International Anti-Corruption Commitments

The adoption of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption in 1996, as the first international convention to corruption, marked an important step towards the adoption of many various international instruments. Since then, many international commitments on corruption and illicit finance have been adopted by various multi-lateral institutions, with the epitome being the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2003 as the only truly global anti-corruption convention.

Regional multi-lateral institutions that have agreed on anti-corruption commitments include the African Union and sub-regional committees in the region, the League of Arab States, Asia Pacific region, European Union and Council of Europe, the Organisation of American States. Intergovernmental economic organisations and task forces have also adopted useful international commitments against corruption and illicit finance, and these include the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Group of Twenty (G20), the Group of Eight (G8), the Group of Seven (G7), and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

This resource compiles various commitments by these multi-lateral institutions, categorised into the following thematic or subject areas:

1. illicit finance,
2. asset recovery and international cooperation,
3. public integrity,
4. business integrity,
5. foreign bribery and lobbying,
6. anti-corruption agencies and supreme audit institutions,
7. tax-related measures,
8. protection of whistle-blowers, and
9. access to information.

There is also an “undefined theme” containing topics such as natural resource management.

Each listed commitment has details such as the name of the full commitment, year, responsible multi-lateral institution, a brief description, as well as some excerpts from the agreed text.

This resource may be a useful resource for referencing existing commitments in the development of new ones.

Please note: excerpts from the commitments are not exhaustive or comprehensive. Click on the document to access full text.