UNDP congratulates Mr. Richard Nephew of the United States, Coordinator of the Global Anti-Corruption, on his election as President, as well as the officers of the Bureau at this Tenth Session of the Conference of States Parties to UNCAC. 

UNDP thanks this year’s host, the Government of the United States, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Secretariat of the Conference of State Parties (CoSP), for successfully organizing this important event. 

This year’s conference coincides with the 20^th anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). We have come a long way since its adoption. 

Successes include reforms by States Parties to adopt stronger laws and measures against corruption in line with the UNCAC, as well as the development of a framework to offer guidance to members states on national statistics on corruption and anti-corruption. 

UNODC, UNDP and UN/DPPA, as co-chairs of the UN Global Task Force on Corruption, are also working together to implement the ‘UN Common Position to Address Global Corruption’ and provide technical support to member states by strengthening our coherence and coordination across UN agencies and institutions, including working with WHO on transparency in the health sector. 

In order to achieve Agenda 2030, UNDP recognizes the need to mainstream anti-corruption across all development areas, including biodiversity preservation, climate, energy, health, and justice systems. 

In Tunisia, for example, we supported the integration of corruption risk management in the water, transportation and military health sectors. Results included a reduction in the embezzlement of medicine and enhanced efficiency in the delivery of public healthcare.

We continue to work on strengthening the role of anti-corruption networks of governments, civil societies, businesses and academia to promote a “whole-of-society approach” to combating corruption, including strengthening business integrity in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, and through UNDP’s technical assistance to the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network (ACINET).

With support from our donor partners, such as Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the European Union, last year alone, UNDP supported more than 60 countries in strengthening national anti-corruption systems and capacities. 

For instance, we supported Uzbekistan in shaping its anti-corruption policy. In Armenia, we assisted the national anti-corruption agency in developing a corruption risk assessment methodology, and in Papua New Guinea, together with UNODC, we provided support to strengthen the Government’s commitment and capacities to address corruption in line with UNCAC. UNDP also supported ASEAN countries to strengthen judicial integrity and the accountability of courts.

In Europe and the CIS region, we are promoting the integrity of public institutions and public service delivery in Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we are strengthening a network of anti-corruption practitioners in Argentina, Mexico, Belize, Ecuador, and Panama.

UNDP is also harnessing the benefits of digital tools and technology to promote transparency, accountability and integrity in service delivery in 11 countries in Asia and Africa. Our support has ranged from using data and digital monitoring tools to tackle illegal environmental practices to strengthening anti-corruption measures in health service delivery and procurement processes.

While we celebrate this progress, we also recognize the urgent need to do more by strengthening the effectiveness of norms, laws and institutions against corruption, and the measurement of corruption and anti-corruption efforts to track and monitor progress. In 2024, together with our partners, we will focus on developing indices for tracking progress on public procurement and business integrity, and UNCAC compliance.     

In closing, UNDP is proud to have been part of UNCAC’s 20-year journey and we celebrate this important anniversary. However, we also need to accelerate our efforts to combat corruption. 

UNDP reaffirms its commitment to support member states, UNODC, and other development partners in leveraging UNCAC as an invaluable instrument in building the future we want.  

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