International Anti-corruption Day

 relevant organizations deploy education and training concretely in their efforts to promote integrity, members of the Business at OECD global network were invited to submit use cases, which are set out in this part of the paper . The collection of use cases was supported by the following guiding questions:  • What are the top corruption risks that your orga- nization faces?  • What are the main characteristics of your education and training initiatives to spread integrity and ethical standards within your organization?  • What results has the initiative achieved so far? What have been its the main success factors?  • Did you encounter any problems when rolling out your project?  • What measures could governments/the OECD take to support your efforts?  The use cases included in this paper originate from a wide variety of sectors, ranging from food and drink, electronics and telecommunications to e-commerce, medical technology, and accounting. Whi...

  Integrity training plays an important role in addressing the demand side of bribery. Therefore, providing sufficient information, training, guidance, and timely advice for public officials to apply public integrity standards in the workplace is one of the core principles of the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity . Such trainings typically aim at helping public officials recognize integrity issues when they arise and equip them with the knowledge and skills to manage them appropriately. They also help cultivate their commitment to carrying out public duties in the public interest. The OECD has four specific recommendations on how these efforts should be conducted: • Providing public officials throughout their careers with clear and up-to-date information about the organization’s policies, rules and administrative procedures relevant to maintaining high standards of public integrity; • Offering induction and on-the-job integrity training to public officials throughout their c...

  Regulations against corruption typically encourage responsible conduct through a mix of incentives and sanctions designed to drive good practice. However, no state has the resources to police all corporate activity for potential violations. Even in robust enforcement environments, corporate compliance with anti-corruption legislation thus largely depends on the commitment of companies, and particularly their leadership. Company leaders are responsible for setting the right tone from the top, overseeing implementation of effective compliance programs, and ensuring that the necessary resources are made available. However, to be effective, anti-corruption policies and procedures must be communicated to employees and others acting on a company’s behalf. For this, appropriate training, guidance materials and other communication and awareness-raising activities are key, both within the company and vis-àvis suppliers and other stakeholders it works with. The OECD Good Practice Guidan...

  As the final stage prior to peoples’ entry into the workforce, tertiary education10 provides an important opportunity to nurture the ethical minds and professional identity of citizens and future leaders. The UNESCO World Declaration on HigherEducation for the Twenty-First Century states that training people in the values that form the basis of democratic citizenship is one of the core missions of higher education. Around the world, higher education institutions have adopted different approaches to ethics and anti-corruption teaching and training. In some cases, academic disciplines, such as law, teaching, medicine, public administration, and business, incorporate ethics components into their curricula. Some mainstream these topics across the curriculum, while others rely on specialized courses, guest lectures, conferences, workshops, ad hoc events, or experience-based learning programs. The UNODC GRACE initiative supports these efforts in various ways. The GRACE KnowledgeHub o...

Primary and secondary schools are key institutions for socializing young people to embrace their societies’ legal, moral, and social norms. Countries that include public integrity in their school curricula typically integrate related modules into existing courses and/ or provide support through dedicated materials that can be used at a time of the school’s choosing. Lessons on public integrity can be linked to existing social science, literature or language classes or linked to modules that aim to achieve social change, such as citizenship education, character education, peace education, or human rights education, but other approaches exist too. In some countries, the relevant public integrity bodies deliver tailored, on-request training on public integrity in interested schools. After-school or holiday camp programs delivered in cooperation with relevant public bodies or civil society organizations are another possibility.9 The precise contents that can be taught depend on the age of ...

  By leveraging their education system to raise awareness on the costs of corruption and benefits ofpublic integrity , governments can reduce tolerance for corrupt practices in society. School systems that teach children about integrity from an early age can help establish strong behavioral norms and values. University and vocational training curricula that integrate content on anti-corruption and integrity help equip future decision makers with the knowledge, skills and behaviors to recognize the value of public integrity, prevent and counter corrupt practices , and understand both the legal and economic consequences of non-compliance, for the individual and society at large. Training the educators is a core component of any education for integrity program. Equipping them with course materials they can use can be helpful in this regard. Examples of such resource kits include the OECD Education for Integrity brochure , which provides teachers with sample lesson plans and tasks for...

  Everyone has a set of values, based on their family, social, cultural, religious, or political context. Education can both raise awareness on prevalent values and their impact and promote universal values. Therefore, education and training are cornerstones for building a culture of integrity in society. They can serve as means to raise awareness of the devastating effects of corruption , reduce societal tolerance of corrupt practices and equip people with the knowledge and skills to recognize, prevent and resist corruption. Teaching young people about integrity has the potential to shape the future by shaping societal norms. For a meaningful change, however, a culture of integrity should be mainstreamed in relevant education modules amongst all age groups, and action needs to go beyond government and involve individuals, civil society organizations and companies. All the key international conventions and standards on fighting corruption acknowledge the important role of educatio...

  Besides obvious ethical obligations and human rights considerations, there is a clear business case for fighting corruption . From a company perspective, preventing corruption is a critical component of risk management and business performance . Scandals, legal proceedings, or fines linked to corruption not only create significant financial damage for a company in the form of fines and penalties or legal costs, but also damage its reputation and can lead to debarment from government contracts and loss of trust from employees, customers and stakeholders. Equally, an environment of business integrity creates a positive organizational culture, and helps to recruit and retain talent, in addition to improving relationships with overall stakeholders including customers, investors, regulators and influencers. At the market level, efforts to fight corruption are a prerequisite to ensuring fair competition and a level playing field for all. From a macroeconomic point of view, corruption ...

 Corruption is one of the most corrosive issues our societies face. It wastes public resources, widens inequalities, undermines the rule of law, and leads to inefficient allocations of scarce resources, eroding long-term competitiveness. This breeds discontent amongst citizens, fosters political polarization, and reduces trust in business and public institutions. Whilst there is broad international agreement on the need to fight corruption, addressing such a multi-faceted phenomenon in practice has proved difficult. Approaches that are merely based on rules, stricter compliance, and tougher enforcement are not sufficient as they do not tackle the root causes of corruption, including but not limited to poverty, weak institutions and governance systems, or societal norms permissive of corrupt practices. Meaningful change thus requires a comprehensive, whole-of society approach. All societies are based on shared norms and values that define what sort of behavior is considered acceptab...

  Some concrete use cases collected from companies and other relevant organizations from across the global network of Business at OECD. They provide a snapshot of the many ways in which these organizations leverage education and training in their efforts to promote integrity. Of course, this list of examples is non exhaustive and does not claim to provide a complete picture of existing programs. The following use cases were obtained:

  Business organizations, professional bodies, and civil society organizations are crucial providers of education, training and awareness-raising materials related to anti-corruption. Business organizations at national and international level have powerful networks that include companies of all sizes and across sectors. This helps them collect and spread best practices and organize impactful training programs and awareness-raising measures. Sectoral business associations represent businesses from a specific sector and can complement these activities through more targeted initiatives. Professional bodies (e.g., professional accountancy organizations, bar associations, etc.) also play an important role in the education and training of their members on anti-corruption topics directly, as well as on instilling and enforcing codes of ethics on their members and future members. This has been recognized in the OECD Anti-BriberyRecommendation , which provides: Professional associations th...