Clean contracting for sustainable development

Overlapping global crises such as climate change, economic decline and conflict have negatively impacted progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Insufficient public and private investment along with the inability of many countries to access funds has significantly widened the global financing gap. Therefore, it has become increasingly vital to ensure that public spending delivers maximum value.

Public procurement – the government’s purchase of goods, works and services – is key to this effort by supporting the implementation of public policies, the development of infrastructure and the delivery of essential public services such as education and healthcare. However, due to complex processes, the vast amounts of money involved and the close interaction between public and private stakeholders, public procurement remains vulnerable to corruption, in turn negatively impacting the quality of vital services available to the public as well as governments’ efforts to respond to global crises.  

To tackle these challenges, transparent and accountable public procurement systems are needed, as highlighted in the first-ever resolution on public procurement adopted by the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), adopted in 2023, and the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, the Compromiso de Sevilla.

In line with these commitments, this policy paper outlines a clean contracting approach to tackle corruption in public procurement and enable all stakeholders – governments, private sector, civil society and citizens – to play a part in ensuring effective spending outcomes. The paper provides recommendations for public procurement reforms based on five key pillars:   

1. Open and actionable public procurement data  
2. Collaborative accountability networks for effective oversight 
3. A strong integrity framework for public procurement officials 
4. Incentives to foster business openness and integrity among suppliers   
5. Multi-stakeholder collective action to drive change

To support governments and development partners in their reform efforts around the above pillars, Transparency International and its chapters, the Open Contracting Partnership, the Basel Institute on Governance, the United Nations Global Compact Secretariat, the Government Transparency Institute and Monithon Europe are committed to leveraging their multi-country networks and expertise in coordinated actions, as outlined in the following policy statement.