post:INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR
COMPARATIVE EXPERIENCES IN CORRUPTION PREVENTION, home based with travel to New
York
United Nations Development Programme
304 East 45th Street
New York
United Nations Development Programme
304 East 45th Street
New York
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR COMPARATIVE EXPERIENCES IN CORRUPTION PREVENTION
Location :home based with travel to New York and three countries (to be determined)
Application Deadline :20-May-13
Type of Contract :Other
Post Level :Other
Languages Required :English
Starting Date :(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
03-Jun-2013
Duration of Initial Contract :100 days
Expected Duration of Assignment :100 days
Background
Corruption is one of the biggest governance challenges of our times, which manifests in multiple ways and contributes to undermining the rule of law and hindering development. It directly affects the lives of millions of people around the world, particularly the poor and marginalized, by either diverting resources meant for basic services or by forcing people to pay bribes to access services.
Recognizing the dire need to address corruption in order to improve rule of law, ensure stability and security of societies, strengthen democracy and improve development effectiveness, several regional and international instruments were adopted to prevent and criminalize acts of corruption. These instruments include: OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (1997), African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003), Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (1999), Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption (1999), and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (1996). The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), adopted in 2003, is the most comprehensive instrument against corruption. It currently has 165 countries (as of 18 March 2013) as parties to the convention. UNCAC calls for adoption of a comprehensive set of standards, measures and rules to address corruption – from prevention of corruption, to criminalization and enforcement.
The instruments, including UNCAC, do not define corruption prevention but include several provisions that together are meant to contribute to limiting the scope for corruption to occur. Provisions of Chapter II on Preventive Measures (Articles 5 to 14) cover a broad range of areas from establishment of anti-corruption bodies to public sector transparency and accountability; to judicial sector; private sector; civil society participation, and regulation of bank and non-bank financial institutions. These provisions cover almost all aspects of public and economic administration and regulation. Investing in prevention measures was seen as essential for preventing wastage of resources, improve efficiency, and build public trust.
State parties have adopted national policies and strategies to implement the provisions under Articles 5 to 14 or subsumed them in different reform processes covering transparency and accountability of public and private sector, and protection of rule of law. These include: adoption of national anti-corruption strategies, establish national anti-corruption strategies, improve access to official information, adoption of measures to improve transparency and accountability of the public sector. The responsibility to coordinate implementation of national anti-corruption strategies (implementation of prevention measures along with detection and prosecution of acts of corruption) often rests with national anti-corruption agencies.
However, despite the efforts at national, regional and global level, understanding of what constitutes corruption prevention (both conceptually and practical measures) and how different corruption prevention measures are implemented as well as their impact remains limited. Often, national anti-corruption agencies, which coordinate implementation of anti-corruption strategies, see prevention measures as synonymous with education and awareness raising initiatives – such as establishment of integrity clubs in schools, and PSA messages. These initiatives – while important – are only one minor part of activities (defined under UNCAC) that contribute to corruption prevention.
Organizations that work on anti-corruption define corruption prevention in terms of range of activities they support as part of their anti-corruption efforts. Multi-lateral organizations such as UNDP and the World Bank see corruption as misuse of entrusted power for private gain and see corruption prevention as mitigation of risks that lead to corruption – covering a broad range of activities from establishing legal frameworks, to strengthening institutions, to better public financial management and other. The Global Integrity Index also sees corruption prevention to include broad range of areas. It ranks countries based on the existence, effectiveness, and citizens’ access to key national-level anti-corruption mechanisms.
At the same time, evidence on the impact of corruption prevention measures is also limited. Existing literature and measurements in anti-corruption and public accountability only point to level of implementation gaps of national anti-corruption laws and strategies, and do not present an analysis of why certain strategies work or do not work in specific contexts.
This lack of clarity on what constitutes corruption prevention, and an analysis of the success and failure of different corruption prevention measures is affecting implementation of corruption prevention measures. Participants at the Lesotho High Level Dialogue on Prevention of corruption, organized by UNDP in December 2012, also reiterated challenges in both conceptualizing corruption prevention and implementing corruption preventions measures – given the nature of public institutional arrangements. Range of institutions and independent bodies with different mandates at different levels of governance are meant to implement the measures adopted to prevent corruption such as asset declaration, code of conduct, procurement, recruitment, etc. Coordination of implementation of these measures or oversight of implementation of these measures is thus very challenging.
To get greater clarity on how corruption prevention is defined and implemented in practice and contribute to wider knowledge on corruption prevention, UNDP wants to undertake a mapping exercise to document good practices and lessons learnt from implementing corruption prevention measures. It seeks to hire consultant(s) and/or research team to undertake the study.
Duties and Responsibilities
Objective and scope of the study
The objective of this study is to contribute to the wider knowledge and work on corruption prevention, including the forthcoming Conference of State Parties on UNCAC in November 2013, and second cycle of the UNCAC implementation review mechanism (2015 – 2019), which will cover Chapter II on Preventive measures. The study will focus on reviewing the use of the term ‘corruption prevention’ both in literature and in practice. It will gather data and information on the implementation of various corruption prevention measures.
More specifically, using case studies and literature review, this study will try to answer the following questions:
Section I: Scope of Corruption Prevention
What is corruption prevention? How is it understood in literature and in practice (esp. by anti-corruption practitioners)?
Section II: Corruption Prevention in Practice
What are some examples of successful and not so successful corruption prevention measures? Specifically related to, though not limited to, the work of anti-corruption agencies in below areas:
implementation of national anti-corruption strategies,
mainstreaming anti-corruption in public sector, and
raising public awareness and enhancing civil society participation to prevent corruption.
What are the major challenges in implementing corruption prevention measures, including measuring impact?
Section III: the gap between international standards and practice in corruption prevention
What is the framework provided by UNCAC on corruption prevention?
What are the gaps between established standards and practice in the area of corruption prevention?
What are some of the parameters and examples of effective frameworks for corruption prevention?
Section IV: Recommendations
Based on the mapping, what are some of the recommendations to improve corruption prevention work, and measure the impact of preventive measures?
Methodology
The consultant(s) will work closely with UNDP anti-corruption team and will undertake literature review and field visits (countries to be determined later) to collect evidence and draft the study. The consultant will compile the information by going through the existing literature , databases and interviewing (by phone and by emails) anti-corruption practitioners around the world. The consultant will also look into the work of selected anti-corruption agencies and existing anti-corruption prevention activities.
Competencies
Functional Competencies:
- Excellent knowledge of the anti-corruption and democratic governance issues.
- Proven ability to carry out of complex research and gather qualitative and quantitative data
- Experience in developing and conducting assessments, including in anti-corruption
- Good knowledge of UNDP anti-corruption work.
- Excellent writing and research skills and ability to produce knowledge products with minimal supervision.
- Demonstrated ability to effectively manage competing demands and time, and adhere to deadlines, and work flexibly.
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
- Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Master’s degree in public administration, law, political science, finance, economics, international relations, development studies, or related field.
Experience:
At least 10 years of working experience in anti-corruption, and democratic governance, particularly in post-conflict and transition contexts,
A prior record of producing research studies (preferably in anti-corruption).
Language Requirements:
Strong writing skills in English
Deliverables and Time Frame
The consultant(s) will deliver the following:
A detailed outline of the guide and work plan (20 working days from the commencement of the consultancy)
First draft for review (next 50 working days)
Second draft incorporating comments from the technical working group (next 15 working days)
Final draft ( next 15 working days)
Payments
The consultant(s) will be paid in three tranches upon submission of agreed deliverables
First tranche - upon submission and approval of outline (20% of the agreed fee)
Second tranche - upon submission and approval of first draft (30% of the agreed fee)
Third Tranche - upon satisfactory submission and approval of second draft (50% of the agreed fee)
Reporting
The consultant(s) will report directly to the UNDP Global Policy Advisor on Anti-Corruption. They will work closely with UNDP anti-corruption team at headquarters, regional centres, and country offices.
FC: 20019
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
Closing Date: Monday, 20 May 2013
http://unjobs.org/vacancies/1367514731257