1. Getting your own house in order: anti-corruption for mission forces

Summary of recommendations

Ensure that high integrity standards are introduced and maintained within the mission itself.

Introduction to key mitigation

It can be tempting for intervention planners and implementers to think of corruption as an external issue that is part of their environment, but not an internal risk. This, however, is rarely the case. Corruption can happen in all sorts of environments, prompted by the right combination of opportunity, motivation and justification. Operational environments, which often loosen up the social controls that can help prevent corruption and which bring together multinational contingents with varying integrity standards, can be particularly vulnerable to corruption-related activity.

Costs and benefits

Investment in anti-corruption measures within the mission is likely to require additional resources and expertise, which will in some cases need to be procured from outside. However, high integrity standards will protect mission resources, both tangible and intangible. On the tangible side, missions will be better able to prevent diversion and fraud committed by their own personnel; Training and awareness raising will help create a common set of standards, while oversight, investigations and sanctions will increase the cost of corruption and help deter future corrupt practices. Personnel integrity will also protect the mission’s legitimacy, its ability to engage with the host nation, and will help achieve mission goals related to security and governance.

Constituent mitigations for: