Corrupt practices impact billions of people worldwide, as tax dollars meant for vital public goods and services disappear. Low-income individuals and families and under-represented minorities are most negatively affected. Corruption also adversely impacts the business environment. Evidence shows that transparent governments improve business efficiency and spur economic and investment opportunities. Throughout the pandemic, corruption disrupted the delivery of life-saving medical supplies. As countries attempt to make their way out of the pandemic, corruption risks have slowed down the delivery of essential vaccine procurement, and leakages in the system across several countries have resulted in misappropriation of stimulus and safety net packages.  

OGP governments are leading the fight against corruption. They are innovating new solutions and advancing collective action on emerging global norms. OGP countries were among the earliest adopters of policies to advance beneficial ownership transparency and open contracting standards.

Combating corruption is fundamental to all OGP commitments. Left unchecked, corruption erodes citizens’ trust in their government and its ability to serve their interests.

OGP action plans are an important vehicle for the implementation of anti-corruption strategies and translation of announcements made at global summits into action by national and local governments, in close coordination with a wide range of international expert organizations, national civil society organizations, business, media, and others. 

As part of the 2021 OGP Co-Chair Call-to-Action, this menu of suggested actions highlights ideas for OGP members to advance through their upcoming OGP action plans. The menu features areas including money in politics, open contracting and transparency of public procurement, beneficial ownership, opening up extractives, whistleblower protection, asset recovery, and foundational cross-cutting areas such as right to information, fiscal openness, and gender and inclusion.