Interregional Exchange Series: Navigating through the crisis to achieve success

The Alliance for Integrity as part of its activities to promote integrity within the business ecosystem, engages experts and practitioners in the compliance field to share ideas and best practices across different regions.

In line with this, together with its network of experts in Latin America and Africa the Alliance for Integrity engaged the business community in a four-part event series on selected topics on integrity and compliance. The online sessions aimed at pointing out practical tools, daily measures and best practices to allow an exchange of knowledge in the field of compliance between professionals from both regions. The virtual panels attracted a total of 196 participants across Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The first in the series was on Functions of a Compliance Officer. Experts from Ghana and Chile shared practical titbits on the critical role compliance officers played especially during the global pandemic. One resounding take away was that compliance was not a sole reserve for the compliance officer but an engagement for all employees in an organisation.

A follow up session themed on Risk Analysis presented participants with practical knowledge on identifying high risk areas that Covid-19 presented. Key in the discussions between Ghana and Argentina was that a regular review of the risk register offered a higher probability of mitigating and responding quickly to emerging risks.

Subsequently, the team treated participants yet again to another topic on Policies and Procedures of an Integrity Programme. The lead facilitators from Ghana and Brazil, respectively highlighted on the need for written procedures as a measure for good governance. 

Concluding the series, participants were treated to the topic on Third-Party Compliance. Many have held divergent views of third-party compliance and its impact on businesses. The experts through the discussions worked with participants to demystify this view. It came to light that businesses as well its owners need to pay critical attention to the activities of third parties as they owe it a responsibility to protect their Environment.

Despite the disruption and limitations of the pandemic, the Alliance for Integrity harnessed the opportunity of online platforms to reach participants across its four continents to increase awareness on compliance and integrity within the business ecosystem and expanding its reach beyond its immediate network. Details of the various discussions can be found on the Alliance for Integrity YouTube channel. A summary of the key takeaways can be downloaded here.

Author: Christiana Gada