17th IACC

Corruption remains a challenge for governments, businesses and citizens worldwide. Recent scandals have shown that responding to breaches of integrity in taxes, procurement or counterfeits on a case by case basis is not an effective approach to rooting out corruption. Rather, government and non-government actors must work together to build a values-based culture of integrity across the public sector and society. Taking this whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to integrity as a starting point, the OECD has developed a new OECD Public Integrity Strategy, based on the long-standing experience of implementing the relevant OECD Recommendations in promoting integrity and policy frameworks, such as the management of conflicts of interest (OECD, 2003, 2005), transparency in lobbying (OECD, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014), the regulation of political finance (OECD, 2016a), public investment (OECD, 2016b), and policy capture (OECD, forthcoming) and learning from Integrity Reviews.

The OECD Public Integrity Strategy is embodied by the updated OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity (forthcoming), which is founded on the notion that an integrity system can only be effective if countries balance a values-based and compliance-based approach, and if the system is relevant given the actual risks of misconduct and corruption. In promoting integrity and tackling corruption in a systemic way policy makers can focus on three pillars:
• Building a coherent and comprehensive system by taking political and management responsibilities for a strategic integrity system for all public officials, based on clear values and ethical standards.
• Fostering culture of integrity through a whole-of-society approach, and through investing in integrity leadership, a merit-based public sector, and open organisational cultures responsive to integrity concerns.
• Enabling effective accountability through internal control and regulatory oversight to ensure compliance by the public sector, private sector and citizens with standards of public integrity, and through transparency and active participation by civil society in the public decision-making process.
This roundtable session aims at providing new insights to the debate on accountability and public integrity, by sharing good practices and debating how different stakeholders can contribute to a culture of integrity.

The panel will address questions such as:
 What are the key challenges in developing a culture of integrity across the government and society?
 What are effective ways to mainstream anti-corruption policies across the government?
 How can CSOs go beyond the traditional watchdog-role in instilling a culture of integrity?
 How van companies effectively build an organizational culture of integrity?

The panel will observe diversity in geographical background and gender, and will have a multi-stakeholder composition:
• A government representative/member of Parliament
• A CEO or business representative
• A Civil Society Representative
• An senior OECD representative