The Regional Platform for Eastern Africa was created during the regional conference that was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 13 to 17 February 2017.
At the end of this conference, participants, including high-level officials, technical experts, representatives of civil society and development partners, agreed on a set of recommendations to fast-track the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in each of the four thematic areas identified as regional priorities.
[Outcome Document - EN | FR]
Following the creation of the platform, the mapping/baselining phase was undertaken in 2018. This phase was concluded with a regional workshop that was held in Arusha, Tanzania from 20 to 23 March 2018 focusing on public procurement and whistleblower protection.
The implementation phase was launched early 2019. Between 2019 and 2020, more than fifteen activities were conducted at both national and regional level on public procurement, whistleblower protection and financial investigations. Two targeted regional workshops were organized in November 2019 in Kampala, Uganda, focussing on public procurement and financial investigations.
This thematic area is divided into the following main proposed actions:
- Professional training solutions such as supporting registration to certified training
from credible providers;
- Conducting analysis of anti-corruption authorities’ standard operating procedures;
- Reviewing and updating anti-corruption authorities’ policies and procedures architectures,
and provide recommendations to agency heads in the area of periodic file review.
This thematic area is divided into the following main proposed actions:
- Adopting a comprehensive legal framework on whistleblowing protection and
improving the regulatory framework;
- Improving the effectiveness of protection mechanisms applicable to whistleblowers;
- Improving protective measures applicable to witnesses, including reporting persons
in the context of criminal proceedings;
- Regional and international cooperation.
This thematic area is divided into the following main proposed actions:
- Undertaking an analysis of the procurement legislation of each State in the region to
determine compliance with article 9 (1) of UNCAC and supporting the development
of action plans to improve States compliance with the Convention;
- Strengthening regional capacity to identify corruption risks in procurement processes and
developing strategies to mitigate these risks, with particular emphasis on vetting suppliers
(including identification of beneficial ownership, benchmarking, use of bulk contracts,
and development of evaluation criteria together with bid evaluations themselves);
- Providing opportunities for professionals engaged in procurement and the investigation
and prosecution of procurement corruption to be placed with relevant agencies in the
region to share experience.
This thematic area is divided into the following main proposed actions:
- Ensuring that central authorities and relevant national institutions are adequately
resourced and trained, as well as appropriately structured and empowered, to
prepare and respond to requests for mutual legal assistance;
- Developing mechanisms for meeting legal requirements to gather, store, process,
and present evidence delivered via electronic or technological means in a manner
that is permissible across jurisdictions;
- Taking measures to promote informal cooperation and intelligence sharing, including
spontaneously, between law enforcement bodies across jurisdictions, such as through
the EAAACA.
A Follow up workshop to the recommendations adopted at the opening Regional Conference was held in Arusha, Tanzania in March 2018. This was followed by a third meeting of the CSO network at a one-day roundtable to report on progress on public procurement and whistleblower protection in Addis Ababa in April 2019.
CSOs are continued to be supported in the platform, notably through Grants given to five CSOs in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan to deliver anti-corruption projects in public procurement or whistleblower protection. ... more
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