The global civil society network for the implementation and monitoring of the
United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)
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Dear Reader,
- updating and strengthening the UNCAC implementation review mechanism,
- adopting common international standards for settlements in cross-border corruption cases,
- developing binding standards to protect human rights defenders, anti-corruption advocates, investigative journalists and whistleblowers,
- introducing country-by-country reporting of financial information of multinational corporations,
- strengthening transparency in public contracting,
- creating a multinational mediation mechanism to advance asset recovery and return and to strengthen compensation of victims, and
- including civil society in international policy-making fora.
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Preparations for the UNGASS 2021
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We hope that key recommendations of the FACTI Panel will also be reflected in the political declaration of the UNGASS. The preparations are entering their final phase, and States Parties are meeting on a weekly basis to negotiate the declaration.
The next weeks present the final opportunity to build momentum for a forward-looking, bold political declaration that would ensure substantive progress and raise the bar in global anti-corruption efforts.
While too many governments are absent or so far have failed to push for a truly progressive UNGASS political declaration, including most EU countries, civil society is closely following the preparations and is trying to get governments to agree to bold commitments:
- The Coalition has briefed more than 50 civil society groups on the UNGASS preparations – you can find a summary of our briefings here;
- UNCAC Coalition representatives spoke at the 3rd intersessional meeting to prepare for the UNGASS, calling on States to advance prevention efforts (beneficial ownership transparency, contracting transparency, access to information);
- The Coalition has met with more than 30 diplomatic delegations on the UNGASS to discuss our priority issues.
Appeal to commit to transparency in company ownership for the common good
The UNCAC Coalition is among more than 700 organisations, companies, and individuals from 120 countries that have signed an appeal by Transparency International, calling on the UN General Assembly to commit to full transparency of company ownership during the Special Session against Corruption. The persons ultimately controlling companies should be made transparent through national registers of beneficial company owners that are freely accessible to the public.
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The following countries were set to commence their second cycle implementation review of the UNCAC in 2020, meaning that much of the review process evaluating their implementation of Chapters II (prevention) and V (asset recovery) should take place this year:
Angola, Bangladesh, Belize, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Canada, Chad, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gambia, India, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Namibia, New Zealand, Niger, Niue, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Tonga, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
Many of the country reviews that started in previous years are delayed and still ongoing.
Recent developments:
- Bolivia has published its Executive Summary (Spanish) from the Second Cycle Review,
- New Zealand has recently published the Full Country Report from its First Cycle Review, making it one of only 14 countries that have published the full-report and self-assessment checklist for the First Cycle.
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Litigating on Behalf of Victims
Activists from TOJIL, a Mexican member of the UNCAC Coalition, have filed a claim with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, seeking to be recognized as representatives of victims of corruption to tackle impunity in the case of Javier Duarte, a former governor. Read more about the case here.
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UNCAC Coalition Annual Report
To learn more about the work of the Coalition, see our Annual Report 2019, as we are working on our report for the past year. In the first year of the Vienna Hub Office being operational, we participated in and coordinated civil society workshops, as well as side-events of the UNCAC Implementation Review Group, and undertook many other advocacy activities. See the highlights here.
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Upcoming Regional Webinars
Following the success of the first regional webinar for Latin America, the Coalition is working with Regional Coordinators and their respective platforms to introduce regular regional meetings. All interested Coalition members and affiliated groups can participate in exchanges on specific anti-corruption priorities they are working on. Stay tuned to our newsletter for more updates in the coming weeks.
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IDFI Public Procurement Ratings
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Time for a Mark II of the UNCAC?
On the Global Anticorruption Blog, Alan Doig discussed weaknesses in the existing UNCAC framework and explored ideas for an "innovative, flexible" update to the Convention, roping in actors like the UNCAC Coalition. Read the blog post here.
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UNODC Strategy 2021-2025
UNODC, the secretariat for the UNCAC, published its strategy for the next five years. With one of the thematic areas of focus being combating corruption and economic crimes, the strategy emphasises the need to advance measures to implement the UNCAC and underlines UNODC's partnership with civil society. Browse the strategy here.
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Donor Performance in Anti-corruption
The U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre has published a report outlining new pathways for donors to improve outcomes in their anti-corruption contributions. The main findings and full report can be accessed here.
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Do you have relevant news or a success story linked to the UNCAC that you would like to feature in our next newsletter? Send us an email with the subject line "Newsletter" at info@uncaccoalition.org!
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Welcome to our new members!
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Learn more about the current Member in the Spotlight - TOJIL Mexico - here.
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