1. Civil Society Participation and Contribution to the UNCAC Review Process Towards Transparency – TI National Contact Vietnam UNCAC Self Assessment Process: initial stakeholders’ information and consultation workshop 23 May 2011

2. Overview What is TI/TT? Why is Civil Society Participation important? TI Engagement and Experiences from around the World TI/TT plans to support the UNCAC Review Process in Vietnam

3. What is Transparency International (TI)?  TI is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption with its international Secretariat in Berlin.  TI has more than 90 chapters worldwide, all of them are independent Civil society organizations registered in their own countries and internationally affiliated with TI  TI raises awareness of the damaging affects of corruption and works with partners in government, business and civil society to develop effective measures to tackle it.

4. TI’s Guiding Principles  Being independent and politically non-partisan  Promoting institutional reforms, not investigating individual cases  Criticising constructively  Engaging with government, business and other stakeholders  Building anti-corruption coalitions  Combining research, advocacy and providing solutions

5. What is Towards Transparency (TT)?  Towards Transparency (TT) is a Vietnamese non-profit and non- government consulting organization that was established in 2008 to contribute to national efforts to prevent and fight corruption and promote transparency and accountability in Vietnam.  In March 2009, TT became the official TI national contact in Vietnam.  TT supports the execution and coordination of TI Vietnam programme on “Strengthening Anti-Corruption Demands from the Government, Private Sector and Society, 2009- 2012”.

6. Why is Civil Society Participation important?  The Review Mechanism adopted by UNCAC state parties encouraged governments to include civil society and private sector inputs (Article 13)  Civil Society holds an important role in providing independent inputs into government implementation of UNCAC and of the transparency of the review process

7. Article 13: Each State Party shall take appropriate measures to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community based organizations in the prevention and fight against corruption UN Convention against Corruption

8. Why get involved in UNCAC review? Build public awareness of UNCAC obligations Communicate expectations about performance Enhance accuracy of assessment Demonstrate role of civil society in anti-corruption Create opportunity for civil society’s inputs reach –Government –National public –International community

9. How to get involved in UNCAC review? Process issues: Advocate and monitor –Transparency –CSO participation Content issues: Monitor and advocate –Access to information –Implementation of laws and regulations –Enforcement of laws and regulations

10. How to get involved in UNCAC review? In the government self-assessment process: Key advocacy goals −Access to focal point −Consultation on self-assessment −Prompt publication of self-assessment Recommended actions −Inform government that civil society will produce a report −Advocate for civil society’s voice to be heard (be consulted) −Prepare inputs for self-assessment phase

11. TI is working to make sure that civil society's voice is heard in the UNCAC review process –TI Secretariat (TI-S) is one of the founding members and currently serves as the secretariat for the UNCAC Coalition- a global network of over 310 CSOs in over 100 countries. –TI-S, in partnership with UNODC has run civil society trainings on the UNCAC review mechanism and produced a training video for CSOs –TI-S is funding civil society organizations to prepare and participate in civil society reviews TI Engagement and Experiences at the International Level

12. TI also developed a number of tools- including a questionnaire and report template to assist CSO’s to conduct their own reviews –Currently 30 CSOs around (including many TI chapters) are engaged in using these tools to contribute to the UNCAC review process –These CSO reviews are taking place countries which are in the first or second year review cycle and will provide important input into the overall review process –TI is planning to prepare a consolidated report for each review year to present at the Conference of State Parties and to the Implementation Review Group TI Engagement and Experiences at the International Level

13. TI National Chapters and Contacts around the world are ensuring inclusive participation in the UNCAC Review process at the local level. Selected examples of TI chapters’ engagement in UNCAC implementation and reviews: –Mongolia –Taiwan –South Korea –Kenya TI Engagement and Experiences at the Local Level

14. –Mongolia ratified UNCAC in early 2006 –Between 2008-2009, Mongolia participated in the UNCAC Pilot Review programme –TI Mongolia approached UNDP in Mongolia on the structure of the working group, consisting of national experts, and to discuss the role TI Mongolia could play in the UNCAC review –The Mongolia Anti-Corruption authority acted as a focal point, arranging an interview with the review group –TI Mongolia presented to the review group the challenges faced by the ACA and CSOs in the fight against corruption The Experience of TI in Mongolia

15. The Experience of TI in Taiwan TI’s national chapter in Taiwan undertook a study on the existing gaps between UNCAC (which Taiwan is not a party to) and the existing anti-corruption legal framework in Taiwan The report and its recommendations were presented to the Ministry of Justice (and released on the Ministry’s website) and to other related government agencies. The chapter was also invited to present its findings at a national meeting of more than 200 government agency executives Dr. Lung-Teng Hu, the principle researcher of the report and vice- executive director of the TI Chapter in Taiwan was invited to serve as one of the three external expert consultants of the Ministry of Justice’s UNCAC evaluation committee

16. The Experience of TI in Korea (South) After successfully campaigning for the ratification of UNCAC by the Korean government, TI Korea is now advocating for its implementation and monitoring TI Korea has also run monitoring activities by the Guards of UNCAC, a youth network of university students, who have set up a gap analysis programme on the convention’s implementation and an online outreach programme.

17. The experience of TI in Kenya: TI Kenya participated in an analysis of the gaps between convention requirements and the country’s laws and practices.

18. TI/TT plans to support the UNCAC Review Process in Vietnam In close consultation with GI and with the support of UNDP Vietnam, TI/TT will produce a report summarizing comments, inputs and recommendations from Vietnam’s non-government stakeholders on the government’s UNCAC self assessment process Our report draft will be based on inputs from non-government stakeholders through: −Consultation workshops −Meetings and interviews −Invitations for written inputs

19. Potential areas for review: Implementation of key UNCAC articles (chapters 3 and 4) into Vietnamese Law Status of enforcement of the provision on corruption-related offenses Status of typical cases Access to information about prosecutions Recent noteworthy developments in Vietnam Summary of priority actions needed in Vietnam The final scope (specific issues/key articles) of UNCAC for review and comment will be decided with inputs from stakeholders in Vietnam