Countries in the Middle East must step up implementation of UN Convention against Corruption and push for a strong monitoring mechanism. Governments in the region had an opportunity to do so on 29-30 July 2008, when they gathered in Jordan at “The Good Governance for Development in Arab Countries Initiative” meeting.

On the agenda is the UNCAC and its review process. The meeting could ensure a leap in UNCAC discussions and consequently real progress on anti-corruption efforts in the Arab region.

Countries in the region should make the leap from signing to implementing, strengthen their implementation of the UNCAC and adopt strong monitoring mechanisms.

To date, the UNCAC has been ratified by 117 governments and the number of parties is expected to reach at least 145. Discussions are currently under way to determine the official process for checking on the implementation of governments’ anti-corruption promises under the treaty.
The next big step: UNCAC Working Group on Review of Implementation will meet in September 2008 to discuss such a review process.

A number of governments in the Middle East have made significant contributions to discussions on a follow-up process to monitor government performance.

However, since 2006 no steps have been taken to establish a review mechanism.

The term “review mechanism” refers to intergovernmental arrangements for regular assessments and feedback on country progress in fulfilling UNCAC commitments. Such a mechanism should provide recommendations to governments about how they can improve their performance and assist in ensuring timely implementation. To be effective, it must include:

• Independent assessments: government self-assessments are insufficient. Independent assessments by other governments and non-government experts are needed to provide useful feedback
• Transparency: progress reports must be published so the public knows how their governments are doing and hold them accountable
• Constructive feedback: assessments of government progress should include recommendations on how to improve.

The Global Organisation of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Trade Union Confederation have voiced their support for an effective UNCAC review mechanism.

Governments are already required to respond to a questionnaire about their performance - the self-assessment checklist covers 15 articles of UNCAC.

• According to UNODC, as of January 2008 only 52% of countries party to the UNCAC had fulfilled their obligation to respond to the questionnaire about their performance
• Only one country, the United States, has so far published its responses to the checklist on the internet. A number of other governments have made their responses available upon request, including Chile, France and the UK

TI and other civil society organisations have prepared reports analysing government performance in implementation. Reports are available for the following African countries: Algeria, Burundi, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo and Uganda, as well as for Argentina, Columbia Georgia, Ireland, Lithuania, Mexico, Paraguay.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have a key role to play in anti-corruption efforts and in ensuring that the UNCAC realises its promise. This is recognised by the UNCAC itself and by a growing number of CSOs.

Over 50 international and national CSOs have already joined the Coalition. They include Transparency International (TI), UNICORN, Oxfam, Arti

cle 19, Global Witness, International Council on Human Rights Policy, Institute for Security Studies in South Africa and many others.

• Download Coalition flyer
• Download membership application form

If you are interested in getting involved in civil society efforts in support of the UNCAC, consider the following:

• Join the Civil Society Coalition
• Find out about the discussions at the CoSP
• Find out about the outcomes of the CoSP
• Track your government’s implementation of the Convention

• Without rigorous country progress reports, UN Corruption Convention will be a "dead letter"
  Berlin/Bali, 25 January 2008
• Keep Anti-Corruption on National Agendas: Parties to UN Convention against Corruption should act locally
  Dead Sea, Jordan, 14 December 2006

Read the full text of the UN Convention against Corruption
UNCAC Conference of the States Parties official website
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
TI Annual Membership Meeting resolution on UNCAC
Read the Coalition Statement at the 1st Conference of States Parties in 2006
Read the Coalition Statement at the 2nd Conference of States Parties in 2008
Read the Coalition Statement on the Protection of Anti-Corruption Advocates at the 2nd CoSP
Read the Coalition Newsletter at 2nd CoSP
Statement by Pakistan on behalf of G77 at 2nd CoSP
See more information on UNCAC on the TI website

• Experts doubtful over pan-Arab move to fight corruption
  Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 1 August 2008
• Arab anti-corruption network to be launched in Jordan
  Kuwait Times, 30 July 2008
• Regional conference on corruption to include Yemen
  Yemen Observer, 29 July 2008