Representatives from 141 states party to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) are gathered this week in Doha, Qatar, in a third attempt to settle on a review mechanism to enforce the six-year-old Convention. If no agreement is reached, or the handful of countries pushing for a diluted version get their way, a pivotal opportunity to achieve an effective global anti-corruption standard will have been missed.

Transparency International (TI), as part of a coalition of more than 300 civil society organisations, including representatives from 40 TI chapters, is pushing for a transparent and inclusive review mechanism that ensures the Convention is credible and effective.

Visit TI’s official blog, Space for Transparency, to learn about developments in Doha as they unfold and tell us what you think needs to happen.

TI has submitted a detailed set of recommendations for a review process that would ensure countries implement the convention's requirements, which include criminalisation of all types of bribery, embezzlement and money laundering. The Convention can provide a basis for legal recourse when it comes to small or grand scale corruption. For a review mechanism to be credible and effective, TI calls for:

• Full publication of country reports

Publishing information about individual country performance enables states to understand and learn from each other. It permits countries and citizens to check that all states are being treated fairly and are committed to fulfilling their obligations. It allows the public to know how their governments are performing and to hold them to account. States can use the reports, which have been confirmed by international experts, to reassure citizens, media and the private sector of a strong commitment to anti-corruption efforts and to demonstrate that progress is being made.

• Civil society participation

Civil society participation is standard practice for other monitoring systems. The UN convention itself explicitly calls on States Parties to promote the participation of civil society in the prevention of and fight against corruption (Article 13). Non-governmental organisations can offer expertise and give voice to the citizens most affected by corruption, and they must have the opportunity to contribute their views to the process.

• In-country review visits

Country visits are essential as to understand how anti-corruption laws and institutions are actually working in a country. Such visits are also the best way for reviewers to obtain and question non-governmental inputs.

Read the opinion piece published in the International Herald Tribune where TI Chair Huguette Labelle makes the case for an effective review mechanism and why it is critical for making concrete advances against corruption >> click here

Let your government know that you are watching the UN conference.

Write a blog entry or link to us (www.transparency.org) to spread the word about the UN convention and the need for an effective review mechanism.

If you would like your organisation to advocate the implementation of an effective review mechanism, sign up to the UNCAC Coalition Statement by sending an email to coalitionwebsite@transparency.org

If your company is a participant in the UN Global Compact you can show support for the CEO statement calling for an effective review mechanism.

click here to find:

- UNCAC Coalition Statement

- TI 2009 recommendations for an UNCAC review mechanism

- The case for transparency

- The case for civil society participation

Related websites

- UNODC and UN Convention against Corruption
- UNCAC Coalition Website
- State Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption
- UN Global Compact and CEO campaign letter

CoSP Plenary presentation by Huguette Labelle at the Third Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

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Reuters

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Doha anti-corruption initiative in doubt: lobby group
Agence France-Presse

Corruption costs $1.6tn, UN says
BBC

UN crime chief urges use of anti-graft treaty to restore integrity to financial system
UN News Centre

Row over civil groups threatens to block UN convention on corruption
The Guardian

United fight against graft urged
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Political corruption costs governments $1.6 trillion each year
Digital Journal

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The Peninsula

North-South urged to unite in fighting graft
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India urged to ratify international anti-graft accord
SamayLive

Media contact
Gypsy Guillén Kaiser
Tel: +49 30 34 38 20662
press@transparency.org