Global Compact Network Brazil Promotes Workshop on Collective Action Against Corruption

The following is an article submitted by a Global Compact Local Network. Please contact the network representative listed below with any questions regarding its contents.

(Sao Paulo, 21 March 2017) —  Global Compact Network Brazil hosted, on March 21, in São Paulo, the Collective Action Workshop: Challenges and Opportunities in Anti-corruption. The event, which gathered approximately 60 people in the Regional Council of Administration (CRA-SP), is the first event within the Collective Action Projects initiative that will be conducted through June 2018. The initiative will take place simultaneously in three other local networks of the UN Global Compact: Nigeria, Kenya and Japan.

“The event marks a chapter we are opening today. It is a great opportunity to further dialogue on the fight against corruption in a structured manner, identifying challenges and working on solutions”, stated André Oliveira, president of the Global Compact Network Brazil and Legal Director and CCO of BASF South America. He also stressed that the Anti-corruption Thematic Group is one of the most active and dedicated groups in the network.

“Our idea is to identify crucial challenges, seek and share solutions and train mainly small and medium enterprises, which, because of their smaller structures, end up having more difficulty in this area”, he said, referring to the Tenth Principle of the UN Global Compact.

Reynaldo Goto, Coordinator of the Anti-corruption Working Group of the Global Compact Network and Compliance Director of Siemens, talked about the project. “The idea here is to establish a new collective action group in Brazil in function of our demands. In this first workshop, the idea is to make an great mapping of the moment’s challenges”, he explained.

The initiative’s main objective is to implement a platform for learning and dialogue to fight corruption in the private sector and, for this, bring relevant stakeholders to identify key challenges and ways of solving them collectively. 

“We are perhaps experiencing one of the most important moments of our history as a country and as a society. But at the same time, I am fully convinced that we will only get through this difficult time if we work together. Brazil’s problem is not civil construction, it is not the trains, and it is not the meat. Brazil’s problem is corruption”, pointed out Oliveira.

Throughout the day, the participants followed discussions about the regulatory agenda, challenges, collective efforts and tools, platforms and opportunities in the fight against corruption.

Claudia Taya, Secretary of Transparency and Corruption Prevention of the Ministry of Transparency, Inspection and Comptroller General of the Federal Government, stressed the importance of including small and medium enterprises in the anti-corruption process. To this end, she says that the Federal Comptroller General’s Office is wagering on partnerships with Sebrae’s Honest Company Program in order to get close to the sector. “Corruption is a two-way street, and for every corrupter there is a corrupted”, she specified, about the importance of having broad anti-corruption programs, contemplating both the public and private sectors.

Taya’s view was reinforced by the Secretary of the Economic and Social Development Council of the Civil House, Patrícia Audi. “The fight against corruption is a collective action. There is no protagonist, a sole person who is responsible”, she said. She also pointed out progress that has been made in the fight against corruption in the country. “Brazil has been doing its part and is giving a great example to the world in the fight against corruption”, remarked Audi about Operação Lava Jato [Car Wash Operation], the investigation responsible for arresting politicians and businessmen – something that would be considered impossible by most Brazilians a few years ago.

She also weighed in on the importance of reconsidering the Brazilian political system, and that the fight against corruption permeates all public policies. “It’s no use changing the players without thinking about rethinking a political reform that is efficient”, she remarked.

Reynaldo Goto also joins the chorus that defends reforms in the Brazilian society, and sees education as the main tool to fight corruption. “I think that there is a convergence of understanding linked to basic education. The great challenge is execution”. The coordinator of the Anti-corruption Working Group also stated that there is no easy way out for the problem and stressed the importance of companies investing in the future, even in the face of a crisis scenario in uncertainties.

Roberto Livianu, from Instituto Não Aceito Corrupção [I Do Not Accept Corruption Institute], pointed out in his speech that corruption will not be solved by chance, and that there is need for action in the political field. “In 2018, we need to clean up because our political representation is deplorable. There is no political representation that legislates in the interest of society”, he criticized. During his speech, the prosecutor also made a series of provocations, like defending the end of the privileged forum in Brazil and criticizing the retroactive prescription of crimes, something that, in his opinion, scratches Brazil’s image before the international community.

Livianu also talked about the cost of corruption, a figure which, according to him, is incalculable. “You cannot know how much corruption costs because most cases are not denounced, either because of fear or because it is not convenient. What we know is the tip of the iceberg”, he said.

News update: On 13 June, Global Compact Network Brazil hosted a second anti-corruption workshop, highlighting success stories of business fighting corruption. Read the full update here.