While the pandemic is taking a terrible toll on so many, the super rich have prospered like never before. Excerpt of an article by Transparency International founder Frans Vogl appearing in The Globalist.

New Zealand is signed up to several international mechanisms that aim to reduce corruption across the world. Two of the most important are the Financial Action Task Force and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

In order to ensure that substantive progress is made in tackling corruption, the United Nations Convention against Corruption Coalition is advocating for Member States to make a number of key commitments during the first-ever UN General Assembly Special Session focused on corruption.

The first-ever Pacific Islands Corruption Barometer is being conducted through Transparency International’s Indo-Pacific Partnership for Strong, Transparent, Responsive & Open Networks for Good Governance.

Transparency International chapters in New Zealand and Denmark agree that it is great to see well founded trust in our respective public services. But there are still integrity and transparency gaps, that are enabling corrupt practices which need fixing now.

Today, 9 December 2020 is International Anti-Corruption Day, with the theme ‘Recover with Integrity’. The response to the COVID-19 virus is creating new opportunities to exploit weak oversight and inadequate transparency, diverting funds away from people in their hour of greatest need.

Transparency International's report: Exporting Corruption 2020: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, finds that active international enforcement against foreign bribery is shockingly low. The report labels New Zealand at “limited enforcement.” and finds that New Zealand is not doing enough to fight foreign bribery.

“Anti-corruption advocacy in Fiji is urgently needed", says Jofiliti Veikoso, the Board Chairperson of Civic Leaders for Clean Transactions Integrity Fiji (CLCT-IF). "We are deeply grateful for the continued support of both Transparency International New Zealand and Transparency International in expediting our work during this challenging pandemic period."

New Zealand’s commitment towards implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption is ongoing. There has been good progress in several areas, but plenty of room remains to more fully meet our commitments. One area in particular is the need for more transparency of beneficial ownership.

We have a long way to go to redress the imbalance of importing rare earths in return for exporting corruption. New Zealand should consider a law similar to that being introduced in Switzerland. Applying New Zealand’s relatively high standards externally, could go a long way towards helping New Zealand move to a small but influential role in reducing the import and export of corruption.

The 2020 Doc Edge festival "Life Unscripted" is online in New Zealand from Friday 12 June until Sunday 5 July. International documentaries explore themes including political integrity, public sector and private sector accountability, and the challenges of upholding truth in journalism.

As we move past the COVID-19 epidemic and into recovery, there is an ongoing need for legislative and policy innovation. We must not forget our values in the excitement of doing new things.

TINZ Director, John Hall, suggests that "Transparency is when society can trust leaders to use power for social good." Part of the reason why we struggle to understand transparency is that there are so many things we want to associate with it. Is there really a common thread between the many disparate concepts?

Transparency and accountability must not be lost in the haste to respond to COVID-19. Trust is a commodity that is vital to New Zealand's economic recovery in both domestic and export markets. Here are practical steps for businesses to take now while dealing with COVID-19 and preparing for after.

We consider it important that agencies are aware of, and meet, the expectations set out in the Rules of Procurement and the Quick guide to emergency procurement. We would encourage you to remind all public sector leaders of their accountability.

As a consequence of panic buying in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments the world over have scrambled to award massive contracts to third-party vendors, with little if any, formal process and certainly no due diligence. This has sparked the interest of opportunists and crooks alike.

No matter how large and reputable an organisation nor whether it is private or public, systems and preventative measures may still be weak and ineffective to prevent bribery. The Airbus bribery case should be a call to all New Zealand organisations to review the risks around corruption and bribery internally, to ensure their measures are tested to prove effective.