Emerging technologies at the heart of global anti-corruption efforts

The world’s largest anti-corruption conference began in Doha today with a call to make use of emerging technologies in the fight against corruption and address its links with organized crime and other financial crimes.

“Preventing and ultimately eradicating corruption is a duty we share. We owe it to the people we serve,” said President of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock in her video message at the opening of the eleventh session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

“Corruption is not a victimless crime. It fuels conflicts, entrenches inequalities, and drains the resources needed to protect people and planet,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in his video message: “Every dollar lost to economic crime is a dollar stolen from those striving for a better future.

“Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence have the potential to accelerate corruption, but also to help us detect and prevent it. But this requires regulation and accountability,” the Secretary-General said.

The Acting Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), John Brandolino, said: “Corruption provides the illicit infrastructure for criminal groups to operate and profit with impunity around the globe.

“There is a need for an integrated and coordinated approach, one where agencies work across sectors and borders, with all relevant partners, to bring down networks of crime and collusion in tandem,” he said, calling on the States Parties to make the most of UNODC’s initiatives and tools on anti-corruption, and to use this session “to reassert the universal vision of the Convention for a new age.”

Held under the theme “Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”, the week-long meeting brings together more than 2,500 participants from 170 States Parties to the Convention.

The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, attended the opening of the Conference. 

Addressing the opening were the outgoing President of the tenth session, Christine Cline from the United States, the incoming President of the eleventh session, Hamad bin Nasser Al-Misnad from Qatar and Acting Executive Director of UNODC John Brandolino.

Resolutions considered by the Parties to the Convention focus on addressing the role of AI in preventing and combating corruption, strengthening the integrity of children and young people, enhancing transparency in the financing of political parties and election campaigns, and exploring the role corruption plays in facilitating other crimes, such as smuggling of migrants and crimes that affect the environment, among others.

The UN Convention against Corruption is the only global, legally binding instrument against this crime. It came into force in December 2005 and is near-universal with 192 Parties. 

Under the Convention, Parties are legally obliged to prevent and criminalize corruption; to promote international cooperation; to recover and return stolen assets; and to improve technical assistance and information exchange in both the private and public sectors.

Through the Convention’s Implementation Review Mechanism (IRM), Parties have agreed to participate in a process which assesses how they are living up to their obligations under the Convention. Since 2010, the IRM has helped 146 countries to update or introduce new anti-corruption laws and policies.

UNODC enables countries to turn global anti-corruption commitments into tangible reforms that safeguard public resources while fostering transparency, integrity and prosperity. Through its presence in the field, UNODC supports countries in building accountable institutions and reducing opportunities for corruption to take hold.

The Conference of the States Parties (COSP) is the main decision-making body of the UN Convention against Corruption. It convenes every two years and supports Parties to implement the Convention and adopt policy decisions that shape global anti-corruption efforts.