ALLIANCE FOR INTEGRITY AND GLOBAL COMPACT LAUNCH AN ANTI-CORRUPTION WORKING GROUP IN BOGOTÁ

On 28 May, the Global Compact Network Colombia and Alliance for Integrity launched their joint anti-corruption working group in Bogotá. The event took place at Novartis with 29 attending organisations and companies. This new format is of vital importance for both initiatives to achieve their common goal of fighting corruption collectively.

The Colombian Secretary of Transparency, Camilo Jaimes; the Executive Director of Global Compact Local Network Colombia, Mauricio López; and María Cristina Álvarez, President of Novartis Andean Region Colombia, Ecuador and Peru gave the opening speeches. All three emphasised their organisations’ commitment to not only prevent, battle and sanction corruption, but also to carry out joint actions with the public and private sectors in order to take a collective stand against this complex challenge.

After the opening speeches, Marco Pérez, Network Manager for Mexico and Colombia at the Alliance for Integrity, presented the initiative´s objectives as well as former and planned activities in Colombia. Subsequently, all the attendees introduced themselves and shared their expectations with the group.

Among the participants were representatives from the private sector, non-governmental organisations, governmental institutions, and academia. It proved to be an enriching space for dialogue since many of them shared experiences, good practices and integrity measures that have been implemented successfully within their organisations.

At the end of this first session, the attendees gave input on ways to promote integrity revolving around three central pillars that serve as guidelines for the Alliance for Integrity´s work: 1) Gender and Business Integrity, 2) Impact on small and medium-sized enterprises and 3) Integrity measures within specific sectors. Considering the views and proposals of the participants, the Alliance for Integrity and the Global Compact will design a work plan for the group.

Author: Ana Elena Cadena Ramos