from an existing
Coalition member to support their application.
Apply: http://www.uncaccoalition.org/en/about-
us/join-us.html

41. Corruption is dead, Long Live Corruption!(?)