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How to make the UN Convention against Corruption’s Implementation Review Mechanism more effective

The United Nations Convention against Corruption has signatories from 98.5% of UN member states. As its second review cycle ends, now is the time to assess what an efficient follow-up process should include. To formulate recommendations, we interviewed representatives from government and non-governmental organisations, and benchmarked anti-corruption review mechanisms. Improving UNCAC’s Implementation Review Mechanism would help countries complete their reports and implement their commitments.

29 October 2024
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Main points

  • To meet the goals of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), its Implementation Review Mechanism (IRM) must be reformed. While there is consensus that the IRM’s second phase should look back to experiences in the first phase, and UNCAC’s Terms of Reference allude to a follow-up process, the IRM does not yet include ways to make this happen.
  • With the second review cycle ending, now is the time to advocate for the terms of a follow-up process. An improved IRM would enable countries to better implement UNCAC and complete their reporting duties. Promoting positive examples of good practice could help to achieve this.
  • To find other solutions, we benchmarked several anti-corruption review mechanisms to compare best practice. We also interviewed seven government officials and non-governmental organisation (NGO) representatives from six countries committed to the Convention.
  • We found that some of the more forceful measures used by other anti-corruption mechanisms go beyond UNCAC’s non-punitive spirit and scope. However, as 98.5% of UN countries are signatories, UNCAC is the most complete anti-corruption convention, and its wide scope could also be its greatest asset in creating the potential for change.
  • Suggested improvements for the next IRM phase include to radically improve transparency throughout the reporting process, and enhancing visibility on key milestones to ensure follow-up and accountability. We also add extra steps of developing an action plan and a platform to match countries with technical assistance to fill gaps and meet implementation commitments.

Cite this publication


Adams, K.; Diny, F.; Puri, S. (2024) How to make the UN Convention against Corruption’s Implementation Review Mechanism more effective. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Brief 2024:6)

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About the authors

Karin Adams

Karin Adams is Global Advocacy Coordinator at Transparency International. As a practitioner in the areas of democracy and international political economy, she has worked in civil society organisations, social movements, and in the public sector. She holds a bachelor's degree from Universidade Federal Fluminense in Cultural Studies and a master's degree from Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro in International Relations, and is an alumna of the Managing Global Governance Academy (IDOS) and Vetor Brasil programmes.

Frederike Diny

Frederike Diny works as a project coordinator in the field of development cooperation and sustainable development. She received a bachelor's degree in social and cultural anthropology and educational sciences from the University of Muenster, and a master's degree in social anthropology from the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla, and is an alumna of the Managing Global Governance Academy (IDOS).

Sheenam Puri

Sheenam Puri works at the German Embassy New Delhi (India) as a Development Cooperation Officer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in German studies (Germanistik) from Faculty of Arts (University of Delhi) and is an alumna of the Managing Global Governance academy (IDOS).

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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