U4 helpdesk/policy

The U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre and Helpdesk

Since 2002, TI has cooperated with the Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen, Norway, in the development of an Anti-Corruption Resource Centre for the U4 group of ministries of international development. The U4 group is supported by the government development agencies of Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The U4 promotes informed approach to anti-corruption policy development through training, knowledge management and research activities. TI has contributed to several aspects of the Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, such as developing a set of FAQs on corruption, compiling selected annotated literature and assisting in preparation of an anti-corruption training course curriculum for anti-corruption practitioners.

The U4 Anti-Corruption Helpdesk

From 2003 to present, TI has also operated the U4 Anti-Corruption Helpdesk in collaboration with CMI. The U4 Helpdesk provides targeted, timely and evidence-based advice on anti-corruption issues to the staff of member international development agencies - both at their headquarters and field offices worldwide - on a demand driven basis. Queries are answered within 10 working days in the form of “U4 Expert Answers”. Each answer provides a synthesis of the state of research on a specific topic, lessons learnt from case studies as well as practical recommendations for anti-corruption approaches. They are published on the public access website www.u4.no. More than 150 U4 Expert Answers have been prepared to date, drawing on the expertise of the U4 Panel of Experts as well as the TI network. Topics cover a wide range of corruption related issues, from the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies to how to tackle corruption in post-conflict situations.

A searchable data base of all published Expert Answers is available at www.U4.no

Read recent expert answers:

African Experience of Asset Declarations
Can you please describe experience of wealth declaration processes in Africa, providing details of challenges, impact and ways to overcome potential opposition to such schemes?

Overview of Corruption and Government’s Efforts against Corruption in Mali
Please provide an overview of corruption in Mali as well as efforts made by the Government of Mali to fight it.

Corruption and the Renegotiation of Mining Contracts
Please provide an overview of the corruption dynamics in the negotiation and renegotiation of mining contracts, including successful examples of renegotiation processes.

Civil Society Anti-Corruption Initiatives in MENA Countries .pdf

Please provide an overview of civil society anti-corruption initiatives in MENA countries as well as the limitations that are placed on their operations by Sate control.

Targeted Anti-Corruption Interventions in Africa .pdf
Please provide a list of examples of targeted interventions in Africa which have had an anti-corruption impact.

Parliamentary Approaches to Corruption .pdf
What types of initiatives have recently been undertaken on parliamentary approaches to corruption?

Designing an Embassy Based Anti-Corruption Plan .pdf
What should a comprehensive embassy based anti-corruption plan include?

Corruption and Decentralisation in Afghanistan .pdf
Can decentralisation lead to better accountability/transparency or does it usually lead to decentralised corruption?

Tackling Judicial Corruption in Afghanistan .pdf
From a donor perspective, what are the options for addressing judicial corruption in Afghanistan?

Designing a Taxpayer Baseline Survey in Uganda .pdf
What have been experience and lessons learnt from conducting taxpayer perceptions survey in Africa?

Local Anti-Corruption Agencies: Pros and Cons .pdf
What have been experience and lessons learnt in setting up sub-national anti corruption agencies in countries that might be relevant for Vietnam?

UNCAC and the Introduction of Budget Support .pdf
Are there links between UNCAC provisions with respect to prevention and the budget support aid delivery approach?

Corruption in the hydropower sector .pdf
What are the specific corruption challenges and mitigating measures within the production, distribution and selling of electricity?

Summaries of Literature on Costs of Corruption .pdf
Please review the literature that examines the human costs of corruption, the development costs and the costs to business.

Anti-corruption prosecutorial agencies: effectiveness and funding modalities .pdf
What are the different funding modalities for government agencies that are set up to investigate and prosecute corruption?

Islamic approaches to corruption .pdf
Please can you provide examples of specifically Islamic Approaches to tackling corruption?

Designing a strategy for anti-corruption knowledge management .pdf
How can knowledge Management strategies and action plans be used by donors to strengthen knowledge sharing between stakeholders?

Anti-corruption complaints mechanisms .pdf
How may complaints mechanisms be used to reduce corruption risks in development projects and programmes?

Incentives for the private sector to refrain from corruption .pdf
What are specific incentives for the private sector NOT to be corrupt?