2.4 Planning and budgeting for the long term

Anti-corruption measures, whether within the mission or in relations with the host nation, do not come without a cost. However, these costs are likely to be proportional to the risk and can be implemented by scaling up existing measures. Increased monitoring or creation and support of specialised anti-corruption task forces do require expertise and need to be budgeted for at the very outset of the intervention to make them sustainable. Other measures, such as information gathering focused on corruption networks, require adjustments in standard operating procedures and planning processes that need to be implemented early on in the mission.

In order to make anti-corruption measures most sustainable and cost-effective, mission planning should consider them from the outset, as it could be possible to identify synergies between anti-corruption and other activities – such as those, for example, aimed at securing the delivery of high-quality products and increasing operational effectiveness. In the longer term, anti-corruption measures are likely to result in less waste and diversion, and therefore safeguard resources. They will also help protect the mission’s reputation and help the impact of corruption on security and stability in the area of operations.