UNDP, Saudi Arabia launch new global initiative for measuring corruption

13 / 12 / 2023

By Marwa Nassar - -

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) have teamed up to jointly launch a new global initiative for measuring corruption with an aim to strengthen efforts to foster international cooperation to fight corruption and enable countries to track and monitor progress on tackling corruption.

The initiative comes at the helm of the 10th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP10) to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), hosted by the United States Government in Atlanta from 11 – 15 December.

UNDP will implement this multi-year 2023-2027 initiative in support of ‘Nazaha’s Global Initiative on the Measurement of Corruption’, with financial support from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“Our dedication is centered on directing every dollar towards impactful development initiatives, reinforcing UNDP’s reputation as a trusted partner,” stated UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

“As part of the UN family, UNDP is working to support anti-corruption efforts at global, regional, and country levels: a vital means to foster stability and advance development in this era of poly-crisis. With our partners from the UN and beyond, UNDP is advancing the spirit and letter of the UNCAC, including by driving new efforts to measure corruption.”

The new initiative will develop evidenced-based indicators with multi-stakeholder approach, involving practitioners and policy makers from the public sector, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector, to evaluate progress and efforts of countries to end multiple forms of corruption, identify policy recommendations and reforms, to enable countries to achieve national anti-corruption objectives, as well as address the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 targets for reducing corruption and illicit financial flows (IFFs).

“By developing robust and comprehensive indicators in collaboration with relevant experts and leveraging the work of the International Anti-Corruption Academy’s Global Programme on Measuring Corruption, the initiative aims to measure the extent of corruption and evaluate the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts. These indicators will enable nations to accurately assess the level of corruption within their territories and provide guidance for them to combat it accordingly”, stated H.E. Mr. Mazin Ibrahim Alkahmous, President of the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), Saudi Arabia.

Launched earlier this year, the Global Progress Report on SDG 16 developed jointly by UNODC, UNDP and OHCHR found data gaps in terms of indicators for the measurement of the impact of anti-corruption policies. This new initiative will thus help address the data gaps, by developing corruption and anti-corruption indicators through an inclusive, open, and consultative process, particularly focusing on open and honest dialogue with the key stakeholders.

The 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December) commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). It seeks to highlight the crucial link between anti-corruption and peace, security, and development.