Managing Conflicts of Interest

Transcription

1 Managing Conflicts of Interest 39th Round Table, African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) in Gaborone, Botswana By Susanne Kuehn Senior Inter-regional Advisor on Transparency, Accountability, and Integrity Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) - UN DESA

2 CONTENT What are Conflicts of Interest? Why is their effective management important? Measures to manage Conflicts of Interest Lessons Learned

3 What are Conflicts of Interest? A Conflict of Interest is a conflict between a public official s public duty and a private interest; It involves a situation in which a private interest could improperly influence the official s performance of their public duties and responsibilities; A conflict of interest is not necessarily corruption (an actual abuse of public office for personal gain); But: a conflict of interest has the potential for corrupt conduct Conflicts between the private interests and public duties of public officials must therefore be correctly identified, appropriately managed, and effectively resolved

4 High Risks Areas for Conflicts of Interest in the Public Sector Additional employment and outside appointments including in management bodies for private commercial companies Procurement and contracting Gifts, gratuities and hospitality, particularly when public officials work closely with the private sector. Personal, family and community ties and expectations Private business interests, including partnerships, shareholdings and investments Business or NGO activity or employment upon leaving office => Revolving doors

5 Why is an effective management of Conflicts of Interest important? If not properly managed, a conflict of interest can result in corruption, abuse of public authority, breach of trust. A conflict of interest can erode public confidence in the integrity of officials and public institutions. Can undermine democratic and legitimate governance and decisionmaking, leads to a waste of public resources and slows down development. Corruption is an obstacle to the achievement of the SDGs

6 The SDGs- Goals and targets related to governance and preventing corruption SDG 16 aims at Promoting Peaceful and Inclusive Societies for Sustainable Development, Provide Access to Justice for All and Build Effective, Accountable and Inclusive Institutions at All Levels. Target 16.4: significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime; Target 16.5: substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms; Target 16.6: develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels; Target 16.10: ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.

7 The UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and Conflicts of Interest UNCAC Chapter II is dedicated to the prevention of corruption Article 7 (Chapter II) commits state parties to preventing conflicts of interest in the public sector. Article 7 requires that states adopt maintain and strengthen systems aimed at preventing conflicts of interest.

8 How to manage Conflicts-of-Interest? There is no single one size fits all approach to managing conflicts of interest in the public sector Measures to manage conflicts of interest typically include: Formal laws, decrees, regulations (incl. financial disclosure laws) Codes of Ethics and Conduct Registers of assets and interests Trainings and awareness raising

9 Register of Personal Interests and Assets Record kept by a public institution of the private interests of staff members which may conflict with their official public duties; Focus on financial and others interests, such as family relations Key Questions: Who should disclose? Keep numbers manageable Paper vs. electronic (manageable) format Effective management of the register - adequate resources Should information be available to the public? transparency vs privacy/safety concerns Enforcements/sanctions

10 Balancing public & private interests Image: Getting the Full Picture on Public Officials (2017) World Bank, owed=y

11 Financial Disclosure Laws: Adoption spiked in the last three decades Source: Getting the Full Picture on Public Officials (2017) World Bank, Figure 1.1

12 Who Should Disclose? Share of Public Officials by Category Source: Getting the Full Picture on Public Officials (2017) World Bank, Figure 2.1

13 Public Availability of Declared Information Methods for Submitting Disclosure Forms Declared Information is Publicly Available by Law, by Region Source: Getting the Full Picture on Public Officials (2017) World Bank, Figure 4.6 Source: Getting the Full Picture on Public Officials (2017) World Bank, Figure 6.2

14 Lessons Learned for Managing Conflicts of Interest Rules and laws are not sufficient to prevent corruption resulting from conflicts of interest Ensure transparency but keep it manageable (!) Beyond formal sources of laws and rules, public institutions can promote the effective management of conflicts of interest by: Ensuring wide publication, training and awareness raising of the conflictof-interest policy Developing an open organizational culture conflict-of-interest matters can be freely discussed Establishing procedures for identifying, managing and resolving conflictof-interest situations Outlining procedures for establishing a conflict-of-interest offence, and proportional consequences for non-compliance Developing monitoring mechanisms to detect breaches

15 Case 1: India: Lokpal-Lokayuktas Act, 2013 Governing the declaration of assets by public servants Establishing Ombudsman for the Union (Lokpal) and Anti-Corruption Authority for States (Lokayuktas) Procedure following non-declaration and publication of misleading information Determines the complaints and investigation procedure

16 India: Lokpal-Lokayuktas Act, 2013 The codification in the legislation enforceability Act also applies to all public servants in/outside India, incl. members of the immediate family Movable, immovable assets and liabilities included Annual declaration required Publication through agency website Standardized disclosure format Challenges in enforcement and verification

17 Case 2: Georgia: Online Platform for Asset Declaration (2010) Initiated by the Civil Service Bureau (CBS) to replaced the previous paper-based declarations Submitted declarations are published directly into a searchable, publicily accessible database that allows downloading information for free CBS facilitates the process by sending reminders via text messages or , and providing a hotline and online chat service to help with queries about asset declarations.

18 Georgia: Online Platform for Asset Declaration (2010) Ex-post disclosure: hard copy declarations from have been scanned an uploaded Costs: initial investment of USD 20,000 plus an annual maintenance cost of about USD 10,000 Implementation: tests with citizen and officials; trainings for HR staff of government agencies Assessment: Monitoring through watchdog organizations; launch of similar platforms in other countries; ongoing improvements of the platform

19 Jordan s Code of Conduct in the Public Sector A Holistic Approach Towards Managing Conflict of Interest Formals Laws, Rules and Tools Concise and easy-to-understand Right balance between ethics (values) and conduct (rules) Training on application Awareness-raining and communication (inside and outside the institution) Institutional set-up Choose an administrator for the framework that will provide independence, consistency, and confidence Give the framework a legal basis and procedures for enforcement

20 Jordan s Code of Conduct in the Public Sector Leadership and Political Commitment Ministers, Head of states, Presidents, Senior officials/politicians Managers and administrative staff Conducive institutional environment and incentives for ethical behavior Individuals should feel comfortable raising potential conflicts of interest Merit based public service Make ethical behavior and conflict of interest management a component of periodic performance evaluations positive incentives

21 Thank you! Susanne Kuehn Senior Inter-regional Advisor on Transparency, Accountability, Integrity Capacity Development Unit Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government UN DESA Contact: