UNODC, CGU and Ethos launch study on mechanisms to prevent corruption in Brazil

 

4 October, 2011 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, the Comptroller General of Brazil (CGU) and the Ethos Institute, presented on Tuesday, 4 October, the Diagnosis and analysis of the integrity systems of states. The study, released during the Seminar Fundamentals on the Prevention and Fight against Corruption, presents a comparison of mechanisms for preventing and controlling corruption in the 26 states of the Federation and in the Federal District.

According to the official in the area of ​​Governance and Justice of the UNODC, Rodrigo Victoria, the private sector plays a key role in fighting corruption. "Gradually, the private sector is becoming aware of their role in fighting corruption. We can not think of a single work. The fight against corruption and building a culture of integrity depends on all sectors of society," he said.

According to the study, a series of corruption scandals brought to light since the late 1980s has "refined" awareness about corruption, advancing it beyond moral criticism. " What was once seen as waste of resources or inefficient management, or even moral failure of the manager came to be understood as a systemic problem. A problem that is not only of bad guys, but of a number of factors as institutional arrangements, legal system, independent media, control mechanisms of the different public institutions and vigilant civil society."

The study, one of the products in the partnership between Ethos Institute, UNODC and CGU also shows that the data collected from health and education reveal a worrying picture. In the selected areas, the less competitive terms of employment by the state (dispensing and waiver) are responsible for 57% of the volume of hiring, on average. In Pará, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo and Sao Paulo, the picture is more worrying, with rates of remission and enforceability of 61%, 62%, 67% and 75% respectively.

Another relevant fact is that although 85% of the internal control state agencies have their own websites or linked to the government portal only 52% provide activity reports (online or offline).

About the control made by the Courts of Auditors, one of the surprising results is the failure, in most of the CTs, of the constitutional rule establishing that two of the seven vacancies shall be filled with board members from the technical staff of the CTs. Acre, Alagoas, Mato Grosso, Sergipe and São Paulo have not had any of the two vacancies filled within the constitutional standards, while Amapá, Bahia, Ceara, Maranhao, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Roraima and Rio Grande do Sul partially fulfilled the norm. In the Amazonas' TCE it was not possible to collect information about achieving the goal.

Another interesting fact is that the strength of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly is greatly reduced before the power of attraction that the elected government exercises over its members. In eight of the 27 federal units, the coalition that won elections for governor also got a majority in the Legislative Assembly. After the formation of the government, this group has grown to 21 states. From this group, in seven the opposition was reduced to less than 30%, in two to less than 20% and two other to less than 10%.

About the media, it presents mediocre results for the level of independence of communication networks (television and newspapers) in relation to regional political groups.

The diagnosis was made by the Center for the Study of Public Opinion (Cesop) of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) between January and August 2011. According to the Cesop researchers, Bruno Speck and Valeriano Mendes Ferreira, the concept of corruption used in the assessment - "abuse of public resources for private purposes" - is the one developed by the global organization Transparency International.

To conduct the survey, eight areas were selected for analysis: budget execution; arrangements for procurement of goods, services and works; institutionalization of internal control, independence of boards of Audit Courts; strength of legislatures' opposition; legal design and practical performance of the Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry to investigate irregularities, civil society participation in management boards, and impartiality of the local media in monitoring corruption in the states.

On each of these areas were used four indicators: access to information, public-private interface in purchasing and procurement, internal controls in state government and independence of each state's Supreme Audit.

 

Were also made observations about the media and civil society. More information to the press:
Cristina Spera - cspera@ethos.org.br
Tels: 11 8895-5740 / 3897-2444

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