18th International Anti-Corruption Conference

Corruption is a cross-cutting issue with far-reaching negative impacts on development, from the distribution of resources to erosion of public trust in institutions and the rule of law to hampering investment. To achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development corruption must be tackled given the linkages across all the goals and its real life impacts.

 UNCAC and its review mechanism is the only internationally binding instrument and can measure progress towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 16. Therefore, UNODC has developed a manual on how CSOs have successfully contributed to the Convention and how they can further develop their expertise. Panelists  from Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia and Southeast Europe will present their cases in a workshop shared by UNODC. The event will be an opportunity to launch the publication which informs CSOs, governments and other interested parties on the potential entry points and best practises for engaging on the UNCAC.

Session Rapporteur: Neil Wilcock

Under the leadership of the OECD and the multi-stakeholder Water Governance Initiative (WGI), the 12 OECD ‘Principles’ were promulgated in 2015 to promote good governance in the water sector through improving effectiveness, efficiency and trust and engagement; Principle 9 focuses on Integrity and Transparency. These Principles are supported by the 35 OECD member countries, 7 non-member countries and 140+ stakeholder groups, including Transparency International. Since then, the WGI has catalyzed governance success stories as well as developed and tested indicators (in 12 countries and 4 continents) to support the implementation of the Principles, consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Going forward, the WGI aims to widen its focus and reach, to include capacity development, and a substantial number of African countries. The aims of this session are to: (a) demonstrate how the OECD ‘Principles ‘ provide a framework for promoting accountability, sustainable development and social justice in the water sector; and (b) engage new stakeholders in the Principles’ implementation.

The water sector is vulnerable to corruption because of: (a) its fragmented governance; (b) its high investment requirements; and (c) high levels of involvement of the corruption-prone construction sector in implementing hydraulic infrastructure investments. Thus, it is appropriate to review the approach of the WGI to address these and related challenges, including the implementation of Water Governance Principle 9 and its relevance in meeting the SDG 16.5 targets “substantial reduction in bribery and corruption”.

The session’s target group includes stakeholders interested/involved in: promoting good governance in the water sector i.e. advocacy CSOs and other water sector actors, agencies engaged in anticorruption reforms and programs; supreme audit institutions and private sector institutions; sectoral initiatives i.e. the media and development partners/donors; and improving governance in other SDGs, where water plays a critical part e.g. Affordable and Clean Energy and Life on Land.

Session Rapporteur:  Umrbek Allakulov

Since the end of World War Two, the United States has sought to promote democracy, human rights, press freedom and justice across the world, based on values and models that find their basis in the US Constitution and the perspectives of the founders of the United States. BUT, rarely before have there been so many simultaneous challenges to this model in the United States as today and the impact, at home and globally on anti-corruption is already significant and could become far more sinister.

The workshop aims to inform and educate – and increase understanding among anticorruption fighters of the global economic, political, strategic and humanitarian consequences of the evolving dangerous situation in the United States.

The workshop will explore some of the following issues and explain their international significance:
Never before have the core institutional pillars of U.S. democracy been as gravely under siege as they are today. Conflicts of interest and unethical activities are a