Preparing a National Corporate Governance Repository (TN0006)

Elaborate a governance repository according to international quality standards and encourage corporate social responsibility in public and private sector.
The repository for corporate governance should be in accordance with the governance specification ISO 26000, which deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR). It will allow dissemination of the principles of governance such as transparency, integrity and accountability and to ensure these principles' sustainability and application within the public and the private sector, following standardized procedures.

6: National corporate governance repository

Commitment Text: Elaborate a governance repository according to international quality standards and encourage corporate social responsibility in public and private sector.

The repository for corporate governance should be in accordance with the governance specification ISO 26000, which deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR). It will allow dissemination of the principles of governance such as transparency, integrity and accountability and to ensure these principles' sustainability and application within the public and the private sector, following standardized procedures.

Responsible Institution(s): National Institute for Standardization and Industrial Property (INNORPI)

Supporting Institution(s): The Secretariat of State in Charge of Governance and Civil Service

Start Date: July 2014 End Date: December 2015

Commitment aim

The government planned to create a national repository of corporate governance to provide public and private institutions with a framework to structure corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and ethics-based practices to prevent corruption. The repository was meant to be used as a reference to adapt administrative procedures and internal processes to the values of integrity.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

The hard copy of the repository was finalised in December 2014. In 2015, several seminars and training sessions were held to introduce the repository to civil servants. At the time of the midterm report, a presentation brochure was available on the UNDP-sponsored government website, Anticor.tn. For more information, please see the 2014-2015 IRM Midterm Progress Report.^{[Note 25: OGP, Tunisia IRM Midterm Progress Report 2014-15, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Tunisia2014-15_IRM%20Progress%20Report_Eng.pdf.]}

End of term: Complete

This commitment is complete. A brochure of the repository (manual) is available on the INNORPI website.^{[Note 26: Republique Tunisienne Ministere de l’Industrie et du Commerce, “Referentiel National de la Gouvernance,” http://www.innorpi.tn/Fra/referentiel-national-de-la-gouvernance-en-tunisie_11_302.]} Hard copies were available for a cost of 30 Dinars (approximately US$15). The four pages of the brochure, available in Arabic and French, explains how the materials could be integrated in all public and private organisations, following three steps to improve governance and fight corruption. The repository is a type of manual based on several international standards of good governance. By following the manual, organisations could earn the label of good governance, which would boost their credibility. The INNORPI charges the public a fee for the hard copie in much the same way it charges fees for all the other repositories and standards-related documents. However, on-site consultations of the repository are free.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Did not change

Civic participation: Did not change

Public Accountability: Did not change

The repository could provide useful guidance for public and private organisations on how to improve governance and fight corruption within their organisations. However, it is unclear how widely the repository has been taken up and used, or how many copies of the manual the INOPRI has sold. Such information is not public and, therefore, it remains difficult to assess if this commitment has had any impact on changing government practice.

Carried forward?

This commitment was completed during the implementation period. However, in the second action plan (2016-2018), the government commited to establish the “national reference for corporate governance on a publicly owned companies and a private enterprise” (commitment 12).^{[Note 27: Tunisia National Action Plan 2016-2018, pg. 20, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/tunisia-second-national-action-plan-2016-2018-english]}