Publications

2007 Accomplishments

Raising Awareness on the Damaging Effects of Corruption

A robust campaign to inform and educate is a key element in deterring fraud and corruption and creating an attitude of watchfulness.

OAGI continued to build greater awareness of the anticorruption policy, Integrity and Guidelines, and related procedures among staff, ADB partners, and relevant stakeholders to help them better detect, deter, and bring to OAGI's attention concerns of fraud, corruption, and abuse by staff.

ADB Staff

In 2007, OAGI presented an overview of the anticorruption policy and procedures to professional staff, national officers, and administrative staff at four induction programs for newly recruited staff. OAGI conducted Corruption and Fraud Awareness Seminars for ADB Board of Directors and ADB resident mission staff in four DMCs. At these seminars, OAGI presented

• The anticorruption policy,
• The mission and function of OAGI,
• How to report concerns of fraud and corruption, and
• Lessons learned from OAGI's PPRAs.

OAGI also conducted 16 anticorruption briefings for new professional staff.

These sessions ensure that all new staff are aware of the anticorruption policy and OAGI's function from the start of their careers with ADB. OAGI will continue training ADB staff to ensure that highest ethical standards are adhered to.

Partners

OAGI provided on-the-job training on fraud detection and prevention to SAI representatives and local consultants that participated in 2007 PPRAs. In addition, OAGI conducted a seminar on fraud detection and prevention for auditors at the China National Audit Office at their request.

OAGI continued the implementation of a RETA project⁶ and held two regional seminars on anticorruption in the PRC and Indonesia. The objectives of the regional seminars were to

• Increase borrowers' and executing agencies' awareness of, and compliance with, the anticorruption policy, Integrity Principles and Guidelines, and related procedures;
• Enhance their capacity to detect and prevent fraud and corruption in ADB-financed projects; and
• Ensure that ADB projects and staff members adhere to the highest ethical standards.

The 2.5-day seminars, which were attended by 104 participants from 21 DMCs, covered the areas of governance, anticorruption, financial management, and procurement issues. They gave participants a platform to exchange information about their anticorruption efforts. The participants identified immediate concerns and outlined their plans to better deal with fraud and corruption in the future.

During the year, OAGI also continued administering the implementation of another RETA project.⁷ Three of the four⁸ regional workshops under this RETA were completed during the year. OAGI reviewed the course materials for these workshops, observed the classes for the fraud module in one of the regional workshops, and conducted a session on the anticorruption policy for 30 SAIs participants from 10 DMCs.

OAGI also conducted corruption and fraud awareness briefings to four business delegations that visited ADB and presented the anticorruption policy to DMC officials during an orientation program in October 2007.

Publication of Information

OAGI's 2006 Annual Report was disseminated February 2007 within ADB's operational departments and country offices, and to various organizations that rally behind the cause of good governance, anticorruption, and transparency. ADB issued a press release when the Annual Report was posted on ADB's website. It was downloaded 6,837 times in 2007.

In July 2007, OAGI revamped its website (www.adb.org/integrity) to enhance user-friendliness. In addition, OAGI

• Posted photos from PPRAs and presentations delivered at the regional anticorruption seminars;
• Added frequently-asked questions about ADB's efforts to prevent and detect fraud and corruption;
• Included useful information about OAGI's work; and
• Expanded the resource center.

There is now a more prominent button on the homepage to report allegations of fraud and corruption.

OAGI's intranet, which is accessible to authorized staff, provides an updated list of sanctioned firms and individuals. In August 2007, OAGI revamped the site to include a user-friendly, one-stop-shop search facility that provides live links to terrorist lists compiled by the United Nations Security Council and the US Government.

OAGI reprinted its brochure on anticorruption policy and Integrity Principles and Guidelines and is in the process of having it translated into several languages, such as Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, Khmer, and Russian.

Throughout the year, OAGI issued advisories to staff via ADB Today, an internal news bulletin. These advisories were on dealing with national blacklists in ADB projects, blocking scam e-mails, reporting allegations of fraud and corruption, checking the sanctions list before approving any contracts, and updates to the sanctions list. It also issued a joint advisory with the Office of Administrative Services with regards to professional staff obligation to pay value-added tax (VAT) in stores and restaurants in the Philippines.

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⁶ RETA 6311: Regional Seminars on Anticorruption 2006-2007.
⁷ RETA 6253-REG: Strengthening the Audit Capability of Members of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI).
⁸ The first regional workshop was conducted in 2006.