UN official urges greater effort by private and public sectors to fight corruption

The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today urged both the public and private sectors in the world’s major economies to implement measures to combat corruption, saying the vice undermined societies and had the capacity to trigger civil unrest.

“As recent events in North Africa and the Middle East have demonstrated, corruption has the power to shake the very foundations of society,” said Yury Fedotov, the UNODC Executive Director, in a press release.

“Even in regions where peace and prosperity prevail, corruption takes a heavy toll,” said Mr. Fedotov, addressing the opening of a two-day conference in Paris entitled “Joining Forces against Corruption: G-20 Business and Government.”

The conference was organised by the French presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) – which unites industrialized and developing economies on key issues of the global economy – and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“The international community is grateful for the private sector’s support for the United Nations Convention against Corruption. But now it’s time for business to move beyond declarations to concrete actions,” said Mr. Fedotov. “The private sector can play a key role to enhance accountability and transparency and to strengthen the global economy,” he added.

The conference in Paris follows the commitment last year by G20 leaders at their Summit in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, where they adopted an anti-corruption action plan that recognizes the centrality of the UN Convention against Corruption.

The G20 action plan provides a common approach and an opportunity for countries to lead the global fight against corruption by example. It also recognizes that the private sector has an essential role to play.

Mr. Fedotov presented four proposals on what business can do to eliminate corruption – adopt private sector anti-corruption policies aligned with the UN Convention against Corruption; establish a credible mechanism to review its own commitments to integrity; invest in strengthening public integrity in developing countries; and invest in keeping corruption out of business supply chains.

“In October this year, the Conference of States Parties to the Convention against Corruption will meet in Marrakech, Morocco to take stock of global progress in preventing corruption. I hope that the private sector will use the months leading up to the conference to develop specific policies and concrete steps to fight corruption,” said Mr. Fedotov.

The UN Convention against Corruption is the first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument. It obliges States to prevent and criminalize corruption, promote international cooperation, recover stolen assets and improve technical assistance and information exchange.