Director-General/Executive Director
President Sandu,
Minister Tugenhadt,
Ms. Power,
Esteemed colleagues, Mr. Malpass, Mr. Steiner
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen
Let me start by thanking Transparency International and the US State Department for convening this conference, at such a critical time.
I wish to recognize the U.S. Government’s focus on anti-corruption, not only by hosting this conference but also the Summit for Democracy and the UNCAC Conference of State Parties next year.
In Africa alone, illicit financial flows are estimated at about $50 billion per year.
According to the World Economic Forum, $2 trillion is lost to corruption every year, with developing countries bearing the brunt of the costs. This severely undermines our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Corruption drains money from economic development and sorely needed public services like schools and hospitals.
The International community cannot afford to continue with business as usual, if we are to achieve our goals in building sustainable, prosperous, peaceful and resilient societies.
Daily we see the damage corruption is causing to global peace and security. As well as its links to organized crime and terrorism.
I would like to share with you what I consider are three of the most pressing areas necessary to tackle corruption.
Firstly, we need a renewed commitment to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime is the guardian of the UN conventions against corruption and against transnational organized crime. Coupled with our expertise in countering terrorism we are uniquely placed to develop a coordinated response.
We support over 185 countries to prevent and take legal action against corruption, through the UN Convention against Corruption Convention, or UNCAC, as it is known.
Next year, the Convention reaches its 20th anniversary since being adopted in 2003. What we have achieved over the past two decades is nothing short of remarkable.
As the world’s only legally binding anti-corruption instrument it has brought together nearly every single country and offered an agreed-upon blueprint for nations to bolster their responses domestically and internationally.
However, as we are all acutely aware, there is too often a disconnect between commitments and implementation.
Despite the international community committing to UNCAC and all States having anti-corruption measures in place, these too often remain on paper, and lack enforcement.
Successful domestic and international corruption cases, bringing perpetrators to justice and returning stolen assets are testimony that we have the tools we need to prevent and fight corruption, but we need to get better in using them effectively.
There are also a number of aspects of the Convention where we need to do far more. Whistle-blower protection, public procurement, international cooperation, public sector integrity, and financial investigations are all key elements where implementation is sorely lacking.
Second, trust needs to be re-established between leaders and citizens.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has spoken about a ‘trust deficit disorder’ – something which is becoming ever-more apparent as divides in our society widen.
Amidst growing social discontent seen daily across the globe, we know that corruption plays a major factor in this.
Whether this is politicians distorting electoral processes; officials pocketing stolen funds with little or no recourse; or business leaders circumventing the laws and escaping justice – the results are the same: massive societal discontent and a worsening trust deficit.
Third, we need to build greater collaboration through multisectoral anti-corruption coalitions
In order to truly counter corruption and the myriad forms it can take, we must inspire and engage the whole of society to tackle corruption.
The private sector, civil society, educators, and sports officials need to be involved in anti-corruption efforts.
Women and youth need to be engaged and empowered to become leaders and partners to better fight corruption.
Ladies and gentlemen, while I have outlined these three points as separate items, they cannot be seen in isolation from one another. They are truly intertwined and only by approaching our anti-corruption response with all elements in mind can we present a game-changing response.
In our effort to provide tailored and technical support, this year we established our first anti-corruption regional hubs in Africa and Latin America. We are actively working to expand these into other regions.
In today’s interconnected world economy, regional and global cooperation are vital for addressing crimes at all levels.
Transparent information sharing across borders is key.
UNODC’s Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities – GlobE – speaks to this. Launched last June, it already connects 127 entities between almost 70 countries.
The network gives anti-corruption authorities easy access to contact points in other countries to exchange experiences, resources and the tools to track, investigate and prosecute cross-border corruption.
Of course, it is not enough to just identify and prosecute. Asset recovery is crucial to disincentivizing corruption and restoring much-needed funds to local economies and social services. While return of assets is identified as a fundamental principle of UNCAC, countries are facing numerous challenges: from lack of political will and proper legal and policy frameworks, to lack of institutional and individual capacity and barriers related to communication and trust among countries involved.
To respond to these challenges, we have teamed up with the World Bank to address asset recovery efforts around the globe. The Stolen Asset Recovery initiative – StAR – supports international efforts to end safe havens for corrupt funds.
In times of emergencies, we must have anti-corruption safeguards upfront and in place. We are all too aware that COVID-19 response and recovery efforts highlighted that with significant amounts of money come significant risks.
On the eve of the first COVID-19 vaccines being approved for use, UNODC issued a policy paper on corruption risks in the manufacture, allocation and distribution of vaccines. The paper has been downloaded from the UNODC website over 150,000 times.
Last year, we published a guide to promote reporting on corruption in the healthcare sector and to protect whistle-blowers.
And we have active projects to increase transparency that focus on emergency procurement in the health-care sector in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Indonesia, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa, and Timor-Leste.
UNODC is also looking ahead to emerging trends to proactively deal with future risks.
How can we protect climate financing to ensure that the green transition is not undermined by corrupt practices?
How can we manage the balance between transparency and privacy with the increased use of technology?
While tackling corruption is the responsibility of States, it will never be achieved in a vacuum.
Next year, we will organize regional dialogues for civil society, youth, and academia to develop recommendations on how to accelerate the implementation of the Convention and the political declaration adopted at the UN General Assembly special session on corruption in 2021.
As we see with the World Cup, the sporting industry is a multi-billion-dollar business that can unite the world. UNODC works to shield it, and our youth, from corruption.
Our strong collaboration with sports organizations, such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, we aim to tackle corruption in and through sports.
Last year, UNODC published the first Global Report on Corruption in Sport, which contains policy recommendations for governments and sports organization on how to increase cooperation to better prevent, detect and report on corruption in the sporting world.
We have also increasingly bolstered our partnership with the private sector to help businesses – in particular small businesses – identify and mitigate corruption risks.
We know that public procurement is a serious corruption risk, leading to losses of an average of 8-25% of a contract’s value.
Even using the most conservative estimate of 8 percent of the value of procurement contracts (or approximately $880 billion) – more than 5 times developmental aid disbursed in 2019 – was lost to corruption.
For companies to be able to operate successfully in a business environment in which corruption is not tolerated, it is essential that the next generation of business leaders understand the risks of corruption and the international instruments which guide national anti-corruption efforts.
Our Global Integrity Education project equips university graduates with the knowledge and ethical perspectives at the start of their careers, to help them become a force for business integrity in their future workplaces.
To date, more than 28,000 students from universities in Kenya, Mexico and Pakistan have been taught the UNODC university integrity modules. They now possess increased awareness of ethical issues and knowledge of how to prevent and counter corruption in the private sector.
We also need more women leaders in business and at the board table.
An inclusive society is a less corrupt society. Diversity breaks up networks and the environment that enables them.
It is clear that youth and children have the most at stake. Every effort must be made to bolster anti-corruption education to connect, engage and empower the next generations.
Our work, through the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment initiative – or GRACE – extends to primary and secondary-level education systems to embed notions and values of integrity in school programmes.
Ladies and gentlemen. I started my remarks by outlining three key areas that I believe are essential to our joint goal of effectively tackling corruption: re-establishing trust; forging new collaborations; and ensuring the effective implementation of the Convention.
I look forward to strengthening our partnership with you all, to make these areas a reality as we work to fight corruption.
Thank you.