Business Affirms Commitment to Anti-Corruption in Post-2015 Era

(11 December 2012, New York) – On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, businesses and other stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to scaling up anti-corruption efforts and emphasized the importance of investing in shared platforms for collective action during the 11th Meeting of the Global Compact Working Group on the 10th Principle Against Corruption.

Concluding today, the meeting convened nearly 100 business executives, UN officials, civil society leaders, anti-corruption experts and academics at UN Headquarters. The opening session featured a high-level panel discussion on Business Action Against Corruption and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, with panellists including H.E. Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations; Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact; Olav Kjørven, Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP; and Samuel DiPiazza, Vice-Chairman, Institutional Clients Group, Citigroup. The panel highlighted the importance of integrating anti-corruption issues into the post-2015 development process, as most Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets are set to expire in 2015, and called on business to demonstrate leadership by conveying the business case for anti-corruption and joining forces with others.

H.E. Kamau stated that “the post-2015 development agenda must include anti-corruption issues. Without it, our aspirations cannot be attained.” He continued, “Business will need to take a stronger leadership role in this, especially through the number of services that business increasingly provides.”

Georg Kell also noted, “Corruption is the greatest barrier to sustainable development. Although awareness and willingness to address the issue have increased, business actions are lagging behind policies on anti-corruption.”

Meeting participants also expressed their commitment to bring the businesses perspective on the anti-corruption and integrity agenda into the global discussion shaping development priorities after 2015. In particular, participants agreed to explore how to bring transparency in public procurement and public disclosure more prominently into these processes, and indicated their interest in working more closely with Global Compact Local Networks to advance the tenth principle.

Additional topics covered during the meeting ranged from anti-corruption disclosure and supply chain management to collective action and efforts to educate professionals on the risks associated with corruption. While participants acknowledged that progress has been made to raise awareness of business’ role in reducing corruption, they agreed that more action is needed to tackle corruption in the private sector – for example by utilizing the Working Group to elevate existing business-led anti-corruption efforts. Further opportunities to advance the Global Compact’s anti-corruption activities were identified:

• Participants explored how the Working Group can increase corporate disclosure on the tenth principle through the annual mandatory requirement of the Communication on Progress (COP).
• The Group reviewed opportunities to bolster existing collective action projects by helping Local Networks to adopt their own anti-corruption collective action models to tackle localized challenges.
• The Group agreed to a review of its terms of reference in order to promote renewed action at the global and country levels.

• Agenda: 11th Meeting of the Working Group on the 10th Principle Against Corruption
• Learn more about the Global Compact’s Anti-Corruption activities and the Working Group

Contact

Ms. Olajobi Makinwa
Head, Transparency & Anti-Corruption Initiatives
UN Global Compact
makinwa@un.org