Organizers: Germany, Guatemala, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Transparency International, OHCHR, Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC
Moderator:
- Betina Pasteknik, Deputy Director, Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC
Speakers:
- Germany
- K. B. Rajapakse, Commissioner, Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, Sri Lanka
- Tina Divjak, Deputy Commissioner, Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Slovenia
- Julio Flores, National Commissioner against Corruption, National Commission against Corruption, Guatemala
- María José Veramendi Villa, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Officer, OHCHR
- Laura Notess, Civic Space Thematic Lead, Transparency International
Background
Corruption can undermine public services, accountability and the enjoyment of human rights. At the national level, however, responsibility for addressing these impacts is often spread across different institutions, including anti-corruption bodies, human rights institutions, ombudspersons, oversight and audit institutions, ministries and local authorities. These institutions may already collect complementary information, identify related risks, and implement measures to address the same underlying problems. Yet this information and experience are not always connected. At the same time, international mechanisms, such as the UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism and UN human rights mechanisms, may identify related implementation gaps without those findings necessarily being brought together at the national level.
There are already national examples of efforts to bridge these divides. Morocco, for example, established a cooperation arrangement in 2026 between its Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights and the National Authority for Probity, Prevention and the Fight Against Corruption. Colombia’s RADAR initiative examines the relationship between corruption and the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Slovenia has developed strong institutional and digital mechanisms around access to public information and transparency.
The challenge is to make better use of the institutions, evidence and recommendations that already exist at national and international levels.
The side event will therefore focus on what States are already doing nationally and what can be learned from these experiences. It will then consider how international review and technical assistance can better support and reinforce national efforts.
A recent report by UNODC and OHCHR has identified areas where recommendations from the UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism and UN human rights mechanisms converge, including whistle-blower protection, access to information, judicial integrity and institutional frameworks. This provides an opportunity to move beyond identifying areas of convergence and focus on how existing information can be used to strengthen implementation.
Rather than proposing a new reporting process or coordination mechanism, the discussion will explore how existing national evidence, institutional findings and good practices can be used more systematically in UNCAC implementation reviews and follow-up, and how States can bring related recommendations from different international mechanisms together when planning and monitoring national implementation.
The side event will invite States to share concrete national experiences and identify practical ways in which international processes can better support and reinforce these efforts.
Expected outcomes
The discussion aims to identify practical approaches to:
- strengthen cooperation and information-sharing among existing anti-corruption and human rights national institutions;
- make better use of existing national evidence, data and institutional findings;
- connect relevant recommendations from different international mechanisms in national implementation processes;
- strengthen the link between international review, technical assistance and national follow-up;
- draw lessons that can inform the next phase of the UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism.
