A guest blog by Elisabeth Danon, Legal Analyst, OECD Anti-Corruption Division.

How can governments in South East Europe partner with the vibrant business sector and civil society to help combat corruption?

OECD experts and practitioners shared some novel ideas on this question at a two-day webinar on Collective Action – Building Alliances Against Corruption in South East Europe on 16 and 17 September.

Speaking at a B20-G20 dialogue on 13 September, the Basel Institute’s Managing Director Gretta Fenner called on G20 Member States to commit to and support the implementation of a multi-stakeholder approach to promoting integrity in procurement.

The Presidency of the G20 rotates each year between member countries, as does the leadership of the B20 – the G20’s voice of business.

The key issue of tackling corruption is picked up almost every year, but not always in the same way or using the same format. This can make it challenging to find historical information including past anti-corruption commitments and related recommendations.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought issues of ethics and business integrity in the healthcare sector into the public spotlight. Citizens everywhere are demanding well-governed, transparent healthcare systems and industries – not only to address the health consequences of the pandemic but as a backbone of resilient and sustainable economic growth.

A new sector-wide integrity programme seeks to transform and harmonise standards of ethics and compliance across all Moscow City Transport organisations.

Alexandr Rusetskiy, a Deputy General Director in the Moscow Directorate of Transport Services, together with Ilsur Akhmetshin of the Compliance-Elements partnership, explain the motivation, approach and challenges in this effort to bring state-of-the-art anti-corruption practices to the sector and beyond.

The Siemens Integrity Initiative is boosting the Basel Institute’s capacity to promote anti-corruption Collective Action with an additional USD 3.5 million in funding under its “Golden Stretch” round.

How do illegal wildlife products, live animals, exotic marine species and illegally logged timber end up in stores, zoos, aquariums and homes on the other side of the world?

Too easily, is the answer. Weaknesses in global supply chains make them vulnerable to exploitation by organised crime groups and bad actors working in legitimate businesses. Corruption opens the door to that exploitation. And the easy possibilities for laundering money from environmental crimes makes this illicit activity attractive to criminals around the world.