500+ Organizations and Experts Urge Governments to Adopt Strong Global Anti-Corruption Review Mechanism at UN Summit

International Anti-Corruption Day: Transparent, inclusive, and effective reviews of countries’ anti-corruption performance are essential to promoting reforms

VIENNA, AUSTRIA, December 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- More than 520 civil society organizations, anti-corruption experts and academics from 125 countries are urging governments to strengthen global action against corruption at next week’s 11th Conference of the States Parties (CoSP11) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), taking place from 15–19 December in Doha, Qatar.

The UNCAC is the world’s only comprehensive and legally binding anti-corruption treaty, ratified by 192 States. At CoSP11, governments will decide on the future of the UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism (IRM), the cornerstone tool for assessing country compliance and promoting progress under the Convention.

In an open letter released on International Anti-Corruption Day, anti-corruption experts call on governments to make decisive improvements to ensure that the next phase of anti-corruption reviews help deliver real improvements where corruption hurts societies most. The current review mechanism is widely regarded as insufficiently transparent, slow, and lacking meaningful follow-up and civil society participation.

A decisive moment for global anti-corruption action

As governments prepare for CoSP11, corruption continues to fuel instability, undermine the rule of law, divert public resources, cause human rights violations, and weaken responses to global challenges – from the climate crisis and biodiversity loss to declining trust in democratic institutions and sustainable development.

"At CoSP11, we call on governments to strengthen the UNCAC’s review mechanism, agree on promoting transparency in political financing, address the link between corruption, environmental crimes and the climate crisis, and to recognize the harm corruption causes to victims", says Mathias Huter, Managing Director of the Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC, an umbrella organization of hundreds of NGOs.

Civil society remains at the heart of anti-corruption reforms and must play an essential role in monitoring the implementation of anti-corruption commitments. "Governments must seize this moment to make the UNCAC’s review mechanism more effective, transparent, and inclusive, so that commitments translate into real change for people affected by corruption", said Mukhtar Ahmad Ali, the Coalition’s Chair. "A credible, strengthened IRM would not only protect public resources and enhance public sector transparency – it would boost governments’ ability to deliver on global priorities from health and education to climate action."

"An effective UNCAC review mechanism needs to look at how anti-corruption efforts are implemented on the ground, also addressing recent developments to ensure today’s risks are addressed. It needs to be transparent and build on inputs from all relevant experts, including civil society. And it needs to ensure that governments report on what they do in response to the findings, so the public can monitor progress and we create momentum for reforms", Huter said.

Open letter calls for stronger review, more transparency

In their message to governments, signatories stress that "a robust UNCAC review mechanism that effectively promotes the implementation of the Convention is a cornerstone for tackling corruption around the world, as well as other global challenges linked to it."

The open letter is signed by a diverse group of stakeholders, including civil society organizations working on anti-corruption at the global, regional, and national levels, leading anti-corruption academics and experts, organizations representing journalists, lawyers, and criminologists, academic institutions, and other entities.

The letter (in English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian) and the list of signatories are available at: https://uncaccoalition.org/open_letter_irm/.

About the Coalition: The "Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC" is the global network representing over 400 non-governmental organizations, working to advance the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and to elevate anti-corruption standards and practices globally. You can find more information on the Coalition website: https://uncaccoalition.org/.

Mathias Huter
Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC
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