Concept Paper Nr. 2: Supporting Anti-Corruption Reform in Partner Countries – Concepts, Tools and Areas for Action " - 2011

This is one of the latest document of the series. It has just been sent to Delegations earlier this year.

This document has been prepared by the University of Birmingham, the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) and theIDLgroup (Heather Marquette, Rachel Flanary, Sumedh Rao and Dominic Morris) within the Aid Delivery Methods Programme of the European Commission.

The process has been coordinated by Governance, Democracy, Gender and Human Rights Unit within EuropeAid (before reorganisation by Governance, Security, Human Rights and Gender Unit.

The main objective of this paper is to provide relevant insights on the current thinking on and around anti-corruption in developing countries in order to enable the EU staff (relevant staff at the Commission, EEAS and in EU Delegations) to achieve the following:

• Acquire useful tools to analyse corruption in a given local setting;
• Become better equipped to support the implementation of anti-corruption strategies and policies; and
• Better identify relevant anti-corruption measures so as to better mainstreaming anti-corruption issues in EU development assistance.

This concept paper therefore aims to help EU staff understand the complexities of corruption and the various approaches most often taken in fighting it. Given the significant concern over corruption within various sectors of the EU development assistance, it has been developed to better inform all EU staff—but most particularly those working on governance— of the current issues, thinking and research concerning corruption and anti-corruption. It has been designed in a way that enables readers to dip in and out as needed, but it is strongly recommended that it is read in order if possible. As Chapter One makes clear, for example, it is impossible to analyse the country context using political economy analysis (PEA) if a basic understanding of what constitutes corruption in different contexts is not shared.

This concept note does not attempt to provide a general or broad-spectrum remedy for corruption; rather it is intended to enhance the understanding of EU staff, providing them with the analytical and assessment frameworks that will help them implement context-specific anti-corruption activities. There is indeed no ‘one size fits all’ process for dealing with corruption; appropriate solutions must always be grounded in local, context-specific understanding.

This concept paper focuses upon three main sections: 

Chapter One introduces the main concepts relating to corruption; namely, an overview of the various definitions, forms and typologies of corruption; the causes and consequences of corruption; and the importance of the specific country context. This is intended to provide the EU staff and other interested stakeholders with an introductory tool to assist in the appreciation of current understandings of corruption. 

Chapter Two seeks to situate corruption within a global context. This section examines the global drivers of corruption and anti-corruption, including conventions and other international instruments. It also provides a case study looking at the field of natural resources management to demonstrate how corruption can be fought indirectly as well as directly. •

Chapter Three is more operational in its approach than the first two chapters. It seeks to introduce EU staff to the frameworks and tools available to analyse and assess levels and perceptions of corruption and the challenges posed by this process. It also includes suggested steps for undertaking corruption analysis using cutting edge analysis tools. In keeping with the aims of the Concept Note overall, its main purpose is to provide readers with a deeper understanding of relevant issues related to measuring corruption and assessing anti-corruption in order to help improve the policy-making process.

Up to now, it is available only in English.

There are 2 versions : a full version  and a more compact one.