Transparency and Anti-Corruption Measures as key to safe and responsible recovery from COVID-19 pandemic

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. Few at that time could foresee that the coming trial would shake society to the core. As we mark more than one year of the pandemic, it is the right time to reflect on the hardship endured in all countries, to consider in gratitude those who have been on the front lines of fighting the disease, and to acknowledge the unequal burdens imposed by the pandemic, especially on women and vulnerable populations.

This is also the time to consider the critical role of the OSCE in forging a path to resilient recovery. The effectiveness of government response to the pandemic is vital in all countries, from the delivery of vaccines and essential medicines through secure supply chains, to the distribution of financial assistance to businesses and people as part of economic recovery. And, as has been well-documented by anti-corruption organizations such as Transparency International in both their 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index and special report on corruption as related to health-care delivery, The Ignored Pandemic Behind Covid-19, one of the most important obstacles to an effective response is lack of transparency in governance and the corruption that often results. That corruption drains the resources needed to save lives, hinders our ability to organize a response, and saps the faith our citizens have in public institutions. Indeed, the principle of transparency in government has literally never been more important or visible to millions of citizens. This pandemic presents an opportunity to build confidence—or to lose it in a very dramatic fashion. 

What are some corruption-related challenges specific to the pandemic? In the initial stages of response, many governments were faced with an urgent need to allocate public funds on various health priorities. As Transparency International has documented in the reports mentioned above, the pressure to allocate money quickly created opportunities to bypass normal procurement controls, to overcome such accountability systems as were in place, or to stymie efforts to create such systems. This led to a loss of public resources and public confidence at a critical moment. 

Additionally, the scarcity of medical supplies such as tests, protective gear, hospital equipment, and now vaccines, has created an environment in which black marketeering can thrive and where inequalities can develop and become obvious, leading to disparate and sometimes grossly unfair outcomes for different segments of society. This scarcity will continue, and the inequality may become even more acute until vaccine production and distribution reaches the necessary level.

The pandemic has also had a major economic impact. The European Joint Research Center has reported that the hardest impacts have fallen on the poorest. Many businesses have closed or scaled back, and a large number of people have been laid off or seen their hours reduced. Eurostat has documented in its analysis, “COVID-19 labour effects across the income distribution,” the biggest impacts have fallen on lower income earners.

Economic fallout from the pandemic has also been particularly harmful for women who, in many countries, are overrepresented in the service industries most heavily hit by COVID-related layoffs. In many countries, women have shouldered the greatest burden and risk of caring for their families and the ill, and are subject to particular risks of exploitation and the effects of corruption.  Further, as is documented in the ODIHR report, OSCE Human Dimension Commitments and State Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic, states have curtailed freedoms of assembly, association, and movement, right to liberty and a fair trial as well as rights to privacy, education and property, public access to information and transparency. Measures both related and unrelated to pandemic emergency relief were enacted on expedited schedules without necessarily normal levels of debate or transparency. 

Fortunately, the participating States of the OSCE have committed to core anti-corruption principles, which will provide a solid foundation on which to promote a responsible recovery effort. Among the most important considerations to be drawn from are the following:

• States should encourage the inclusion of transparency requirements and corruption controls in plans for responding to the pandemic. The risk of corruption should be assessed up-front, and to the extent feasible, response programmes should be designed to avoid or mitigate the risk. One of the ways to mitigate the risk is to build transparency and public accountability into each stage of the response. 

• States should encourage open disclosure by governments of procurement processes for medical supplies and vaccines. Plans and criteria for the distribution and use of these scarce resources should also be made public. 
• States should encourage a holistic, multi-stakeholder approach and provide for greater involvement by women and other vulnerable groups. This includes protecting civil liberties and the ability of civil society groups to organize, to investigate how public resources are being deployed, and to press for accountability from government officials.
• States should provide easily accessible and safe reporting channels for whistle-blowers and the legal mechanisms for the effective protection of whistle-blowers against retaliation.

To keep corruption from undermining our response to the pandemic, we must encourage adoption of the good governance and anti-corruption approaches that have long been advocated for by the OSCE, ODIHR, and the OECD, as well as through UNCAC.

The 2020 OSCE Ministerial Council decision on Combatting Corruption through Increased Transparency and Digitalization is the most recent example of a useful roadmap for States, focusing on how technology can further prevent corruption and promote transparency.