Alliance for Integrity’s Global Conference 2019
04.04.2019
Mexico City, Mexico
On the 4th April 2019, the Alliance for Integrity hosted a Global Conference in Mexico City. Under the motto “Implementing Business Integrity into Practice – Pathways to Impact” speakers and delegates from various regions and sectors had the opportunity to explore avenues to increase the impact of their corruption prevention efforts and communicate the outcomes to other stakeholders.
Starting the day, Susanne Friedrich, Director of Alliance for Integrity, highlighted the initiative’s work in corporate corruption prevention across the regions it is active in, and requested stakeholders to strengthen their collective resolve to increase integrity in the economic system.
Panellists in the “High-level Plenary Session: Pathways to Impact” discussed the need to focus on prevention, awareness creation and enforcement in dealing with corruption. They emphasised the importance of collective action by all stakeholders in preventing corruption, applying sanctions and incentives and showcasing the results thereof.
A panel discussion on “Gender and Corruption: Evidence and Impact” was focused on how to address gender-related challenges in anti-corruption in order to create more impact, and highlighted the importance of further research on the topic and the provision of support for vulnerable groups to address the causes of corruption.
The conference also featured parallel breakout sessions:
One parallel session highlighted the integral role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in promoting integrity, focusing on three main pillars: instruments, processes and structures.
Panellists in another parallel session discussed the need for the adoption of integrity as a moral principle and the implementation of international best practice examples in corruption prevention across Latin America.
A third session focused on the creation of integrity programmes in small and medium-sized enterprises with the support of business chambers and tools such as mobile applications, whilst promoting the business case for anti-corruption.
Other activities undertaken at the conference included an exhibition on anti-corruption, an award for trainers, and a marketplace for corruption prevention tools from the Alliance for Integrity’s networks around the globe.
Dr. Thomas Cieslik, Senior Policy Advisor for Enterprise Development and Sustainable Economy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), who closed the conference, called on participants to be ambassadors of integrity in their respective organisations.
Other high-level speakers who took part in the conference included Juan Ignacio Díaz, CEO, Siemens México; Irma Sandoval-Ballesteros, Mexican Secretary of the Civil Service; Juan Carlos Alverde, CEO, Toks; Oliver Knörich, Head of Economic & Global Affairs, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mexico and Wagner Rosário, Minister, Comptroller General of the Union (CGU), Brazil, who all gave their opinions on how to create impact in the implementation of business integrity measures.
