Alliance for Integrity´s 4th Global Conference

29.04.2021

Global, online

For the fourth time, the Alliance for Integrity brought together relevant stakeholders from the private and public sectors, civil society, academia and international institutions to discuss current compliance issues, challenges and emerging trends on a global level. Due to ongoing restrictions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Global Conference was held online for the first time. Core topics included the Promotion of Integrity in the Centre of the Post-Pandemic Era, Collective Action, Gender and Corruption, Digitalisation, Compliance 3.0 and Unique Training Methods for Integrity. In total, more than 800 participants from 25 countries joined the Conference.

Alliance for Integrity´s 4th Global Conference

In recent years, strengthening integrity has been high on the global agenda in both the public and private sectors. While stricter regulatory frameworks and changing public expectations have supported this development, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that there are still many challenges to overcome. In times of crisis, many actors across all sectors are overwhelmed by disruptions in global supply chains and the need for emergency response. This increases the risk of corruption and the loss of hard-won gains.

The Alliance for Integrity therefore promotes the use of the most important asset of all actors: their ability to collaborate and co-create. Collective Action is at the heart of the Alliance for Integrity and forms the foundation on which all activities are based. Shared values and the will to achieve a common goal lead to strong partnerships and are the prerequisite for the initiative’s success. Illustrating the strong collaboration and diversity of the initiative, the Alliance for Integrity has created a Spotify Playlist for the Global Conference that features popular and inspiring songs from all countries involved.

In her opening remarks, Susanne Friedrich, Director of the Alliance for Integrity, emphasised the importance of Collective Action, especially in times of crisis. “In order to prevent corruption, we need Collective Action. Policymakers, the private sector and civil society – they all need to fight corruption!”, agreed Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, in his welcoming message. Beatriz Londoño, Secretary of Transparency of the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, drew the attention to current challenges and called on everyone to take action in order to build back better.

After the opening remarks, the Global Conference officially kicked-off with the high-level panel on “Ensuring that the Promotion of Transparency and Integrity is at the Centre of the Post-Pandemic World”. Together with thought leaders and decision-makers from all around the globe we assessed the status quo and immediate learnings from the crisis, the conditions for long-term change and the concrete measures to be implemented. “Besides human lives, the victims of the crisis are integrity, rule of law, fair competition, accountability systems and human rights”, stated Delia Ferreira, Chairwoman of Transparency International. Due to the changed working and learning conditions, women and children are particularly affected by the crisis. However, these challenges have also revealed opportunities and put the focus on an interdisciplinary approach to fighting corruption. “Corruption is a kind of virus, changing with time and places where we find it but having human rights as core values is a great baseline to make good decisions”, shared Klaus Moosmayer, Chief Ethics, Risk and Compliance Officer at Novartis. Corruption prevention must always go hand in hand with the protection of the environment and human rights. The global Covid-19 pandemic showed once again that corruption can only be fought globally and collectively.

The opening ceremony also marked the end of the Global Integrity Campaign, in which 60 partners of the Alliance for Integrity were involved, reaching more than 2.4 million people with their important integrity message. The making of video, presented for the first time, underlines the Campaign's Collective Action approach, which is unique to date. Susanne Friedrich thanked all partners for their great commitment and willingness to work on new formats like the Campaign. The innovative drive was also recognised by the jury of the German Online Communication Awards, which put the campaign on the shortlist in the category ‘Short Clips’.

On the second event day, four parallel sessions addressed the topics of Collective Action, Gender and Corruption, Digitalisation and Unique Training Methods. In addition, the Global Trainer Meeting of the Alliance for Integrity took place and the Gender Sounding Board was launched.

Collective Action is defined by the World Bank as “a collaborative and sustained process of cooperation amongst stakeholders. It increases the impact and credibility of individual action, brings vulnerable individual players into an alliance of like-minded organisations and levels the playing field between competitors.” Based on this definition, the Alliance for Integrity has implemented a mid-term mentoring programme called Integrity Journey that is specifically designed to train SMEs in corruption prevention. In the Side Event on Collective Action, participants and mentors of the Integrity Journey came together to share their experiences, challenges and best practices towards a more ethical business. Setting the tone for the discussion, Gemma Aiolfi, Head of Compliance, Corporate Governance and Collective Action at Basel Institute on Governance highlighted the need to define clearly the objectives of every Collective Action effort. This supports the process of identifying risks and putting in mitigation measures. Collective Action is one way for businesses to adapt their operations to promote integrity and communicating such adaptations. “We needed to demonstrate effective compliance mechanisms in order to become part of the supply chain of larger companies. During the Integrity Journey, we learnt how to implement a code of conduct and perform a comprehensive risk assessment. Thus, we were able to increase our score in the self-evaluation of TheintegrityApp from 4 to 64”, shared Carolina Butus Lawyer at Cono Group and former participant of the Integrity Journey. The panelists agreed that Collective Action is always based on trust and shared values between all actors involved and needs to be context and content specific in order to be effective.

In parallel, the Side Event on Unique Training Methods for Integrity took place. A cornerstone of the Alliance for Integrity’s work is the corruption prevention training. Together with more than 250 dedicated trainers from around the world, the initiative supports SMEs in developing and implementing effective compliance measures. Participants gain practical tools to solve problems related to corruption and to increase their competitiveness. The training programme is characterised by a very practical approach and its orientation towards SMEs with little or no experience in countering corruption.


The Side Event included new methods and lessons learnt from five years of implementing the training programme as well as recommendations for SMEs on compliance in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “If companies want to change their culture, a first step is to encourage their employees to participate in interactive compliance trainings”, highlighted Royani Lim, Executive Secretary of Bhumiksara Foundation and DUKU trainer in Indonesia. Training is an essential part of building compliance capacities within the company. After the end of the training, however, it is crucial to continue the exchange with like-minded businesses in order to build a strong network and support each other. To ensure that the trainings have a real impact, Mariano Gojman, Compliance Officer of Siemens Chile, recommended to avoid presentations that are too academic, but to demonstrate practical case studies and engage the participants in an open dialogue instead.

The Side Event was followed by the Global Trainer Meeting, which brought together trainers from all countries where the Alliance for Integrity is active in to discuss common challenges and how to improve the training methodology. The meeting also provided the opportunity to network and thus strengthen the regional and interregional collaboration. In response to the ongoing pandemic, the training programme was digitalised in 2020. To prepare the trainers for the changed conditions and possible pitfalls, they received training on digital communication and facilitation. The use of these tools for effective delivery of online training will be extremely valuable for future activities.

As part of the Global Conference, also the Gender Sounding Board of the Alliance for Integrity met for the first time to define a concrete action plan and next steps. The main objective of the Sounding Board is to join forces with strategic actors who have worked on the nexus between gender and corruption, thus creating concrete strategies to help companies ensure a gender perspective in all their compliance efforts. For 2021, three meetings of the Sounding Board are planned to further systematise the existing findings on the topic and to ensure that the actors active in the field coordinate their strategies and complement each other.

The aspects addressed in the Gender Sounding Board Meeting were further explored in the subsequent session on Gender & Corruption – Taking the First Step. Participants and mentors of the various gender-specific formats that the Alliance for Integrity has developed and successfully piloted in recent months shared their experiences and developed joint approaches how women in business can further be supported. “To unite the efforts of women in compliance from around the world, it is crucial to use the information and associations that already exist and enrich them with our own knowledge and experiences”, suggested Dalma Parisi, Head of Compliance South America (w/o Brazil) at Siemens. The panelists agreed that designing compliance policies with a gender perspective should be the main concern in the business strategy. It is therefore important to create awareness of the gender issue and ensure it is a priority in companies.

In the last Side Event of the day, the discussion revolved around the topic of “Digitalisation & Compliance: The Way Forward”. Digitalisation has been the way forward since the beginning of the century. Still, last year, it was given a powerful push by the pandemic when the world had to adapt to a "new normal", both professionally and personally, in a short period of time. Digitalisation also affects compliance processes. It requires adapting existing compliance management systems and expanding the use of technology. The panel discussion outlined the role of digitalisation, market needs, gaps and how to work on them. “Digital solutions can help to open up new markets and reduce the physical distance between partners, which has gained additional importance due to Covid-19”, stated Dr Rainer Markfort, Corporate Partner at Dentons and Member of the Sounding Board on Digitalisation of the Alliance for Integrity. Special highlight of the event was the launch of the new risk assessment function and French language version of TheIntegrityApp.

The third and final Conference Day started with the multi-stakeholder panel discussion on “Compliance 3.0: How to Recover Better and with Integrity”. With all the changes brought by the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), there are also notable implications for the role of the compliance officer and the compliance function itself. Data protection, security, contingency planning, outsourcing and risk management are no longer just good practices, but legal requirements. There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly changed compliance roles as we knew them before. This requires adjustments and new approaches. Professionals who want to maintain and increase business growth must build an approach that meets the compliance requirements of today and tomorrow. In this context, Obu Narteh Amoah, HND Head, Compliance & Risk at Contracta Construction UK Limited Ghana, highlighted that an effective compliance management system addresses and brings together the requirements and needs of the company’s stakeholders, managers and customers. Only a holistic view can create an effective system that promotes integrity.

The Covid-19 pandemic had undoubtedly a significant impact on compliance. The fourth Global Conference of the Alliance for Integrity has put the spotlights on the old and new challenges in the fight against corruption and how individual actors around the world can join forces to address them. The heart of the Alliance for Integrity are undoubtedly the trainers. To honour their great commitment, Dr Tania Rödiger-Vorwerk from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, awarded the trainers of the year.

The Alliance for Integrity thanks all trainers, panelists and conference participants for their continued commitment and contributions to creating a sustainable and fair business environment around the world.

Author: Anna Sühle


 

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