9 December 2024 –

Global mapping of anti-corruption progress: tools for success

On this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December, we look back on progress made over the past year in UNCAC implementation, visualized through our interactive world maps.

Let’s start with some numbers. As a result of the UNCAC Coalition’s efforts and of the engagement of many civil society organizations – often in constructive collaboration with governments – the UNCAC’s reviews have become more transparent and inclusive: in 2024, we have supported the production and publication of 7 parallel reports assessing national UNCAC implementation, bringing a civil society perspective to the UNCAC review process. Our Transparency Pledge has 39 State signatories, our Access to Information campaign has led to 17 governments publishing key documents about their UNCAC reviews. Our network has grown to almost 400 members and affiliates, with 7 working groups focusing on critical issues. These are only a few of our Coalition’s achievements. But numbers tell us just one story. 

As usual on IACD, we are mapping progress made since launching our world maps – now exactly two years ago. At a glance, see what the status of UNCAC implementation reviews is in countries around the world, who is complying with our Transparency Pledge, and in which countries civil society involvement has brought a fresh perspective to UNCAC implementation. With a ‘how to guide’ included with every step, there is no excuse for governments not to engage civil society.  These tools are designed to help civil society organizations (CSOs) and government officials be better informed in their fight against corruption. The maps are updated on a rolling basis: should you spot any inaccuracies, please contact us at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

• Our UNCAC Review Status Tracker map brings together all available information on countries’ reviews in one place. The review processes are typically difficult to follow; 

• Our Transparency Pledge Compliance map shows both the level of compliance of States Parties that have signed the Pledge and which States have not signed it yet;

• Our Civil Society Parallel Reports map shows where we have supported civil society organizations in providing a complementary perspective to the 2nd UNCAC review cycle, as well as other reports that were published independently. These reports look not only into the legal but also the practical implementation of the UNCAC at the national level;

• Our Access to Information Campaign map reflects where civil society organizations have already sent requests for access to information related to UNCAC implementation country reviews. Requests are needed to get crucial missing information on UNCAC implementation, which is not always published voluntarily.

1. UNCAC Review Status Tracker

This map complements the Coalition’s UNCAC Review Status Tracker spreadsheet. Visualizing the status of UNCAC implementation of 2nd cycle reviews shows that a lot of countries are opaque in how they are conducting their reviews, with little to no information available. From a civil society perspective, this makes it difficult to engage with and to participate in the reviews. For several years now, the UNCAC Coalition has been trying to identify government officials responsible for the UNCAC, known as ‘focal points’, to get updates on their review status and encourage them to include civil society in their reviews. Since International Anti-Corruption Day 2023, the latest information we have is that out of 191 States Parties:

• 111 reviews are still ongoing:

• • 40 reviews are in the pre-country visit stage; of which only 1 country – Denmark – has published its self-assessment checklist.

• • 71 reviews are in the post-country visit stage – 12 more than a year ago; of which 16 countries (over 20%) have published their self-assessment checklist, of which 10 were obtained through our Access to Information campaign;

• 62 reviews have been completed; of which only 9 (14,5%) have published their self-assessment checklist, but almost 70% of countries – 42 total – have published their full country report on their UNODC country profile page; 

• 2 reviews are either on hold or haven’t started yet;

• for 16 reviews, the review status is unknown – compared to 37 a year ago, meaning that we have filled information gaps on reviews in 22 States Parties to the UNCAC.  This is in part due to a structural update to the UNODC country profile pages.

Through our continued engagement with focal points, we were not only able to update this information in our tracker, but to find out about upcoming country visits prior to them happening and push for those States to involve a wide range of civil society stakeholders in the reviews, following good practices in terms of timing of such a meeting, allowing for them to meet the reviewers without the government under review present, among others. This had a major impact on the ability of civil society organizations to participate meaningfully in these country visits, particularly in Albania and Zambia, where we briefed CSOs ahead of the country visits together with the CSO we had supported in writing a parallel report on UNCAC implementation at the national level. This helped national CSOs navigate this technical process and coordinate their key message for meaningful participation in the country visits, leading to more impactful UNCAC review outcomes overall.

The second UNCAC review cycle (covering Chapter II on preventive measures and Chapter V on asset recovery), has experienced significant delays to the deadline for completing reviews. Initially planned for 2015–2020, it has been extended twice – once to June 2024, and a second time until June 2026, as decided at the 10th Conference of the States Parties (with a view of completing at least 70% of country reviews by then). This is problematic because, with a delay of several years and a prolonged process, information becomes out of date before it can be published. The executive summaries are automatically published on the UNODC’s website, but the outputs of each country review are more extensive, and more could be published. The self-assessment checklist and full country report are key documents which include crucial information on States Parties’ anti-corruption efforts and are often kept secret. The good news is that an increasing number of countries are agreeing to publish key documents, as can be seen above in the numbers section. 

With discussions on how the next phase of the UNCAC implementation review mechanism (IRM) should look like ongoing, we have developed key recommendations on strengthening the next phase of the  IRM in terms of transparency, civil society participation, effectiveness and efficiency. 

2. Transparency Pledge Compliance Status

Many States Parties that claim to be transparent and open to civil society involvement have not yet signed the Pledge. And some of those who did, are not (yet) complying.

The UNCAC Coalition is encouraging States Parties to sign up to the Transparency Pledge for the second UNCAC implementation review cycle. The Pledge is a voluntary commitment for elevated standards of transparency and civil society participation in the UNCAC review mechanism.

39 out of 191 UNCAC States Parties have signed the Transparency Pledge so far, with 18 new signatories since December 2019, 4 more signatories in 2023 (Albania, Liberia, Mongolia and Australia), and 2 more in 2024 (Denmark and Moldova). This upward trend is an encouraging sign in the face of the shrinking civic space we have observed in UNCAC-related fora over the past few years. 

Pledge signatories were once again asked to provide detailed information on their compliance status in November 2024. Similar to last year, several have yet to reply. 

Disclaimer: Reviews in some of the signatory countries are still ongoing, which means that they have not had a chance to publish documents or hold follow-up briefings yet, since they have not reached this stage of the review process yet. 

As shown on the map, in 2024, a second country besides North Macedonia achieved full compliance with the Transparency Pledge: the United States of America, which is also the current CoSP President – it published the contact information of its UNCAC review focal point, indicates how civil society can engage under “Other information” on its UNODC country profile page, and published both the self-assessment checklist and the full country report there. The US included civil society in their UNCAC review country visit and discussed the findings of the executive summary with civil society. A follow-up briefing to discuss the findings of the review and implementation of the review recommendations with civil society is planned for 2025. The US consistently supports the participation of civil society observers in UNCAC subsidiary bodies in UNCAC fora. Furthermore, the USA now has a website outlining its involvement and status of all the anti-corruption review mechanisms it is party to. 

The number of States Parties that are mostly compliant with the Pledge’s principles and spirit has stayed the same since last year at 17 countries, having more than doubled between 2022 (8 countries) and 2023. These countries are: Austria, Albania, Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, Mongolia, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom – with Albania being the newest addition. Noteworthy examples of their commitment to transparency and civil society participation include:

• The UNCAC focal point in Albania asking the UNCAC Coalition for best practices in terms of transparency and participation leading up to their country visit in October, and implementing many of them, by:

• • Writing to UNODC to publish the name of the UNCAC focal point and their contact details, the self-assessment checklist, as well as the date of the country visit and agenda of the meeting on their UNODC country profile page before the meeting actually took place – the first time this has ever happened.  Unfortunately, UNODC did not include the focal point’s contact information.

• • Inviting a large number of CSOs to participate in the country visit. 

• Similarly, the UNCAC focal point in Poland reached out to UNODC following our encouragement to ask them to publish the self-assessment checklist on their UNODC country profile page (which is still pending). This document had previously already been published on a Ministry of Justice’s website, together with a draft of the full country report.  

• It is becoming a growing practice for States to include civil society representatives in their country delegations at the CoSP and the Working Group meeting and the IRG, helping to bring civil society expertise to discussions that are otherwise closed to observers. 

• Several States Parties, including Peru, are committed to defending civic space in UNCAC fora, for instance, by co-chairing a Group of Friends on the participation of different stakeholders, which has reached over 51 members. 

Several countries indicated on the map are partially compliant with the Pledge, in many cases, because the review is still ongoing. One example to highlight is Switzerland, which has published up-to-date information on its review schedule and has clearly indicated contact information for the UNCAC focal point on a governmental website, and has meaningfully involved civil society in its second cycle country visit, which took place in October 2022. They plan to publish both the self-assessment checklist and the full country report once the review is completed. 

The countries indicated on the map as not compliant yet (Estonia, Latvia, Moldova) have not yet had their country visit, with their reviews facing significant delays, but have assured the UNCAC Coalition that civil society will be included in it. For three Pledge signatories (Bulgaria, Tunisia, Liberia), their compliance status is unknown, as they have not provided the relevant information, nor given assurances that they will include civil society in their country reviews. For two other States Parties that were included in this list last year, we were meanwhile able to obtain some information.

Unfortunately, two signatory countries (in red on the map), are currently not compliant with their Pledge commitments. In Mexico, the government has been approached repeatedly about releasing its review documents (the full country report is still being finalized), including through access to information requests, but without responding positively. Through their targeted follow-up activities on their parallel report, the Mexican CSO DLM was able to obtain the self-assessment checklist through a freedom of information request. Moreover, it seems like civil society was not involved in the review so far. The government of Afghanistan signed the Transparency Pledge in 2021 but due to current events and changes in power, is not compliant.  

We commend those countries who are truly committed to transparency and the participation of civil society in UNCAC reviews, and anti-corruption more broadly. This map reflects the most recent information we have received on compliance with the Transparency Pledge. If you spot any inaccuracies, or are interested in signing the Pledge, please do not hesitate to write to email hidden; JavaScript is required. 

There are promising signs that more countries will soon sign the Transparency Pledge. We call on those States Parties who have not done so yet, to sign the Pledge. 

Supporting the Transparency Pledge is our Guide to Transparency and Participation in the UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism with best practice examples (also available in French and Spanish).

3. Civil Society Parallel Reports

Since May 2020, the UNCAC Coalition has supported the production of 45 civil society parallel reports on the implementation of Chapters II (prevention of corruption) and V (asset recovery) of the UNCAC. The parallel reports provide a current assessment of anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and asset recovery policies at the national level, but go beyond analyzing the legal framework to really exposing implementation and enforcement (or the lack thereof) in practice. 

Civil society organizations that have written these reports with the Coalition’s technical and financial support conducted interviews with relevant government and non-governmental stakeholders and, in some cases, sent numerous access to information requests to obtain statistical and other relevant information. By identifying good practices and deficiencies, these parallel reports highlight what is working in practice and provide recommendations for improvement – all with the aim of making the fight against corruption more effective.

In 2024, the Coalition published 7 parallel reports on 2nd review cycle UNCAC implementation, providing support to civil society organizations globally from Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipient countries, enhancing its dissemination efforts of the reports. By region:

• Americas: 1 – Venezuela; 

• Asia-Pacific:  1 – Mongolia – with one on Sri Lanka currently in progress;

• Sub-Saharan Africa:  3 – Chad, and the French translations of the parallel reports from Burundi and Guinea – with one on Nigeria to be published shortly and another one on Cameroon currently in progress;

• Europe: 2 – Ukraine, Kosovo.
• South-West Asia and Northern Africa: 0 – with one on Iraq currently in progress.

Besides building civil society organizations’ capacity on UNCAC matters, their engagement with government institutions (through interviews and access to information requests as part of the information-gathering and parallel report writing process) has, in many cases, led to greater involvement of civil society. 

Follow-up activities

The UNCAC Coalition’s initiative for civil society organizations aims to promote and act on the recommendations developed in their parallel reports on UNCAC implementation in their country. These follow-up activities seek to enable our members and affiliates to interact with the government, relevant key stakeholders and policy-makers, to create momentum and advocate for reforms on the national level. At a global level, these efforts aim to strengthen the implementation of the UNCAC.

In 2023, we supported civil society organizations in strengthening transparency of political financing and strengthening inter-institutional cooperation in Paraguay, strengthening whistleblower protection and UNCAC review transparency in Mexico, and strengthening the anti-money laundering framework in Brazil. To build support for these issues, CSOs conducted strategic communications activities, met with key decision-makers, raised awareness through public debates and social media, and much more.

Follow-up activities are just coming to an end in Zambia (related to implementing the new Access to Information law in practice, strengthening whistleblower protection and increasing transparency and civil society participation in the UNCAC review country visit). Linked to these activities, we piloted our on-site support in Zambia ahead of the country visit, which had a great impact. In 2024, we also started supporting follow-up activities in Uganda (related to whistleblower protection and asset recovery), Costa Rica (related to whistleblower protection and the UNCAC review) and Yemen. Results for all of these activities are foreseen for 2025. 

Learn more about the support we offer for follow-up activities here and write us an email if you are interested at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

4. Access to Information Campaign

Through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the UNCAC Coalition collaborates with civil society in over 45 countries to assess how governments disclose information on UNCAC implementation review cycles, relying on national access to information laws where available. Where such laws are absent, we encourage the use of UNCAC’s transparency principles under Articles 10 and 13.

As an example of the campaign’s impact, Samudayik Sarathi-Nepal submitted an FOI request and successfully obtained information on the status of the review, civil society participation along the process, government focal point details, and follow-up actions to the review cycles. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation in Malta has been actively using requests and appeals to secure complete access to the main UNCAC review documents, embodying the campaign's commitment to uphold the right to information. The campaign has also focused on countries that have completed the second review cycle but have not shared the key documents – the self-assessment checklist and the full country report. As part of this effort, Vouliwatch recently submitted a FOI request to Greece’s Ministry of Justice and National Transparency Authority. These and other findings are accessible through a shared drive as part of the UNCAC Coalition’s Access to Information (ATI) campaign findings table.

The release of UNCAC documents supports advocacy efforts and highlights countries’ commitment to their UNCAC obligations. For civil society organizations, the campaign offers a chance to exercise the right to access information and engage in UNCAC implementation reviews, especially in countries awaiting their country visits.

To date, and with varying levels of success, 23 civil society organizations from Europe and North America; 8 from Latin America and the Caribbean; 8 from Asia-Pacific and 7 from Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the campaign. Is your country represented on the map?

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Endnote: Some UNCAC States Parties (Niue, Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Saint Lucia and Palestine) are not reflected on the maps due to Datawrapper pre-sets.