Brasília, 8 December 2022 - In celebration of the International Anti-Corruption Day (9), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brazil presented, in an online event, the results obtained by its projects to fight corruption and to promote integrity in the country.
Opening the event, the supervisor of the Corruption and Integrity area, Eduardo Pazinato, recalled the 20-year anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, of which UNODC is the guardian and acts to support its implementation. "The UNCAC is the only universal legally binding anti-corruption instrument. The Convention's far-reaching approach and the mandatory character of many of its provisions make it a unique tool for developing a comprehensive response to a global problem," he said.
According to the UNODC Rule of Law Unit coordinator, Nivio Nascimento, "during the last two years, UNODC Brazil has advanced in the implementation of two global anti-corruption projects: the COVID-19 Anti-Corruption Response and Recovery Projectand the Global Action Business Integrity (Siemens). The latter has an emphasis on the private sector and seeks to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to prevent and combat corruption by strengthening the legislative framework, the cooperation and the public-private dialogue."
As part of the projects to fight corruption, "UNODC also promoted Technical Dialogues to facilitate dialogue and share knowledge with various institutions," he added.
Explaining the relationship between the pandemic of COVID-19 and corruption, the Anti-Corruption Response and Recovery to COVID-19 project officer, Chantal Castro, noted that "with the declaration of the pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), it was necessary to launch emergency measures for public procurement in the health sector, raising the risks of corruption on a global scale."
The officer also presented the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Collection, composed of eight manuals classified within three themes: Anti-Corruption and COVID-19 Crisis Response; Integrity, Conflict of Interest and Public Procurement; and Protection of Whistleblowers. These publications have been translated into Portuguese as part of the initiatives of this global project and can be accessed here.
The results of the Global Action Business Integrity project were presented by the UNODC National Project Officer, Luis Gustavo Cardoso. "We held a series of events to promote integrity in the private sector, with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises, such as the Virada ODS, the Bootcamp on corporate integrity, the Coding for Integrity, as well as meetings with representatives of state governments, universities and private initiatives," he reported.
Also present at the event were Professor Juliana Palma, Professor André Castro Carvalho, and PhD candidate Breno Marisguia, among other Brazilian researchers, professionals and authorities.
Access UNODC page and learn more about Fighting Corruption and Economic Crime.
