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UNODC launches TRACK portal and anti-corruption legal library
2 September 2011 - UNODC has launched a Web-based anti-corruption portal known as TRACK (Tools and Resources for Anti-Corruption Knowledge). The portal features the United Nations Convention against Corruption legal library, providing a unique gateway to an electronic database of Convention-related legislation and jurisprudence from over 175 States, systematized in accordance with the Convention's requirements.
The TRACK portal brings together legal and non-legal knowledge relating to anti-corruption and asset recovery, enabling Member States, the anti-corruption community and the general public to access that information in a central location. Information in the Legal Library is searchable by country, by article of the Convention and such other criteria as legal systems and levels of human development.
An anti-corruption learning platform is also incorporated, providing a common space in which analytical tools generated by partner organizations can be searched and accessed by users worldwide.
A further key objective of TRACK is to create a community of practitioners in which registered users can communicate, exchange information and schedule events. The common workspace is intended for partner institutions, anti-corruption practitioners and experts to communicate and collaborate directly with each other.
Commenting on the new portal, Dimitri Vlassis, Chief of the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch of UNODC, said: "The implementation review mechanism of the United Nations Convention against Corruption has shown the importance of legislation-related knowledge for all countries around the world, which can be inspired by each other's challenges and successes. The Legal Library is intended as the tool for meeting that need." The review mechanism, a process of peer-review of the implementation of the Convention by its 154 States Parties, is currently in its second year of operation.
At present, TRACK partner organizations include the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption, the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, the Basel Institute on Governance, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, the joint UNODC and World Bank Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative and the United Nations Global Compact.
The technology necessary to develop the blueprint for the initiative was provided by Microsoft Corporation as a pro bono contribution to the anti-corruption work of the United Nations. The launch of the portal marks another example of the growing role of the private sector in the fight against corruption.