On May 12, 2016 leaders from over 40 countries came to London for the Anti-corruption Summit to set out a common a common approach to tackling corruption. In the final Anti-corruption Summit Communiqué, agreed by participating countries and, where appropriate, international organizations, countries recognized their support to the efforts of the international financial institutions to improve fiscal transparency, and agreed to undertake periodic assessments of fiscal transparency, as appropriate.

They agreed to use the internationally adopted diagnostic frameworks, such as PEFA, the IMF’s Fiscal Transparency Evaluation, or OECD budget review. The countries also agreed to work to increase transparency of funds allocated ‘from or to our countries by development agencies, international organizations, foundations, charities and similar organizations’ [1].

Countries’ commitments to ‘substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms’, as stated in the Global Declaration against Corruption [2] published in London during the Anti-corruption Summit, is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 16 on ‘Peace, justice, and strong institutions’ where PEFA is importantly featured as well. SDG 16 recognizes the importance of strengthening government institutions that promote efficient, effective, and accountable public spending in supporting sustainable development and uses PEFA performance indicator PI-1 on aggregate expenditure outturn to measure the progress.

The Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May was hosted by UK Prime Minister David Cameron. It brought together country leaders, the heads of the international organizations, including the European Commission, IMF, OECD, and the World Bank, and representatives from business and civil society in effort to galvanize a global response to tackle corruption as well as to agree on a package of actions to tackle corruption across the board. The summit dealt with issues of corporate secrecy, government transparency, the enforcement of international anti-corruption laws, and the strengthening of international institutions.

 

[1] Anti-Corruption Summit Communique: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/522791/FINAL_-_AC_Summit_Communique_-_May_2016.pdf
[2] Global Declaration against Corruption: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-declaration-against-corruption/global-declaration-against-corruption#fnref:1