Preventing and combating corruption

Corruption poses a significant threat to security and stability. It undermines democracy, diminishes the rule of law and hinders social and economic development by diverting much-needed investments from welfare and infrastructure to the pockets of corrupted individuals. Widespread corruption can lead to general public dissatisfaction with state institutions and disillusion with the government, which can result in unrest and instability.

The OSCE supports the participating States' national authorities in implementing commitments under relevant international instruments and standards to prevent and combat corruption, particularly the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the OECD’s Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. The Organization also provides a platform for dialogue on political and security issues and supports co-operation among its participating States in implementing and enforcing anti-corruption models and mechanisms.

The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities supports anti-corruption programmes and activities through capacity-building and awareness-raising events, scoping and advisory missions, as well as activities aimed at strengthening institutional and legislative frameworks. Increasingly, the assistance is focusing on corruption prevention measures, asset recovery, anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing through national risk assessments, sharing of experiences and best practices, and online training. The Office’s activities include:

• promoting the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism;
• improving national anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and countering-terrorism financing frameworks;
• conducting capacity-building through sharing best practices and regional training activities for representatives of governments, the private sector and civil society;
• developing mechanisms of information-sharing to more effectively identify, trace and suppress money laundering and the financing of terrorism;
• promoting stolen asset recovery initiatives and strengthening international co-operation in financial investigations;
• conducting national risk assessments to identify the threat of money-laundering activities in countries' jurisdiction and examine vulnerabilities in their ability to prevent and intercept specific types of illicit financial activity;
• providing tools and guidance material for policymakers and practitioners on good governance issues through publications and online training modules; and
• producing policy recommendations and publications.