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Tunis, Tunisia, 13-14 February 2012

Overview | Outcomes | Documentation | Presentations

The OECD is strongly committed to support Tunisia in its democratic transition. Following the Jasmin Revolution in January 2011, the OECD has been in regular contact with the new Tunisian authorities, including an official visit of the Secretary General Ángel Gurría in July 2011. Anti-corruption being a key reform priority in Tunisia, the OECD has provided its expertise and knowledge to the transition government and the National Commission of Investigation of Cases of Corruption and Embezzlement which was established to investigate cases of corruption under former president Ben Ali.

With the financial support of the United Kingdom’s Arab Partnership Initiative, the OECD launched a project to strengthen the integrity and corruption prevention framework in Tunisia and develop specific integrity policies for most vulnerable areas to corruption such as public procurement. Within this project, an international conference was held in Tunis on 13-14 February followed by a technical fact finding mission. Two reports are being finalised on the setting up of a national framework for corruption prevention, and the reinforcement of transparency in public procurement.

This Conference was the first opportunity for the new government and key stakeholders (including the civil society, the judiciary, and the private sector) to discuss the integrity and anti-corruption agenda in line with international good practices and standards. Peers from Chile, France, Italy, Macedonia and the United States shared national experiences in fighting corruption during the conference. The conference was also attended by officials from the European Commission, UNDP and the African Development Bank. The conference was opened by Mr. Hamadi Jebali, Head of Government of Tunisia, Mr. Yves Leterme, Deputy Secretary General of the OECD, and Ms. Louise Burrett, chargé d’affaires at the United Kingdom Embassy in Tunisia.

Head of Government Mr. Jebali insisted on the importance of strengthening the integrity and corruption prevention framework in a country that was devastated by corruption under the old regime. From this perspective, a new Minister in charge of governance and anti-corruption has been appointed, and new initiatives will be taken in the coming months. Mr. Leterme offered the OECD support to assist the government in its efforts to fight and prevent corruption by conducting Integrity Scans to identify priority reforms.

The participants agreed on the following conclusions:

• Design an integrity and corruption prevention framework on the basis of a diagnosis of the existing legislative and institutional frameworks to fight corruption;
• Put in place a permanent specialised anti-corruption body to effectively implement the integrity and corruption framework ;
• Introduce immediately specific corruption prevention policies to demonstrate progress to citizens (i.e. making financial disclosure transparent for new Cabinet members, defining standards of conduct for the public service, enhancing transparency in public procurement);
• Involve key stakeholders including the civil society and the private sector in the design and implementation of anti-corruption policies.

Agenda (English) (French)

Link to the OECD Joint Learning Studies

13 February

Risk areas: Identify legislative responses and appropriate policies in a coherent framework

• Mr. Vladimir Georgiev, State Councillor for the Prevention of Corruption, State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Macedonia (English-  pdf)
• Ms. Elodie Beth, Administrator, Division of integrity in the public sector, Directorate of Public Governance and Territorial Development, OECD (English-  pdf)
• Ms. Marijana Trivunovic, Lead Integrity Expert responsible for supporting the National Commission for Investigation of Cases of Corruption and Embezzlement in designing and implementing a national strategy to prevent corruption (English-  pdf) 

Ensuring the successful implementation of a framework against corruption: Involving all stakeholders in the design and implementation

• Mr. Abdesselam Aboudrar, President, Central Authority for Corruption Prevention,  Morocco (French-   pdf) 

Conditions for success of specialized bodies against corruption

• Mr. Stuart Gilman, Senior Partner, Global Integrity (French-   pdf) 
• Mr. Alptuğ Çalik, Expert,  Council of Ethics for the Public Service, Prime Ministry, Turkey (English-   pdf) 

Identify priority reforms to prevent corruption

• Mr. Jean Pierre Bueb, Former Counselor, Central Service of Corruption Prevention, France (French-   pdf)
• Ms. Sana Al-Attar, Policy Analyst integrity, Division of Public Sector Integrity, Directorate of Public Governance and Territorial Development , OECD (French-   pdf) 
• Mr. Fayçal Ajina, Magistrate, Center of Judiciary Studies, Tunisia Session 4: Ensuring Efficiency and Trust in Government through Open Data (French-   pdf) 

14 February

Risk areas: how to prevent and detect corruption in public procurement?

• Mr. Jean Pierre Bueb,  Former Counselor, Central Service of Corruption Prevention, France (French-   pdf) 
• Mr. Noureddine Zaouali, National Commission for investigation on Cases of Corruption and Embezzlement (French-   pdf) 

Legislative and Institutional Framework of Public Procurement: Striking the Balance between Transparency and Efficiency

• Mr. Hamadi Hadj Aissa, Director of the National School for Administration, Tunisia (French-   pdf) 
• Mr. Olivier Moreau, Senior Adviser, Support for Improvement in Governance and Management (SIGMA),  OECD/EU (French-   pdf) 
• Mr. Mustapha Boubaya, Tunisian Union of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts (French-   pdf) 
• Mr. Habib Dridi, High Commission for Public Procurement, Commission for Recourse and Investigation, Tunisia (French-   pdf) 
• Ms. Yacine Fal, Division Manager Procurement, Procurement and Fiduciary Services Department, African Development Bank (French-   pdf) 

Building the capacity of public purchasers

• Mr. Felipe Goya, Director, Public Procurement Authority, Chile (Chile Compra) (English-   pdf) 
• Mr. Gian Luigi Albano, Public Procurement Authority, Italy, (CONSIP) (English-   pdf)