Joint Statement on Transparency and the Inclusion of Civil Society in the Implementation Review Mechanism
Lord Ahmad's pre-recorded statement was delivered at the 10th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Joint Statement on Transparency and the Inclusion of Civil Society in the Implementation Review Mechanism
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), as the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument, is a cornerstone of our international anti-corruption framework. We are calling on all States Parties, to build on the foundation of the Convention and energise our collective voice on the implementation of anti-corruption standards to enable citizens across the world to see the impact the UNCAC can have in their societies. We acknowledge that an effective Implementation Review Mechanism (IRM) is crucial to fulfilling our obligations under the Convention and we are committed to the proper functioning of the mechanism.
The States Parties represented in this statement commit to the following actions to make the IRM more effective and ask that other State Parties join these commitments.
We commit to:
- Publishing timelines for our country review and keeping country focal point details updated;
- Publishing the full peer-reviewed IRM country report;
- Publishing how civil society and non-state actors can engage in the review and follow up process.
States Parties may wish to deliver these actions through a number of different ways, such as sharing these documents on their United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) country profile and through domestic platforms, and for countries who are also members of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), including commitments to deliver these actions within their OGP Action Plans.
We also call upon States Parties to recognise that wider participation from national civil society in the UNCAC review process and promoting transparency in the UNCAC IRM are fundamental to fighting corruption. A report by the UNCAC Coalition in 2021/22 showed that despite the Convention’s emphasis on civil society participation through Article 13, the principle of inclusiveness has not been consistently applied in the review mechanism process.
We are collectively calling on States Parties to expand the role of civil society in the fight against corruption, including in line with the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) Political Declaration that contains a commitment to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations and the private sector, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption and to raise public awareness. Enhancing transparency benefits citizens and societies and is the foundation on which effective anti-corruption efforts are built. We believe it is a vital aspect of ensuring effective accountability regarding implementation of the Convention.
The IRM is an essential, truly invaluable tool in the fight against corruption and we see these commitments as crucial steps for enhancing transparency and ensuring that the review process can better identify how States Parties can improve their efforts to fight corruption.