We are delighted that our highly successful programme to strengthen public finance management at the regional and local levels in Peru is entering its third four-year phase.

Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) since 2013, the Programa GFP Subnacional aims to improve how public finances are managed and spent at the subnational level and to optimise the delivery of public services to Peruvian citizens.

A new paper published in the Annual Review of Political Science explores how we can improve anti-corruption efforts using a “new arrow in the quiver”: the social norms approach. Claudia Baez Camargo, Head of Prevention, Research and Innovation and a co-author of the paper, explains why the social norms approach is crucial for anti-corruption efforts, and shares some of the paper’s main messages for practitioners and researchers.

The regional government of San Martín, Peru has approved a significant new regulation to protect its forests from the devastating impact of illegal logging. This regulation aims to disrupt corruption in forest management, preventing “wood washing” by revolutionising the procedure and system for approving transport permits (guías de transporte forestal).

The Basel Institute's technical assistance to the Prosecutor General’s Office in Mozambique will now continue through 2027, thanks to a second-phase agreement with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Mozambique office.

Since 2018, our locally based team has been helping to build the capacity of the Prosecutor General's Office to investigate and prosecute corruption and related financial crimes, as well as to recover stolen assets. Training support was extended to the country’s Criminal Police in 2022. 

Corruption prevention measures are often talked about at the national level: “Governments need to do this and that to prevent corruption.”

But Peru’s Regional Government of San Martín provides a good example of what can be achieved at the subnational levels to increase public integrity and transparency.

The ingredients: strong political commitment, a clear understanding of regional corruption vulnerabilities and dedicated technical support.

Companies and business associations play an important role in preventing and reducing corruption in the markets where they operate – something that governments also want to achieve.

So how can governments and the private sector work together better to raise standards of integrity and fair business in specific countries and industries?

To answer this, our Collective Action team has worked with the people on the front lines of governments’ corruption prevent efforts – anti-corruption authorities –  to develop practical guidance with real examples.