Transparency International’s (TI) concept of the National Integrity System (NIS) consists of the prevailing regime based on key institutions, laws and practices that contribute to integrity, transparency and accountability in a society. By diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of a particular integrity system, an evaluation based on the NIS can help inform anti-corruption advocacy and shape anti-corruption reform efforts.

As such, TI’s National Integrity System (NIS) studies are qualitative reports that provide a detailed and nuanced assessment of anti-corruption systems at country level. By exploring the specific practices and constraints within countries, they create a strong empirical basis upon which to promote better governance across all aspects of a particular society and enable the formulation of targeted and effective national anti-corruption reforms.

NIS studies should accurately reflect key elements of individual societies in order to provide accurate analyses of all relevant sectors as they relate to corruption. To accommodate the unique political situations in the region, the NIS studies for Palestine and Lebanon have opted to include an additional analysis of the integrity system as it operates within the security sector.

The NIS studies detail individual characteristics of the anti-corruption system in each of the four societies involved in the programme. Unsurprisingly, given the sheer diversity of this region, each society differs in terms of geography, population and levels of wealth. Together with different systems of governance operating in each country, these discrepancies influence how the NIS operates. As a result it is easy to understand why there exists a wide range of anti-corruption measures implemented throughout the region.

At the same time, many of the challenges faced by the region are shared. This provides ample opportunity for comparison between existing anti-corruption strategies. For this reason, the programme will draft a Regional Overview Document based upon the outcomes of the four NIS studies. This report will provide an overview of anticorruption efforts throughout the region and identify key areas for improvement common to all of the countries in the region. By identifying regional trends, recommendations can be made for the development of targeted tools. At the same time, effective practices in the region will be highlighted to support regional anticorruption efforts.

The report was launched in Egypt in May 2010.

TI’s Conventions and Policy Research Departments are currently working on developing an UNCAC Compliance Monitoring Manual, which will examine how national laws and practice compare to the convention standards. Similar assessments have previously been conducted both by governments and by NGOs.

Specifically, Compliance Monitoring (sometimes also referred to as a “gap analysis”) analyses a country’s steps taken towards the prevention and criminalisation of corruption, law enforcement, international cooperation and asset recovery.

Three studies monitoring compliance with the UNCAC in Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine were launched in October 2010. A fourth study monitoring compliance with the UNCAC in Egypt will be launched in April 2011

This programme is supported by USAID.