Corruption undermines the achievement of all the SDGs by depleting valuable resources and degrading the quality of public services. For UNDP, financial integrity is a service delivery issue, a development finance issue, and most importantly, a trust issue of citizens in their government institutions. When high-level officials exploit public assets, public trust erodes, people are deprived of economic opportunities, and democratic institutions are weakened. The drain of available public funds leads to reductions in essential goods and service delivery and weakens the capacity of countries to implement critical development agendas.

UNDP’s anti-corruption initiatives support the legitimacy of public authorities and trust in governance. They act as accelerators to achieve the SDGs, which rely on effective, transparent, and inclusive governance mechanisms and institutions to meet the needs of all people. UNDP provides policy and programme support on anti-corruption and coordinates UNDP’s internal work through regional hubs and country offices. It enhances the accountability, transparency, and anti-corruption measures that are critical for the efficient delivery of public goods.

UNDP’s work in anti-corruption has been instrumental in advancing the transparency, accountability, and integrity agendas at global, regional, and country levels. UNDP integrates anti-corruption solutions in service delivery sectors, strengthening the institutional capacity of government institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector to prevent and address corruption, leveraging technology and innovation for integrity and anti-corruption, and leading anti-corruption knowledge and global advocacy.

UNDP has six service lines addressing anti-corruption: 1) anti-corruption for effective service delivery; 2) integrity for climate, biodiversity, and environment; 3) anti-corruption for conflict prevention and peacebuilding; 4) transparency and integrity in cities and local authorities; 5) anti-corruption for economic governance and development financing; and 6) empowering agents of change for anti-corruption.

• For more information on UNDP’s work on anti-corruption, visit our specialized website at anti-corruption.org and follow our anti-corruption team on Twitter at @UNDPGAIN.