12 October 2020, Online
12 October 2020: UNODC, in partnership with the University of Sussex, organized on behalf of the Saudi G20 Presidency a virtual meeting for academics to hear from them what G20 countries can do to advance the fight against corruption in selected areas. The roundtable prepared the ground for the pre-meeting session of the G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meeting on 22 October.
The event provided a forum for academic experts on anti-corruption to discuss possible recommendations to G20 Ministers on how research can inform policymakers in the areas of public procurement, cooperation of anti-corruption law enforcement practitioners and measurement of anti-corruption efforts, in line with the priorities under the Saudi G20 Presidency.
The roundtable brought together 40 individuals with extensive expertise in researching corruption and anti-corruption from universities and think tanks based in G20 countries as well as international organizations, including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), INTERPOL and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).
The event commenced with opening remarks delivered by UNODC and the Saudi G20 Presidency. Professor Liz David-Barrett from the University of Sussex introduced the three topics covered by the roundtable: (i) cooperation among law enforcement agencies; (ii) corruption in public procurement; and (iii) measuring corruption and the impact of anti-corruption policy. After the opening, the participants were split into two breakout groups to discuss and identify recommendations related to 1.) enhancing cooperation of anti-corruption law enforcement practitioners and 2.) targeting corruption in public procurement. The breakout sessions were followed by a plenary discussion on how academia can help distil learning and assess the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures. Rapporteurs from each group reported back to the plenary on the outcomes of the respective discussions.
The discussions at the roundtable formed the basis for a set of recommendations which Professor Liz David-Barrett presented to the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group on 19 October and to the G20 Ministerial Meeting on 22 October 2020.
The recommendations are available here.