June 2025 –
After last years’ extended briefing which included a record-high number of 90 States parties, this year’s NGO briefing, on the margins of the 16th resumed IRG session meeting, went back to its “normal” size and received significantly lower levels of attention from States parties representatives. Although only a handful of country delegates attended the meeting, more than 80 CoSP10-acreditted CSO representatives registered for the briefing, many of them showing up in-person and others observing online.
As per practice, the UNCAC Secretariat delivered short presentations summarizing the latest updates of the UNCAC’s implementation as reflected in this session’s thematic and regional reports, and provided some additional information in response to questions raised by CSOs in the room. Civil Society participants made oral statements on issues of priority related to the UNCAC’s implementation and its review, as well as on civil society’s general role in fighting corruption.
The Status of UNCAC implementation
The UNCAC secretariat presented general observations on challenges and good practices in the implementation of chapter II on Preventive Measures, based on 107 country reports that were completed by the time of the report’s publication. In response to a question raised by Transparency International, the Secretariat emphasized that the trends identified in the present report are largely consistent with those identified in the previous thematic reports. The most prevalent implementation challenges were associated with Articles 7 (Public sector) , 8 (Codes of conduct for public officials), and 12 (Private sector), with approximately 100 country reviews (out of 107 reviewed) identifying challenges of implementation.
Article 5 (Preventive policies and practices) received the highest number of good practices identified through country reviews. Interestingly, Article 13 on the participation of society received the second highest number of good practices which were identified in 38 countries’ reviews. These good practices include “Measures to promote public participation and broad consultations, including e-platforms that make publicly available all draft laws to facilitate feedback and comments from non-State actors; conduct of legislative impact assessments and making them available to the public for review and comment prior to the enactment of any legislation; facilitation of the reporting of corrupt conduct to anti-corruption bodies through multiple channels; broad access to and proactive provision of public documents and open data; review of refusals to grant access to information; the development of tailored educational curricula on integrity; and frequent training activities and information campaigns, including through national youth networks”.
On the performance of the implementation review mechanism (IRM), the UNCAC Secretariat highlighted progress made, as well as the delays, in completing country reviews and executive summaries to meet the 70% threshold that needs to be met by June 2026, as agreed in CoSP decision 10/2, to be able to launch the next phase of the IRM. To reach the 70% threshold, 24 executive summaries must be completed, and according to UNODC, this number is expected to be reached before the next CoSP. However, UNODC also highlighted that executive summaries had been “nearing adoption” for over a year, owing to ongoing discussions on the inclusion of information on reforms undertaken after the country visits. The Secretariat mentioned that “while this demonstrates States’ commitment to implementing recommendations, the findings of a review are based on legal instruments in force at the time of the country visit”. Information provided after the country visit, should not delay the publication of the executive summaries.
UNODC also provided information on its Regional Hubs activities, including on the development of regional roadmaps which all include reference to the critical role of civil society, and invited civil society to get in touch in case there is interest to engage in their regional work.
Civil Society interventions
The UNCAC Coalition presented its tools for a more transparent and inclusive IRM, and highlighted the Open Letter to promote a stronger IRM in its next phase, signed by 370 non-governmental stakeholders to date. The Coalition also welcomed the growing practice of States parties publishing their full country reports, which now stands on 70% of all States parties that completed their reviews.
The Coalition expressed deep concern regarding the withdrawal of funding from development aid and its heavy and immediate impact on many NGOs combatting corruption . At the same time, we raised two questions: One, requesting an update on the IRM next phase deliberations, and if there are opportunities for civil society to engage in the process of deliberations. The second question referred to the current funding crisis on UNODC’s anti-corruption activities and the impact on the performance of the review mechanism.
In its reply to the 1st question, the Secretariat reiterated that there are no formal ways for civil society to be part of this negotiation process, and it suggested engaging directly with country delegations to inform their positions on the IRM next phase. Currently, there is a zero draft presented by the government of Qatar, with plans to hold discussions with States parties on an updated version of that document at the end of August.
In its response to the 2nd question, the Secretariat confirmed that there is impact on UNODC’s overall operations, which also includes staff reduction. Specifically with regards to the UNCAC IRM, the Secretariat mentioned that there is a funding shortfall of close to USD 1 Million. More information could be found in UNODC’s Corruption and Economic Crime annual reports ( Notewithstanding that the latest report is from 2023 and includes only a total budget number for the year 2021)
In its intervention, Transparency International’s highlighted the need for a more comparative analysis of the IRG’s UNCAC implementation reports, as well as the lack of information regarding specific countries’ implementation. TI also drew the attention of the meeting to civil society recommendations on addressing victims of crime and the abuse of power, and reiterated the need for a longer yearly NGO briefing, if the practice of non-government’s exclusion from IRG sessions continues. In its responses, the Secretariat mentioned that trends regarding challenges and good practices around UNCAC implementation do not seem to change significantly, and that a comprehensive report on the overall UNCAC implementation of chapters II and IV will be published ahead of CoSP 11. When it comes to identifying specific countries’ implementation in the IRG progress reports , there is no mandate to do so, therefore understanding specific countries’ situations could be done only through reviewing full country reports and executive summaries. However, the Secretariat is working on a new dashboard that should better organize the data from country reviews. The establishment of such a platform requires further resources.
In another intervention, TI presented discrepancies between UNCAC article 13 findings reflected in country reports, and the findings of countries’ civic space reflected in Human Rights Council Universal Periodic reviews (UPR) – The UPR’s generally depict a more critical and “realistic” picture about the actual enabling environment and operating space for civil society on the national level. In response to this, the UNCAC Secretariat mentioned that the “UN human rights bodies reports are not typically looked at (in the context of UNCAC country reviews), but Civil society could bring those reports to the attention of peer reviewers”.
Open Ownership emphasized the need to review countries’ actions regarding beneficial ownership transparency in a more holistic way- It is necessary to look not only at the set up of registries and national policies, but to analyze the actual impact of BO available information on the fight against corruption. The Secretariat agreed that focusing on BOT’s impact is an important point that shall be addressed.
The Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) raised a question regarding the modalities of reviewing UNCAC Article 9 on Public Procurement in the IRM next phase- underscoring that preparing a guide that will focus on ways to identify gaps and impact, would be a useful tool for reviewing teams. OCP also mentioned that it supported UNODC’s technical assistance programs in over 30 countries, but in light of the current environment, it is working with fewer countries and partners this year, and encouraged governments to support partners in their reduced capacities by providing resources.
The Government Accountability Project highlighted that it will come out with a new report, ahead of CoSP11, focusing on civil society’s perspective on the implementation of CoSP resolution 10/8 (Protection of reporting persons) in more than 30 countries, in parallel to UNODC’s report which is based on information received from 78 States parties. GAP said that Whistleblower protection received the highest number of technical assistance requests from States, but there are concerns about UNODC’s capacity to deliver given the funding shortfall.
The Global Initiative on Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) mentioned that UNODC’s report on the implementation of resolution 10/5 on corruption involving organized crime is important, though it does not base itself on reliable media reports, and other input from civil society, even though it includes references to the importance of civil society. The countries who have given honest assessments on links between organized crime and corruption are described as being worse, even if some of their practices could be good. GI-TOC will publish a report soon, and hopes there will be opportunities for civil society to provide input on the implementation of this resolution, and generally raised the need for a more coordinated approach between the UNCAC and UNTOC IRM’s.
CoSP 11 preparations
In its last intervention, the UNCAC Coalition reminded participants about its guide for Governments on how to engage with civil society in the CoSP, and invited States to get in touch on ideas for draft resolutions. The Coalition also expressed its hope to continue the practice of having a civil society preparatory day before CoSP 11, with the support of the host government and UNODC. The UNODC Civil Society Unit announced that the call to submit CoSP11 side events applications is now open, until 15 August.