Corruption affects the enjoyment of human rights globally in as many ways as there are corrupt practices. The connection between the two is simple and linear in some cases, in others complex and interwoven with many other governance issues: crime, economic development, business regulation. Might human rights provide a normative and evaluative framework for assessing anti-corruption policies?
The call for a “Human Rights Approach to Anti-Corruption” is gaining traction among states, but what does that mean? Just as importantly, what needs to happen for the call for Human Rights Approach to Anti-Corruption not to become an empty shell, yet another element of agreed language in international agreements?
The aim of this workshop is to assess recommendations for the human rights and the anti-corruption communities to work closer together and connect all the elements of a human rights approach to anti-corruption:
- What could human rights mechanisms do to address corruption in a meaningful manner for anti-corruption practitioners?
- What could anti-corruption practitioners provide to human rights mechanisms to improve understanding of the many forms corruption take and the myriad of ways it impacts on human rights?
- Can a human rights approach to anti-corruption help break the myths and stereotypes (corruption is as inevitable as disease is; human rights protect only the powerful and corrupt) that engender scepticism about the relevance of human rights for anti-corruption?
Session Rapporteur: Isis Sartori Reis
