WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SUMMIT?

At the Anti-Corruption Summit the UK promised to “launch practitioner partnerships on institutional integrity with Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Afghanistan and Georgia to share expertise in the areas of audit, financial regulation, anti-corruption, and parliamentary budget oversight.”

At least 18 countries committed to support these international practitioner partnerships. The UK’s partnerships include:

• The UK National Audit Office and Nigeria’s Office of the Auditor General working together to strengthen organisational governance and compliance with international audit standards.
• The National Crime Agency partnering with relevant counterpart agencies in Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria to strengthen their anti-corruption institutions.
• The UK committing to an institutional integrity partnership with Kenya to support the development of its financial regulatory bodies through provision of UK expertise.
• The Office of Budget Responsibility partnering with Georgia’s Parliamentary Budget Office to strengthen budget transparency, including through improving the quality of economic and fiscal reporting.
• The UK stands ready to provide financial and technical assistance to the newly announced Afghanistan Anti-Corruption Justice Centre, including through work with UK institutions.

International partnerships announced at the Summit include:

• Bulgaria and Afghanistan partnering to strengthen policing and anti-corruption units.
• Norway strengthening the integrity outcomes in its partnership with Ghana and Tanzania under its landmark Oil for Development programme.
• Through the International Bar Association’s Programme for Excellence, the Georgian Bar Association and the Law Society of Kenya partnering with participating associations from other countries to enhance effectiveness in global legal services, the justice system and the rule of law.
•  The Commonwealth Secretariat will establish new Anti-Corruption Networks, first in the Pacific and then Asia to promote practitioner partnerships.
• Australia’s integrity-focused partnership in the Pacific.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE?

According to the UK Government website:

“Drawing on expert development economist Professor Sir Paul Collier’s “twinning” approach, the new ‘Institutional Integrity Network’ will see countries partnering up to share high professional standards and best practice in vital areas of government and in professional associations; including tax, budgets, natural resource management and accountancy.”

Partnerships for Development (formerly known as GREAT for Partnership) “will leverage the skills and expertise from a range of UK institutions and supply them initially to DFID partner countries, based on tailored demand. It will initially prioritise the Extractives, Financial Accountability and Anti-Corruption sectors.” The DfID website lists Kenya and Sierra Leone as the current beneficiary countries of this project, and claims that the project is nearly 60% complete.

According to the Partnerships for Development Annual Report published in March 2019, this project was slow to start due to delays in establishing a partnership platform. However, the Annual Review also states that there has been progress made in establishing up to 15 early partnerships between The British Geological Survey, The National Crime Agency, the Oxford Policy Fellowship and their developing country counterparts. The annual report and other status updates can be found on the Development Tracker website.

In June 2020 the Prime Minister announced that there would be a merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. TI-UK encourages HM Government to continue to prioritise anti-corruption projects in the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.