The Alliance for Integrity discusses effects of corruption on public trust at OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum 2017

The Alliance for Integrity and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH hosted a joint panel discussion focusing on the topic “(Re-) Gaining Public Trust through Integrity” at the OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum 2017 in Paris. The motto of this year’s forum was „Breaking Inequality: Integrity for Inclusive Growth”.

The panel discussion highlighted that corruption leads to the loss of public trust, and how it affects the public and the private sector. Recent revelations such as the Panama Papers and “Operação Lava Jato” are cases in point. To counter these negative effects, the panel focused on the important role of integrity and stressed how integrity could regain public trust after cases of misconduct and corruption. The speakers also shared their views on regional challenges and opportunities to bring integrity into practice. While the public and the private sector are stepping up efforts towards clean and responsible business conduct, there is still a gap between commitment and implementation. One conclusion, amongst others, was that cooperation and peer-to-peer learning is crucial to strengthen integrity and thus helps to gain public trust.

In the panel discussion, the participants Elodie Beth, Programme Advisor of the Governance and Peacebuilding Team, United Nations Development Programme, Bangkok Regional Hub; Renata Figueiredo, General Coordinator of Integrity, Ministry of Transparency, Supervision and Control in Brazil; Corinne Lagache, Co-Chair of the B20 Cross-Thematic Group on Responsible Business Conduct & Anti-Corruption and Senior Vice-President and Group Compliance Officer of Safran; Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Director, European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building (ERCAS), Professor of Democracy Studies, Hertie School of Governance; and Carsten Schmitz-Hoffmann, Head of Department for Economic and Social Development, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH debated together with moderator Noor Naqschbandi, Director of Alliance for Integrity.

A video of the whole panel discussion can be accessed here.