Colombia was one of the first countries in the world to implement the integrity pact (IP). In 2002, the local Transparency International chapter, Transparencia por Colombia, collaborated with the new presidential administration to carry out a comprehensive assessment of corruption risks in public procurement and launched a strategy, backed by official government policies and commitments, to promote the use of IPs by contracting authorities at the national, provincial, and municipal levels. This paved the way for systematic IP application over the following years, and Transparencia por Colombia developed its own approach to foster meaningful implementation.

In the inception phase, before joining an IP upon invitation by a contracting authority, Transparencia por Colombia would always verify the existence of the political will among public officials and the potential added value for the contracting project. When the decision to implement an IP was made, the parties would develop a Proclamation of Ethical Commitment with anti-corruption and integrity pledges to be signed by public officials and, on a voluntary basis, appoint an independent “arbiter” of high moral standing to deal with complaints and with the power to impose sanctions for violations of the IP.

The monitoring mechanism - led by TI Colombia and independent experts - covered the pre-tendering, tendering, and awarding stages. This usually entailed public consultations on the bid specifications with citizens, sectorial organisations, and potential bidders, as well as a close review of the tender evaluation and contract award procedures and regular publication of monitoring reports on the progress made. While the planning phase was not covered to avoid perceived co-management and influence on decision-making, contract execution would be covered by other mechanisms, such as social audits.

Given that most IPs were financed by the contracting authorities themselves, Transparencia por Colombia strongly emphasised the monitor's independence and its right to criticise the authorities for bad governance or report them for suspected corruption. Specific provisions for withdrawal from the IP were essential to this purpose, and Transparencia por Colombia did not refrain from making use of them on several occasions.

By 2008, Transparencia por Colombia had served as a civil society monitor for 62 IPs applied to 85 tenders for a total value of US$3.2 billion. The IPs covered a wide array of contracts for procuring goods and services, concessions, and privatisations across different sectors, including health, infrastructure, education, finance, energy, housing, communications, and transport. Some IPs also involved international organisations such as the World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and the German Agency for International Cooperation.

In 2004, Transparencia por Colombia and Transparency International UK collaborated with the Colombian Ministry of Defence to introduce a Defence Integrity Pact to oversee a US$237 million tender for the acquisition of critical drug interdiction aircraft, with the help of technical experts with military and defence acquisition background. This was a unique example of cross-country civic monitoring cooperation. Even though the tender did not go forward, the defence IP played an important role in strengthening transparency and integrity for the stakeholders and the public.

A 2008 review found that systematic IP implementation in Colombia had several benefits on the public contracting system of the country. At a project level, it contributed to better governance and an average of 18 per cent of budget savings for the contracting procedures involved. It also fostered legislative reforms on public contracting, including clear and mandatory procedures for public discussions of draft and final bidding documents, obligations for public officials to provide substantiated responses to questions, and rules for effective tender publication.

In general, IP implementation fostered a gradual ethical change among public officials and private organisations, contributing to establishing a culture of good management of the public resources in defence of the public interest. The review also noted that Colombia’s significant improvement in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index – from 2.2 in 2002 to 4.0 out of 10 in 2005 – was partly due to this collective action effort.

The review also noted several challenges, including the unavoidable tension between transparency and efficiency of the contracting procedures, cases of systematic blocking of information disclosure and neglect of stakeholders’ concerns and comments by contracting authority, pressures to involve Transparencia por Colombia in co-management of the procurement process, and reluctance from some bidders to denounce potential IP breaches to the Arbitration Tribunal, possibly due to the perceived inefficiency of the Colombian judiciary or risks of retaliation in future bids.

Between 2010 and 2018, the Colombian government piloted additional integrity tools to oversee public procurement. These included the High-Level Reporting Mechanism (HLRM), a tool developed by the Basel Institute on Governance, the OECD, and Transparency International to provide an effective mechanism for addressing bribe solicitation by public officials in major infrastructure projects.

In the Colombian HLRM, independent experts are appointed following an open call for tenders to deal with issues raised via the HLRM. The tool requires bidders to sign up to an integrity pact, in this case, called a “transparency pact”, making sure they are all aware of bribery risks and consequences and commit to refrain from offering bribes and exerting undue influence in the process. However, unlike a traditional IP, the HLRM does not necessarily involve civil society organisations as independent monitors.

The first HLRM was developed in 2013 to ensure a fair and smooth tender process for the National 4G Road Infrastructure Project, which involved a total investment of US$25 billion in seven years to build around 8.000 km of roads. The HLRM was activated when a late modification to technical specifications was recognised, cutting all but one bidder out of the competition. Working with the bidders, experts, and government representatives, the HLRM resolved the issue in two weeks in a way acceptable to all sides.

Since then, the HLRM has been applied to cover concession contracts for the Ernesto Cortissol International Airport, the Bogotá Metro First Line, and several high-value projects by the National Infrastructure Agency. The agency has also taken the noteworthy step of modifying its contract manual to require HLRMs in future large public tenders.