View this email in your browser

The global civil society network for the implementation and monitoring of the
United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)

Dear Reader,

Civil society participation in the UNCAC has been on top of our agenda in the past weeks: In July, the European Union requested a Special Session of the UNCAC Conference of the States Parties (CoSP), to take a decision on the participation of leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The groups included four UNCAC Coalition member organizations, that were excluded from the last Conference due to objections by Türkiye. The active support of 95 States that have joined the UNCAC is needed for a Special Session to take place, which would allow for voting on the participation of the NGOs.

Following extensive outreach by the UNCAC Coalition and many of its members, around 70 States submitted letters of support to the UNCAC Secretariat. While not meeting the high threshold to approve the Special Session, it signals unprecedented support for an inclusive UNCAC. It also indicates that many States are supportive of overturning the exclusion of observers from the UNCAC through voting. This shift will ultimately strengthen the “Vienna Spirit of Consensus“, under which decisions in UN fora in Vienna have been taken without voting, aiming to ensure truly inclusive processes and decisions. However, a growing number of countries in several UN fora have started to abuse this consensus to veto the participation of leading NGOs for political reasons.

The next opportunity to address the exclusion of NGOs will now be the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) in October: once again, some States have objected to the participation of leading NGOs in that Conference.

UNCAC Coalition at the 13th IRG

The UNCAC Coalition participated in the annual UNCAC NGO briefing on the margins of the 13th Session of the UNCAC Implementation Review Group (IRG) at the UN in Vienna, where the UNCAC Secretariat presented updates on the status of the UNCAC review and its implementation. Ever-increasing restrictions to civic space in anti-corruption issues on the ground continue to be a pressing concern, which was evident in the questions and comments raised on the floor. Civil society representatives shared their efforts to advance UNCAC implementation and highlighted the need to make the UNCAC review mechanism more transparent, inclusive and effective.

The Coalition also organized two side events during the IRG week. The first, on Preventing Corruption and Tracing Assets through Beneficial Ownership Transparency (BOT), with Transparency International and the support of Norway, brought together expert panelists from civil society, investigative journalism, law-enforcement and government to discuss the importance of full public access to information on the ultimate owners of companies through central registries. The speakers touched upon the urgent need for BOT in the midst of the transnational corruption crisis, highlighted by events such as the war in Ukraine; the crucial role of ownership data from public registers to facilitate the automatic assessment and investigation of suspicious transactions reports and possible cases of money laundering; and the negative impact that a lack of BO information have on communities and citizens. Publicly accessible company registers which draw on different sources for information, as is the practice in Denmark, have streamlined investigations.

Another event focusing on the struggles faced by human rights defenders and civil society working against corruption, sponsored by Chile and Switzerland, discussed ways to strengthen civil society participation in UNCAC processes. The lack of protection for human rights defenders and activists working against corruption is alarming, as exhibited in a recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Greater cooperation between different UN bodies, in recognition of anti-corruption work as an issue of human rights, and developing confidential whistleblowing mechanisms were highlighted as potential remedies. From the perspective of the UNCAC review, the Coalition underlined the need for governments to ensure a transparent and inclusive UNCAC review process: whether through committing to the Transparency Pledge principles or releasing information upon request. Embassies can be allies to civil society by providing technical assistance and guidelines for safety, whereas States Parties to the UNCAC are urged to consider including civil society representatives in their official country delegations as part of UNCAC IRG or CoSP meetings.

Welcome to our new members

A warm welcome to our new member organization, Uniting Church in Australia, as well as individual members Adam Graycar and Luis Fernando Orozco Alvarez!

Through an emphasis on anti-corruption policies with a gender and feminist perspective, Mexiro A.C. seeks to decentralize power. Read more about their successes and the motivation behind their work.

Get to know the UNCAC Coalition’s global network:
what matters to us?

Earlier this year, the UNCAC Coalition asked members and affiliated organizations about their recent activities, priority issues, major challenges and engagement with UNCAC-related activities. The survey also requested feedback on how the Coalition can support members’ advocacy objectives and promote greater engagement with our network.

The findings of the survey show that the Coalition’s membership is focused on advocating for the adoption of many important anti-corruption policies but shrinking civic space poses a significant challenge in carrying out this work. Curious to know more? Take a look at the main global findings as well as a regional breakdown of the results.

Regional Meetings

Members of the Coalition’s network recently came together for a series of regional meetings:

• The Europe regional meeting focused on access to information, with speakers from Access Info Europe, Albania-based Centre for Development and Democratization of Institutions (CDDI) and the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA) from Armenia taking the floor to present examples of their work on ATI and to discuss civil society priorities on the advancement of this right.

• The Latin America & Caribbean regional meeting focussed on the links between gender and corruption, with insights from Paraguay and Mexico, as well as a regional overview from Transparency International, followed by a rich discussion among members.

• The Sub-Saharan Africa regional meeting addressed political and public integrity, with presentations from organizations in Uganda, Burundi, and Nigeria.

• The Asia-Pacific regional meeting included presentations from New Zealand, Taiwan and Malaysia on issues related to transparency in beneficial ownership.

VoC Short Film Series

The UNCAC Coalition launched the Short Film Series: Unveiling our Stories “ Victims of Corruption” based on the videos submitted to the Short Film Contest last year. Our feature films for the summer are The Boogeyman: Who Killed Sherry Anne Duncan? and Corruption Files: The Whistleblower: Ana Garrido.

Corruption is happening behind closed doors. Society as a whole, institutions, communities, the public, and individuals are victimized, due to both direct and indirect consequences of corruption. Therefore, the aim of our short film series is to give a voice, a face, and a platform to such victims of corruption who struggle to be recognized and who are seeking reparation.

Please follow the series on social media with the hashtags #VoCSeries, #VictimsofCorruption, and #Corruption. Learn more about the Short Film Series here!

Interesting Reads

Upcoming Events

• UNCAC CoSP intersessional meeting on follow-up to the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption (Vienna): 5-8 September 2022

• First resumed 13th session of the IRG (Vienna): 8-9 September 2022

• Open Government Partnership – Open Americas (Santo Domingo): 26-29 September 2022

• Open Government Partnership – Europe Regional Meeting (Rome): 11-12 October 2022

• UNTOC Conference of the States Parties (Vienna): 17-21 October 2022

• Open Government Partnership – Africa and the Middle East Regional Meeting (Marrakech): 1-3 November 2022