Power-up Anti-bribery for Human Rights and Sustainable Development
Iceland, Norway, and Portugal signed the UNCAC and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, and over the years had implemented its provisions into the national laws by extending the already existing provisions, namely regarding corruption and the bribery of public officials, to also include bribery of foreign public officials and agents.
But there are different levels of engagement of the private sector, as well as corporate governance and compliance mechanisms in place to address it, mainly due to distinct levels of enforcement by the governments and the public perception of the impacts of corruption in everyday life, on Human Rights and on Sustainable Development.
Based on Transparency International’s business integrity conceptual framework, and with a clear focus on fighting foreign bribery, CLEANBIZ intends to support the implementation and the enforcement of the OECD Anti-Briebery Convention by combining anti-corruption and human rights compliance and due diligence with awareness-raising and training directed to the business sector.
The UN Agenda 2030 asks all states to substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms, but foreign bribery in particular seems to be one area where changes are slow and there are a number of obstacles to overcome.
According to Transparency International, “Foreign bribery is not an abstract phenomenon; it has huge consequences for both the payer and recipient. Money lost to foreign bribes creates significant economic repercussions, triggers unfair competitive advantages and results in fewer public services for the people who need them most.”
Therefore, expanding the UNCAC, the OECD Anti-bribery Convention and SDG16 compliance into corporate governance and corporate social responsibility is key to increase the business sector participation and commitment towards Human Rights and Sustainable Development.
The CLEANBIZ online conference will discuss ongoing efforts to enhance business integrity though a human-rights based approach to anticorruption, aiming to engage business leaders from Iceland, Norway and Portugal.
Guest Speakers
Peter Eigen
Peter Eigen has worked at the World Bank on economic development for 25 years. He taught at the universities of Frankfurt/ M, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins/ SAIS and from 2002 – 2011 at Freie Universität, Berlin. Eigen is the founder of Transparency International (TI), serving as TI Chair from 1993 to 2005 and until 2019 Chair of its Advisory Council. From 2006-2011 Eigen was the founding Chair of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). In August 2014 he co-founded the “HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform” in Berlin, he founded in 2015 and chaired its Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), and co-chairs now its Climate Transparency Initiative. Peter also serves on the boards of Care, Stiftung Kinder-Hilfe, Childaid and German Doctors.
François Valérian
François Valérian is a professor of finance, regulation and governance at Ecole des Mines de Paris and CNAM, author and editor-in-chief of French scientific journal Annales des Mines. He was elected to the board of Transparency International France in 2013 where his contributions to the chapter’s anti-corruption advocacy around offshore centres brought about significant impact. Formerly the leader of business integrity initiatives at the Transparency International Secretariat, François initiated Transparency International’s advocacy at the G20 around financial regulation and anti-corruption. In 2019 he was elected to the International Board of Transparency International where he now chairs the TI Membership Accreditation Committee.
Gillian Dell
Gillian Dell is Head of the Conventions Programme at Transparency International (TI) and works on issues relating to grand corruption impunity, foreign bribery enforcement, asset recovery and international anti-corruption conventions. She has co-authored ten editions of the Exporting Corruption Report, about OECD Convention enforcement, and in 2006 she co-founded the UNCAC Coalition, a global civil society network dedicated to implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption.
CLEANBIZ – Power-up Anti-bribery for Human Rights and Sustainable Development is supported by the EEA Grants Bilateral Relations Fund