The UN is an international organization founded in 1945 to preserve and strengthen international peace and security and to develop cooperation among states. The UN is a major venue for the coordination of stances on the key issues of international cooperation. It initiated the conclusion of international agreements in multiple spheres, including anti-corruption.
There are 193 UN member states. The Secretary-General directs the UN activities and is appointed by the UN General Assembly for a 5-year term among the representatives of the UN member states and can be re-selected for a second term. Since January 1, 2017 the position of Secretary-General has been held by António Guterres from Portugal. The UN headquarters are in New York.
The UN activities on anti-corruption track are primarily focused on the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2003 and entered into force in 2005. At the moment the Convention counts 189 states parties, including Russia (since 2006).
The UNCAC is the only comprehensive international anti-corruption agreement, covering 5 major topics: preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, technical assistance and information exchange.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides guidance and organizational support for the implementation of the Convention. In particular, UNODC develops recommendations for the application of the Convention, drafts analytical materials on different anti-corruption issues, manages the database of anti-corruption legislation of the states parties and organizes the monitoring of the implementation of the UNCAC by the states parties.
The most significant issues related to the implementation of the Convention, including the results of country reviews, are discussed in the course of regular meetings of different working groups. The key decisions on further application of the Convention are adopted in the framework of the Conference of the States parties which is held every 2 years.
A special Implementation Review Mechanism was introduced in 2009 to monitor the process of the implementation of the Convention by the States parties. The review includes two cycles, each of which covers the implementation of specific chapters of the Convention. The first cycle of the review was scheduled for the period from 2010 through 2015 and covered chapters III and IV of the Convention. The second cycle regarding chapters II and V was launched in 2016.
Each State party is reviewed by two other countries, selected by a drawing of lots. They analyze relevant national legislation and documents and may send their experts to the country under review to meet officials of its competent authorities, representatives of private sector and civil society. The country pairings for the first cycle of the Mechanism for the review of implementation of the Convention is available here, and here for the second cycle.
In the conclusion of the review a country report is prepared. The document contains the information on the application of the Convention and recommendations on the elimination of the detected flaws. The executive summary is published online. The country concerned may decide whether to publish the whole text of the report or not.
All executive summaries and country profiles are available here.
