This workshop was co-organized by the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in partnership with the Division for Treaty Affairs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the aim to build capacities among participants from governments, civil society, the private sector and academia, to enhance the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), in particular its chapter II on Preventive Measures, through the sharing of experiences and lessons learned among practitioners, experts and researchers.
The objectives of the workshop were to:
(a) Strengthen the participants’ capacities to formulate programs and strategies to enhance public sector accountability and prevent corruption, including the use of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT);
(b) Provide participants with conceptual frameworks and tools to improve accountability and prevent corruption through citizens’ engagement, including the use of ICT tools;
(c) Identify good practices in accountability and corruption prevention, especially in the case of participatory approaches, as well as obstacles and key challenges;
(d) Strengthen the exchange of experiences networks on accountability and corruption prevention among experts and practitioners, with a view to enhance the dissemination of knowledge on citizens’ engagement in preventing corruption for better public service delivery ; and
(e) Help to identify substantive expertise to support States’ capacity with regard to citizens engagement in preventing corruption for better public service delivery, in particular also to advance implementation of Chapter II of the UNCAC.
The workshop was one of the special events organized in the margins of the Fourth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC. The overall conference gathered more than 1500 persons from over 140 countries.
In particular, this workshop on citizens engagement to counter corruption in services related to the Millennium Development Goals was attended by approximately 120 experts, practitioners, researchers and individuals interested in the engagement of citizens by the public administration from national and local governments, civil society, academia and the private sector. They came from 33 countries around the world (23 developing countries and 10 developed), as well as from eight international organizations: Council of Europe, International IDEA, OECD, OSCE, UNDESA, UNECA, UNODC and UN-OIOS. The workshop also beneffited from the participation of Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Secretary Generals from Ministries of Public Service or equivalents, from Egypt, Mexico, Morocco and Zimbabwe, and the participation of an Under-Secretary General and two Directors from the UN, as well as by three members of the UN Committee of Experts in Public Administration (CEPA), from Jordan, Morocco and the United Kingdom. The workshop had interpretation in English, French, and Arabic.
The submission of the workshop participants to the Plenary of the 4th Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), summarizing key considerations on the importance of engaging citizens in the fight against corruption, is included below for easy reference, together with the papers and presentations submitted by the speakers as background materials for the workshop. The conclusions and recommendations reached by all participants at the end of the workshop, will be included in the workshop report, to be distributed online in the following weeks.
The workshop had interpretation in English, French, and Arabic.
Documents:
Concept Note
Agenda
Participant List
Evaluation Results
Workshop Report
Papers and Presentations:
Peride Blind. Perspectives on Corruption Metrics. 2011
Roberto Villarreal. Presentation: Opening Session:
Welcoming Remarks and Introduction to the Workshop. 2011
Matthew Taylor. Engaging Citizens and Their Organizations to Prevent Corruption in the Delivery of Public Services, for Achieving the MDGs: Building National Integrity Systems. 2011
Matthew Taylor. Engaging Citizens to Prevent Corruption in the Delivery of Public Services. 2011
Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. The Role of Normative Constraints in Corruption Control. 2011
Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. Contextual Choices in Fighting Corruption: Lessons Learned. 2011
Enrique Peruzzotti. Engaging citizens to counter corruption: scope of analysis and rationale. 2011
Zuhair AlKayed. Trends in the MENA Region (paper). 2011
Zuhair AlKayed. Trends in the MENA Region (presentation). 2011
Alexander O'Riordan. Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa (presentation). 2011
Alexander O'Riordan. Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa (paper). 2011
Mahfuz Ashraf. Some Perspectives of Information Communication Technology (ICT) Projects toward Addressing the Challenges of Corruption-transparency-accountability at Public Sector. 2011
Mahfuz Ashraf. Presentation. 2011
Joel Salas. How Are We Engaging Citizens to Counter Corruption in Mexico. 2011
Matt Poelmans. From Electronic Government to Collaborative Governance. 2011
Alexander Mirescu. Engaging Citizens and Civic Organizations toPrevent Public Sector Corruption in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. 2011
Roberto Villarreal. Session 6, Technical Cooperation, Introductory Presentation. 2011
Text submitted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) to the 4th Conference of State Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against corruption. 2011
Photos:
Additional information, please contact:
Vyacheslav Cherkasov
Senior Public Administration Officer
Development Management Branch
Division of Public Administration and Development Management
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
cherkasov@un.org
or
Anni Haataja
Associate Expert
Development Management Branch
Division of Public Administration and Development Management
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
haatajaa@un.org