This week, the OECD published a brief that aims to help policy makers, donor agencies, law enforcement officials and the private sector to ensure that the global response to the crisis is not undermined by corruption and bribery.

The COVID-19-pandemic crisis has brought about unprecedented challenges of human suffering, uncertainty and major economic disruption on a global scale. The OECD warns that this can create environments that are ripe for corruption and bribery. For this reason, state and private sector responses to this crisis should include mechanisms for preventing, detecting and prosecuting corruption and bribery.

Some corruption risks might be immediate due to the actions taken to mitigate the health and economic crisis. Other risks may emerge in the medium to long term as the consequences and impact of the COVID-19 emergency measures take greater effect. Under these circumstances, the progressive decline of citizen trust in public institutions and business might become even more evident. In the view of the OECD, identifying and addressing corruption risks will thus be crucial to protect trust in public institutions and business, and to galvanise public confidence in the governments’ ability to mobilise an effective crisis response. Therefore, the newly published OECD’s brief shall demonstrate how these aims might be reached.

Find the OECD’s brief here: https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=133_133216-hn3bqtlvkw&title=Policy-measures-to-avoid-corruption-and-bribery-in-the-COVID-19-response-and-recovery