dr grzegorz makowski, stefan batory foundation statement to the uncac implementation review group...
TRANSCRIPT
Dr Grzegorz Makowski, Stefan Batory Foundation
Statement to the UNCAC Implementation Review Group briefing for NGOs in Vienna, Austria - June 4th, 2015
Civil society in the UNCAC review process in Poland
How have we been involved?
Making relations with the government (focal point) Using information and tools provided by UNCAC Coalition
(knowledge on assessment process, help in structuring the report, etc.)
Participation and co-organization of the peer review visit Outreach – the conference (Feb. 11, 2015):
‐ Involvement of the focal point and representatives of the official evaluation team;
‐ High profile speakers (e.g. Minister/head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau)
‐ Over 70 participants (mainly officials, experts, CSOs)‐ Good media coverage (… press releases, 4 appearances in
TV and radio, social media)
Unfavorable and favorable factors to the CSO involvement
Government / focal point not prepared to organize the review (not enough resources / people; no priority)
Bad information policy towards public
Positive, personal involvement of the officials engaged in the review process
What was achieved thanks to the involvement of CSOs in the review process?
Without it no one in the public would ever know that there was any review of UNCAC implementation.
Authentic debate based on different views on the quality of UNCAC provisions, e.g.:‐ Whistleblower protection‐ ACA independence‐ Liability of legal persons
A real chance that UNCAC implementation will be improved – results of the review and the debate have been included into the policy-making process – they will be part of the government’s Program of counteracting corruption for 2014-19
A real improvement of the informational policy concerning UNCAC review (ES translated into Polish and full report published – http://bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/ministerstwo/wspolpraca-miedzynarodowa/wspolpraca-w-ramach--onz-i-obwe/konwencja-narodow-zjednoczonych-przeciwko-korupcji/ )
Lessons learned and recommendations
CSOs involvement motivates government to work better and in more openly on UNCAC implementation Government should feel stronger pressure from UN to cooperate with CSOs in this field.
Cooperation and review may be really constructive and productiveinvolvement of UN in building relations between CSOs and focal points would be reasonable (e.g. common workshops, experience sharing, etc.)
Parallel reports make official review better why not use parallel reports as supplements to official reports?
