Global dynamics of corruption: the role of the United Nations in helping Member States build integrity to curb corruption

This paper highlights the following lessons learned at the Brisbane workshop: economic growth without integrity and good governance does not reduce poverty; there is a need to balance awareness raising and enforcement to avoid cynicism; it takes integrity to curb corruption and it needs more time and resources than expected; it is critical to involve the public, as they are the key victims of corruption; to involve the public requires trust; there is clear link between money laundering, organized crime and corruption; identifying and recovering stolen assets without serious preventative work is not enough; there is a need for international convention promoting an integrated, dynamic and comprehensive approach that is evidence based, transparent, inclusive, non-partisan and impact orientated. It assesses the progress made so far in curbing national and international corruption, arguing that the positive factors, which includes increased awareness transparency and inclusion of multiple stakeholders cannot out weigh negative factors such as: insufficient resources, lack of an approach, insufficient resources, political will, donor co-ordination and facts about types, levels, location and cost of corruption. It also presents the UN's role in helping countries build integrity to fight corruption, pointing to initiatives such as: the new UN Convention against Corruption; UNDP's focus on strengthening member states national capacities and on the building of partnerships; DESA's work in capacity building in the field of governance and finally; the work of the Global programme against Corruption, which mainly focuses on judiciary integrity and on facilitating the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption.