• Bahrain report: “Which Steps would facilitate the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption into national legislation?” (English)
• Morocco report: "La mise en œuvre de la Convention des Nations Unies Contre la Corruption au Maroc" (French)

• TI’s White Paper on Legal and Practical challenges to the Ratification and Effective Implementation of UNCAC – Case Study on Lebanon, Morocco and Bahrain (Arabic, March 2006)
• Executive Summary of TI’s White Paper (English)

The UNCAC entered into force on 14 December 2005. It is the most recent and most comprehensive anti-corruption convention to be adopted and the only one with global reach. Its adoption in 2003 reflected the growing recognition that the corruption problem must be addressed globally, not only through regional instruments such as the African Union Convention or the Convention of the Organisation of American States, or narrower instruments such as the supply-side focused OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

The UNCAC is a landmark agreement, which calls for preventive measures and the criminalisation of the most prevalent forms of corruption in both the public and private sectors. It also provides the framework for international cooperation that is so essential for addressing the corruption problem. It represents a major breakthrough in establishing a more effective basis for asset recovery, and provides for a framework for technical assistance as well as mechanisms to review implementation of its provisions.

For the countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the UNCAC is especially valuable, not because corruption is so much worse in the MENA region than in any other region, but because it is the only applicable international anti-corruption instrument in the region (except from the much more limited UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime). The need for effective tools to tackle the issue is obvious, and the low score of MENA countries in TI’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is only one illustration of the actual challenges that bribery, Wasta, money laundering, and other forms of corruption pose to these societies.

The MENA region stands to gain not only through the existence of an applicable anti-corruption instrument, but also from the introduction of an effective monitoring mechanism for the UNCAC. The region is the only one lacking any kind of system for intergovernmental monitoring of international anti-corruption commitments. The case for UNCAC monitoring is made in the Report on Follow-up Process for the UN Convention against Corruption, included above. Important decisions with regard to monitoring will be made at the UNCAC Conference of States Parties, which will take place 10-14 December 2006 at the Dead Sea, Jordan.

Progress towards ratification of the Convention is not as poor in the MENA region as in some others, with Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, United Arab Emirates and Yemen having completed the process. Yet, the actual process of putting commitments into practice, and introducing and adapting laws to create a legal foundation for an effective fight against corruption is moving far slower.

At the Forum for the Future 2005, bringing together governments of the Group of Eight (G8) and the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA), Transparency International and its national chapters in the region have called on governments to ratify the Convention without further delay and to incorporate its provisions into national law. TI, when presenting their civil society recommendations at this year’s Forum for the Future in Jordan, 30 November and 1 December, will remind governments of their previous commitments.

Jordan is not only hosting the 2006 G8 BMENA Forum for the Future. It is also hosting the First Conference of States Parties to the UNCAC 10-14 December 2006. Behind this lengthy name lies the potential kick-off event for increased international anti-corruption efforts. At this meeting, which will be opened by the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, governments will decide on how they will review each others progress. The suggestions presented by TI in the “Report on the Follow-up Process for the UNCAC” are considered to provide a good basis for international consensus on a follow-up process, by drawing on experiences of other regional and international conventions.

Against this background, TI National Chapters and partnering civil society organisations (CSO) in the region have analysed the legal shortcomings in selected countries, worked on concrete policy recommendations, and advocated for the implementation of the UNCAC.

On a regional level, TI Chapters, partner organisations and experts came together for an UNCAC Expert Meeting in Amman in September 2006. At this meeting, delegates drafted policy recommendations to be presented to the Forum for the Future 2006. These recommendations address the need for an effective review mechanism, call for the protection of whistleblowers and request the strengthening of anti-money laundering measures, both at a national and a regional level.

On the country level, TI Chapters in Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Yemen have conducted campaign activities:

• lobbying for Convention ratification and implementation by directly addressing their governments,
• joining in coalition with other CSOs and parliamentarians and
• in making concrete policy recommendations on UNCAC provisions, such as the introduction of an Access to Information in Lebanon, Palestine and Morocco; the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission in Jordan; or, in the case of TI Lebanon and TI Morocco, calling for budget transparency (for more information, see country activities below).

An important contribution to these advocacy efforts has been the evaluation of existing legal provisions through case studies, carried out for Bahrain and Morocco. A review of steps towards ratification has been laid out for these two countries and Lebanon.

The TI White Paper on legal and practical challenges in Lebanon, Morocco and Bahrain identified the lack of political will to reform domestic law to bring it in line with international conventions as the main obstacle. This leads to a situation where there is a dispersion of laws and a multiplicity of administrative bodies in place, but a lack of coordination and harmonisation making anti-corruption measures ineffective. The paper therefore calls for coordinated national anti-corruption action plans, which must draw on the expertise of specialised organisations, civil society and media. The legal conditions, however, for moving towards ratification are present in all three countries.

The expert country studies in Morocco and Bahrain outline the requirements for effective implementation in more detail.

The case study on Bahrain identifies those areas where national legislation falls short of the standards laid out by the provisions of the UNCAC. The Bahraini Penal Code, for example, limits its provisions on bribery to public officials, while the UNCAC (Article 15, 16 and 21) includes bribery in the private sector and by international public organisations. The study confirms that a “suitable legal and social environment” is necessary for the fight against corruption, namely one that respects the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and the concept of the separation of powers.

Similar to the study on Bahrain, the Moroccan case study reflects the strong need for establishing an anti-corruption body. In addition to the introduction of such an institution, existing institutions such as the National Audit Court should be strengthened to enable them to be effective tools for reducing corruption. While measures to criminalise acts of corruption are generally present, only very few laws or regulations are in place to prevent corruption. The paper further identifies that strengthening measures to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of crime should be a priority.

TI National Chapters have addressed governments in order to call for ratification and implementation of the UNCAC. Since crucial decisions on future global anti-corruption efforts will be taken in December, now is the time to call on governments to recognise their responsibility to make the UNCAC an effective legal instrument.

Please find a template below for a letter that you or your organisation may use to address your government:

A number of civil society organisations in the Middle East and North Africa have actively worked at a national level to raise awareness of the obligations of States Parties to the UN Convention. Below are some examples of TI National Chapter efforts to promote national implementation of the UN Convention and its provisions.

a. Algeria

The Algerian Association for the Fight against Corruption, TI’s national-chapter-in-formation in Algeria has written letters to the government, met with government officials, commented on draft legislation and conducted workshops to promote ratification and implementation of the UN Convention. TI Algeria has also been particularly active on the African Union (AU) Convention, being one of the few MENA countries to which both UNCAC and AU Convention apply. TI Algeria has been particularly successful in addressing corruption issues in the national media.

b. Bahrain

The Bahrain Transparency Society, TI’s national chapter in Bahrain, has pushed members of the House of Representatives and the Shura Council to direct questions to the government regarding the progress on UNCAC ratification. It has submitted recommendations based on UNCAC provisions through its participation in the OECD Task Force to fight bribery in the public sector. TI Bahrain is joining forces with the Bahraini Section of the “Arab Parliamentarians against Corruption” (ARPAC) to push for ratification. It is currently encouraging candidates running for election to take a strong pro-ratification stance in their election campaign.

c. Iraq

The Iraqi Center for Transparency and Anti-Corruption has collected 3,000 signatures in favour of ratification. It could raise awareness through presenting their campaign on the Iraqi Dubai-based broadcasting channel ALFIHAA. The Center in coalition with other CSOs held a large series of workshop to raise awareness on UNCAC among parliamentarians, government officials, civil society, journalists and the public.

d. Jordan

The Jordan Transparency Forum, the Jordanian TI Chapter, has been advocating persistently for the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, which the government had announced to put in place already when signing the Convention in 2003. In conjunction with Arab Archives Institute, it has fed into the legislative process with recommendation on the concrete shape of an anti-corruption commission. The campaign effort has now materialised, with the law to establish the commission being passed in the parliament. TI Jordan has further hosted important civil society meetings in 2006, including an UNCAC campaign kick-off in March and the UNCAC MENA Expert Meeting in September 2006. It will also be a key civil society player along the Conference of State Parties in December 2006, taking place at the Dead Sea.

e. Lebanon

The TI Chapter in Lebanon, the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), actively contributed to the drafting of the Access to Information Law, thereby effectively supporting the implementation of an important UNCAC provision even in absence of Lebanon’s ratification. LTA has focused on anti-corruption measures for the private sector, and developed in cooperation with representatives from the private sector and the government the first Lebanese Code for Corporate Governance. LTA has directly addressed its government and repeatedly pushed for the ratification of the UNCAC by Lebanon. Following the major destabilisation of the country by the war in July, LTA has engaged in monitoring the reconstruction process.

f. Morocco

Transparence Maroc has focused its efforts on the call for ratification of the Convention in Morocco and for the formulation of a national action plan in line with the UNCAC framework, particularly pushing for the creation of a national anti-corruption commission. Similarly to other TI chapters, TI Morocco has met with the prime minister to express the urgency of ratification and subsequently sent a letter to the Prime Minister, co-signed by TI’s global chair, Huguette Labelle, calling for immediate action on UNCAC ratification. TI Morocco has produced and disseminated informational materials and posters to make the logic behind the UNCAC more accessible to the public. Most recently, the chapter held a press conference on the Moroccan Access to Information law and the International Open Budget Index project, using these occasions to raise awareness on the UNCAC.

g. Palestine

The Palestinian TI Chapter, the AMAN Coalition for Integrity and Accountability, was successful in convincing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to send a letter to the UN Secretary General stating the unilateral commitment by the PNA to implement the provisions of the UNCAC. Since Palestine is not able to sign the Convention, due to its non-state status, the government will not be able to benefit from the UNCAC’s provisions on technical assistance or international cooperation. Therefore, it is all the more remarkable that the AMAN Coalition, in conjunction with other CSOs and the Palestinian section of ARPAC, has been strong in lobbying for the translation of some of the UNCAC’s provisions into domestic law, including those on access to information and the introduction of codes of conduct for the private, public and civil society sectors. The AMAN Coalition will intensify its efforts by launching a “national campaign advocating for the UNCAC provisions in Palestine” in January 2007.

The regional campaign “Promoting the UNCAC in the MENA”, including the activities named above in Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan and Bahrain, has enjoyed the support of the Department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), UK Governments Global Opportunities Fund, Engaging with the Islamic World Group. For more information on the web, see: MEPI and FCO.

UN Convention Against Corruption

English
Arabic
French

UNCAC website at United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime

UNCAC First Conference of States Parties 2006, 10-14 December

TI National Chapters:

• AMAN Palestine
• Lebanese Transparency Association
• Transparency Maroc

Related institutions / fora:

Forum for the Future 2006

US Department of State, Middle East Partnership Initiative

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office

• “G8 and BMENA governments must commit to the UN Anti-Corruption Convention”, Manama, 12 Nov 2006
• Platform for Action 2005 (English)
• Platform for Action 2005 (Arabic)
• “Ratification of Anti-Corruption Convention will show political will in Middle East/North Africa”, Amman, 7 March 2006

Algeria:

• « Deficit Democratique et absence de volonté politique « , Le Soir d’Algerie, 26 September 2006 (document LeSoirdAlgerie260906)
  Algeria_LeSoirdAlgerie250906.pdf 80.33 kB
• « La loi algerienne ne garantit pas la protection des denonciateurs et des victimes de la corruption », Le Soir d’Algerie, 2 October 2006 (document LeSoirdAlgerie021006)
  Algeria_LeSoirdAlgerie021006.pdf 110.08 kB

Bahrain:

• Al Wasat News, 27 October 2006 (document Bahrain)
  Bahrain_alwasatnews_p1_271006.pdf 592.03 kB
• Al Wasat News, 27 October 2006 (document Bahrain)
  Bahrain_alwasatnews_271006.pdf 526.72 kB

Jordan:

• “Results of pilot study on bribery released”, Jordantimes, 08 March 2006
  Jordan_Jordantimes_080306.pdf 12.38 kB
• Alghad, 08 March 2006
  Jordan_Alghad_080306.pdf 38.66 kB
• Alrai, 08 March 2006
  Jordan_Alrai_080306.pdf 39.47 kB

Lebanon :

• “Lebanon gets first ‘code of corporate governance’ ”, The Daily Star, 14 June 2006
  Lebanon_TheDailyStar_140606.pdf 43.93 kB

Morocco:

• "Montrer où va l’effort budgétaire", L’economiste, 26 October 2006
• “Maroc - Corruption : Le grand bond en avant", Aujourd’hui – le Maroc, 21 October 2006
• "Transparence budgétaire Classement immérité pour le Maroc?!", L’Economiste, 26 October 2006