RIACS – Webinars
We are excited to offer the webinar series of Global Dialogues on Anti-Corruption to provide scholars, students, and practitioners from all over the world with cutting edge learning resources for free.
Corruption significantly deteriorates trust in governments, nonprofits and business. It also reduces investment, economic growth and development. Moreover, it contributes to the failure of governments to meet the needs of citizens. Recently many high-profile corruption scandals were publicized yet low-level corruption also makes the life of millions miserable every day every where in the world. Corruption is obviously one of the most crucial social problems of the 21st century that should be addressed through joint efforts of different stakeholders, scholars, experts and practitioners.
The webinar series of Global Dialogues on Anti-Corruption is one of such efforts. Globally distinguished scholars and experts share their knowledge and expertise at the webinars based on their in-depth studies or extraordinary experience in anti-corruption. The webinars also facilitate a multi-disciplinary and multi-national network of people working in the anti-corruption field who can exchange ideas and come together as opportunities arise to work collaboratively on projects.
If you are interested in presenting at a future webinar, please contact Yahong Zhang at yahongzh@rutgers.edu.
RIACS Webinar Committee
Dr. Yahong Zhang, PhD
Associate Professor; Director of RIACS
Dr. Stephanie Newbold
Associate Professor
Date and Time: March 27, 2017; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: David S. Levine, Associate Professor, Elon University School of Law
Presentation title: Trade Negotiation Processes and Public Freeze Out as a Form of Corruption
Webinar Recording: https://youtu.be/zXJbHBkDAeA
Email: dsl2@princeton.edu
Date and Time: October 13, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: Frank Vogl, Vogl Communications, Co-Founder of Transparency International
Presentation Title: Corruption and Global Security
Webinar Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trLVh_Q2d9s&index=1&list=PLD7ZysT5z7VKN2...
Email: frankvogl@gmail.com
Date and Time: September 14, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: Daniel L. Feldman, Professor of Public Management, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Presentation Title: A New Mission for IGs: Defending Government on a Soapbox
Webinar Recording:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYuo7G_-8zw&index=2&list=PLD7ZysT5z7VKN2...
Email: dfeldman@jjay.cuny.edu
Date and Time: May 24, 2016; 9:00-10:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: Adam Graycar, Professor, Flinders University – Australia
Presentation Title: Rich Country Corruption
Webinar Recording: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/6164494779351496708
Email: adam.graycar@flinders.edu.au
Date and Time: February 18, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: Davide Torsello, Associate Professor of Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Center for Integrity for Business & Government, Central European University Business School, Hungary
Presentation Title: Corruption, Culture, and Organization Cultures
Webinar Recording: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/6116149250915536129
Email: TorselloD@business.ceu.edu
Date and time: March 28, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: Samuel Newbold, Associate, Barst, Mukumal, & Kleiner (BMK)
Presentation Title: Green Cards for Sale? - The Myths, the Truths, and the Challenges of America's EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
Webinar Recording: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/1366022625467842308
Email: snewbold@bmkllp.com
Date and Time: February 18, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Speaker: Davide Torsello, Associate Professor of Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Center for Integrity for Business & Government, Central European University Business School, Hungary
Presentation Title: Corruption, Culture, and Organization Cultures
Webinar Recording: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/6116149250915536129
Email: TorselloD@business.ceu.edu
Date and Time: February 18th, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Davide Torsello, Associate Professor of Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Center for Integrity for Business & Government, Central European University Business School, Hungary
Presentation Title: Corruption, Culture, and Organization Cultures
Email: TorselloD@business.ceu.edu
Presentation Abstract: Corruption is a pervasive and resistant social phenomenon that applies to the private as well as the public sector. In spite of the rich and sophisticated social science literature on the topic of corruption, there are still a number of fields in which more nuanced and empirical research need to be done. Two of these fields concern two expressions of the cultural aspects of corruption. The first is the national culture, the second the culture of organizations (in the public and business sectors). Although the two aspects cannot be conflated into a single one, I suggest that they play an important and often underrepresented role in understanding the root of this complex phenomenon.
Organizational culture and work climate are particularly relevant factors in understanding vulnerability to corruption. Since corruption is illegal and unethical, corrupt practices necessitate the growth of particular norms within the corrupt focal group or organization. These norms may be in conflict with the stated values of the organization, and will require secrecy to disguise the corrupt behavior. On the other hand, excessive focus on the ethical and the compliance aspects may lead to failure in understanding the true motivations that lead personnel to break the rules and act dishonestly. These motivations are influenced both by the organizational climate and cultural, and by the national culture of the actors. Qualitative and ethnographic field research may allow penetrating deeper into the organizational cultural features that leave space to conditions of integrity loss and unethical behavior.
Short Bio: Dr. Davide Torsello is an Associate Professor at CEU Business School, Budapest. An anthropologist by training, he has conducted ethnographic research on topics such as political and business corruption, corporate compliance mechanisms, corporate culture and integrity, culture and accountability. At CEU Business School he is member of the Center for Integrity in Business and Government, where he has worked to develop a curriculum framework for business integrity education in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (Siemens Grant).
Dr. Torsello has also participated in the “Methodology” group of the UN Global Compact PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) project and toolkit. He has published extensively on corruption in business and politics taking an anthropological perspective. Among his main publications, are the books: The New Environmentalism? Civil Society and Corruption in the Enlarged EU (2012, Ashgate); Debates of Corruption and Integrity. Perspectives from Europe and the US(2015, Palgrave, co-edited with P. Hardi and P. Heywood). His main theoretical standpoints on corruption are summarized in the paper “The Anthropology of Corruption” (with B. Venard), Journal of Management Inquiry (2016, forthcoming).
Date and time: March 28th, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Samuel Newbold, Associate, Barst, Mukumal, & Kleiner (BMK)
Presentation Title: Green Cards for Sale? - The Myths, the Truths, and the Challenges of America's EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
Email: snewbold@bmkllp.com
Presentation Abstract: The presentation will focus on the controversial hot-button issues of the popular EB5 program, including issues of immigration and securities fraud, overseas migration agents and combating corruption abroad, source of investors' funds abroad, and national security measures relating to money laundering and corruption.
Short Bio: Samuel Newbold is the Manager of the EB5 Department at Barst Mukamal & Kleiner LLP (“BMK”), the country’s oldest immigration law firm. Mr. Newbold has extensive experience representing EB5 clients before USCIS with respect to their I-526, I-829, I-924, and I-924A filings. Considered to be a subject matter expert on EB5 immigration law, Mr. Newbold has served as a Continuing Legal Education lecturer for nationally recognized organizations such as the American Immigration Lawyers Association and ILW, as well as an expert panelist for industry renowned events such as the New York Real Estate Expo.
In addition to specialty cases, Mr. Newbold is experienced in managing high volume EB5 caseloads. BMK is supported by a staff of over 75 paralegals and attorneys who work on EB5 cases and are fluent in Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, French, Hindi, Russian, Hebrew, Turkish, Bulgarian, German, Italian, and Tagalog languages.
Mr. Newbold is a graduate of New York Law School and received his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Elon University. He hails from the Outer Banks region of North Carolina and is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, and New York State Bar Association.
Mr. Newbold was named to the 2015 Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for the New York Metro Area. This rating is reserved for attorneys who rank in the top 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40 who have been practicing for less than 10 years.
Date and Time: April 25th, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Marianna Fotaki, Professor of Business Ethics at Warwick Business School, UK; Senior Editor for Organization Studies
Presentation Title: How can whistle-blowers prevent institutional corruption? Evidence from diverse organizations and cultures
Email: Marianna.Fotaki@wbs.ac.uk
Presentation Abstract: Though the logic of democratic institutions is dependent upon courageous individuals speaking up to publicise wrongdoing in government (Harding, 2014), public health services (Berwick, 2013) and commercial institutions (O’Brien, 2003), but such individuals are often ostracized and retaliated against for their disclosures aiming to counteract corruption and protect the public interest. This often despite the existing legislation established to protect whistleblowers from retaliation by their employers that exists in many countries. While legislation is crucial for recognising the importance of candour and speaking up against wrongdoing different legal approaches, initiatives and measures that are meant to address these issues (OCED, 2012) do not extend to organizations where many such activities occur. Such recognition therefore is often symbolic as it provides insufficient protection and offers little support to whistleblowers when they most need it.
Whistleblower protection is essential to encourage the reporting of misconduct, fraud and corruption and through speaking truth to power, for upholding democratic governance. For it to be effective, however, we must link policy work with organizational perspectives, especially when institutions themselves are corrupted. Institutional corruption is a multi-level phenomenon encompassing macro-structural factors, culture and micro-individual behaviours (Misayngi et al. 2008; Pinto et al. 2008), but the organization is a basic unit where such practices can be observed and addressed (Luo, 2004). Often it is not the absence of legal remedies but the difficulty of weaknesses in enforcement.
Short Bio: Marianna Fotaki is a Professor of Business Ethics at Warwick Business School and a visiting professor at The University of Manchester. Before joining academia in 2003, she worked as a medical doctor in Greece, China, and the UK, as a volunteer and manager for humanitarian organizations Médecins du Monde and Médecins sans Frontiers in Iraq and Albania, and as the EU senior resident adviser to governments in transition (in Russia, Georgia and Armenia). Marianna is at present a Senior Editor for Organization Studies, and co-directs pro bono an online think tank Centre for Health and the Public Interest a charity that aims to disseminate research informing the public and policy makers (http://chpi.org.uk). Marianna is a Network Fellow at the Edmond J Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University in 2014-2015.
Date and Time: May 24th, 2016; 9:00-10:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Adam Graycar, Professor, Flinders University – Australia
Presentation Title: Rich Country Corruption
Email: adam.graycar@flinders.edu.au
Presentation Abstract: Citizens in rich countries often express high levels of perceived corruption, yet they report very little personal experience with corruption in any form. However the level of outrage for minor transgressions is often very great. Corruption in rich countries is different to corruption in poor countries. There are many analyses and models of corruption in poor countries, and interventions are structured with these in mind. When analyzing corruption in rich countries, borrowing from the experiences in poorer countries does not fit well with public administration practices. This webinar will discuss the dynamics of corruption in rich countries, and examine its effect as well as preventive measures.
Short Bio: Dr. Adam Graycar is a Professor at the School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University. He was a lecturer at Flinders until his departure in 1980 to become the Foundation Director of the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. In the intervening decades he has held a wide range of academic and government posts. In 2015 he returned as strategic professor of social and policy studies. He acquired extensive policy experience over 22 years in the senior level posts he has held in government, both Federal and State. His most recent government position was Head, Cabinet Office, Government of South Australia (2003-2007). He also had nine years (1994-2003) as head of a Commonwealth Statutory Authority, the Australian Institute of Criminology a government agency whose task is to provide quality information and conduct policy oriented research, so as to inform government decisions that will contribute to the promotion of justice and the prevention of crime. He was also the nation’s first Commissioner for the Ageing (1985-1990).
Before returning to Flinders his most recent academic posts were Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, and before that, Dean and Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He has worked in many public policy domains and his current work is on integrity and corruption prevention in Australia and internationally. He is working closely with international agencies such as the United Nations (UNODC) and the World Bank. His latest book Understanding and Preventing Corruption (with Tim Prenzler) was published in the UK and New York in October 2013. He is the author of over 250 scholarly publications, and is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
No webinars in June, July, and August.
Date and Time: September 14th, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Daniel L. Feldman, Professor of Public Management, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Presentation Title: A New Mission for IGs: Defending Government on a Soapbox
Email: dfeldman@jjay.cuny.edu
Presentation Abstract: Inspectors general win plaudits for catching “bad guys,” but not for identifying serious deficiencies in resources (i.e., usually funding) for government agencies. They respond predictably to the available incentives, promoting a cycle of negative publicity for government, diminished resources, diminished capability, diminished morale, bad behavior, exposure of wrongdoing, and negative publicity for government. What has become reflexive antipathy to bureaucratic government has also driven increases in outsourcing, even of source core government responsibilities as national security and the administration of justice, often with tragic and unconscionable consequences. Inspectors general should spend some of the political capital they earn fighting both these tendencies in order to promote efficiency and effectiveness, an equally legitimate part of their mission. Ultimately, if government agencies get the support they need to achieve their missions, fewer bureaucrats will turn to corruption.
Short Bio: Dan Feldman led significant investigations resulting in programmatic reforms and criminal convictions as executive assistant to a Member of Congress, investigative counsel to a committee of the New York State legislature, senior staff member to the New York State Attorney General, and Special Counsel for Law & Policy to the New York State Comptroller. In between, he wrote over 140 laws as a member of the New York State Legislature for eighteen years, during twelve of which, as chair of the Assembly Committee on Correction, he investigated and corrected prison abuses and led the effort to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws. He now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as professor of public management, and has written six books and many articles on American law and government, including, The Art of the Watchdog: Fighting Fraud, Waste, Abuse and Corruption in Government (SUNY Press 2014) with David R. Eichenthal; and most recently, Administrative Law: The Sources and Limits of Government Agency Power (Sage/CQ 2016). Professor Feldman majored in economics at Columbia College, and took his law degree at Harvard, where he was awarded the Williston Prize for Contract Negotiation and Drafting. Please click here to know more about Professor Feldman.
Date and Time: October 13, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Frank Vogl, Vogl Communications, Co-Founder of Transparency International
Email: frankvogl@gmail.com
Presentation Title: Corruption and Global Security
Abstract: Although international security is facing mounting threats and corruption plays an increasingly central role, issues related to corruption have not featured in the U.S. presidential election debates. One of the major reasons is that too few American politicians and political journalists adequately understand the deep connections between global security and corruption.
In the presentation, Mr. Vogl will start with a story of a Pakistani nuclear physicist and a metallurgical engineer, who founded the uranium enrichment program for Pakistan's atomic bomb project. Then he will focus on the lessons learned from the U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, which involved extensive corruption. Mr. Vogl will particularly touch upon three issues: strategic security and corruption; human security, corruption and the ties to strategic security; and constructive actions that can and should be taken to mitigate the mounting risks.
Direct Link to the webinar: https://us.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/guest/A256BF307ABD077DB62FA312CA631B4A. It is recommended that you use Google Chrome when accessing the webinar.
Short Bio: Frank Vogl is the co-founder and former vice chairman of both Transparency International and the Partnership for Transparency Fund. He writes and lectures extensively on global anticorruption and his essays can be found at www.frankvogl.comhttp://www.frankvogl.com/. He is the author of "Waging War on Corruption - Inside the Movement Fighting the Abuse of Power," which has just been published in a new paperback edition by Roman & Littlefield. Frank serves as a member of the International Council of the New Israel Fund and of the Advisory Council of the United Nations Association of the Greater Washington Area. He is a director of a music foundation that is completing a major documentary on music, the Holocaust and anti-Semitism under the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia. Frank is a former Director of Information & Public Affairs and chief spokesman at the World Bank and for 17 years he was an international economics journalist, first for Reuters and then for The Times of London. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University teaching a graduate class on corruption, conflict and security.
Date and Time: November 16, 2016; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: David Jancsics, Post-Doctoral Associate, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University – Newark
Presentation title: : Organizational Aspects of Corruption at the Border
Email: david.jancsics@rutgers.edu
Presentation Abstract: No country is immune to the problem of corruption at the border when customs officials and border guards are involved in corrupt transactions. This form of corruption reduces tax revenues and provides unfair competitive advantage for corrupt traders and other businesses. Yet, corruption at the border may have even more serious consequences such as facilitating human, drug and gun trafficking as well as terrorist activates between countries. There are several organizational and social features that make this type of corruption distinctive. Based on the academic literature of organizational corruption and informal networks this study provides a conceptual framework of corruption at the border. It also draws some policy implications concerning the special character of the phenomenon.
Short Bio: David Jancsics is a Post-Doctoral Associate at the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University-Newark. Dr. Jancsics completed his PhD in Sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His general fields of interest are public management, organizational theory and economic sociology. The more specific areas of his research involve corruption, white-collar crime, organizational deviance and informal practices in post-communist societies. Dr. Jancsics has published articles in several academic journals such as Administration & Society, International Public Management Journal, International Journal of Public Administration and Public Integrity. In 2014 one of his co-authored papers, “The Role of Power in Organizational Corruption,” was selected as the winner of the Best Article Award of the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management. He was recently elected Chair of the 2016-2017 Best Article Award Committee for the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit Division. Dr. Jancsics is also a member of the supervisory board of Transparency International Hungary and a member of the Anti-Corruption Expert Network of Transparency International, a pool of internationally recognized anti-corruption experts and practitioners.
Date and Time: March 27, 2017; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: David S. Levine, Associate Professor, Elon University School of Law
Presentation title: Trade Negotiation Processes and Public Freeze Out as a Form of Corruption
Email: dsl2@princeton.edu
Short Bio: David S. Levine is an Associate Professor of Law at Elon University School of Law and an Affiliate Scholar at the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School. For 2014-2016, Dave is a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy. He founded and hosts Hearsay Culture, a technology and society radio show on KZSU-FM (Stanford) that was listed In the American Bar Association's Blawg 100 of 2008 as a top-five podcast. His scholarship focuses on the operation of intellectual property law at the intersection of technology and public life, specifically information flows in the lawmaking and regulatory process and intellectual property law’s impact on public and private secrecy, transparency and accountability.
Presentation Abstract: This presentation will answer a core question: What do we mean when we ask for a governmental entity to be “transparent?” Governmental entities that are labeled with the amorphous descriptor “transparent” are subject to varying interpretations of what is actually being described. At a base colloquial level, it would seem that to be “transparent” one would need to be able to see not just in, but out. This state is the polar opposite of the proverbial “black box,” brought to modern fore in recent work by Frank Pasquale. Nonetheless, “transparency” is regularly used to denote a wide variety of institutional states that may or may not have anything to do with what is actually known or not known about an institution.
To get to one definition of transparency, Professor Levine addresses a more narrow policy analogue to that broad query: “When is it time to publicize (to make ‘transparent’) some or all of a draft international intellectual property law negotiating text (akin to a Congressional bill) so as to allow public input into the lawmaking process?” Because the 12 negotiating countries of the international Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) – the most important international law negotiation in living memory –apparently said “only when negotiations have ended,” despite years of negotiation and some leaks, Professor Levine assesses the parameters of that answer from which to draw broader lessons.
Date and Time: April 20, 2017; 10:00-11:00 AM, US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Ariane Chebel d’Appollonia, Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), Division for Global Affairs (DGA), Rutgers University – Newark
Presentation title: Ethics of Immigration and Corruption
Email: arianecd@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Short Bio: Dr. Ariane Chebel d’Appollonia is Professor at the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) and the Division for Global Affairs (DGA) at Rutgers - State University of New Jersey. She is also Senior Researcher affiliated to the CEVIPOF (Center for Political Research, Sciences Po Paris). Her research focuses on the politics of immigration and anti-discrimination, security issues, racism and xenophobia, immigrant integration, urban racism, and European policies. She published six books, and contributed to twenty-five edited books. Her recent publications include Les Frontières du Racisme (Presses de Sciences Po, 2011); Frontiers of Fears: Immigration and Insecurity in the United States and Europe (Cornell University Press, 2012); and How Does it Feel to Be a Treat? Migrant Mobilization and Securitization in the US and Europe(Palgrave Macmillan, NYU Series, 2015). She is currently co-directing a transatlantic research project on “Migrant and Minority Mobilization US-UK” funded by the IDEX- Université Paris Sorbonne Cité (UPSC).
Presentation Abstract: Restrictive immigration policies – such as the militarization of border controls, extensive criminalization of undocumented immigrants, and security governance of minorities – are often justified by arguments related to the ethics of responsibility. I examine the following arguments: that closed borders are necessary to protect the social, cultural and political prerequisites of democracy; that the principle of self-determination implies that a political community has the right to determine its own boundary laws; and that “tough on crime” legislation increases security. Yet, not only policies inspired by these arguments actually lead to a “security/insecurity spiral” but they fuel various aspects of corruption – which in turn undermine crucial democratic principles and the safety of US citizens.
Date and Time: May 10, 2017, 10:00-11:00 AM US Eastern Time
Onsite Venue: School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - Newark, Room 309, 111 Washington St., Newark, NJ 07102
Speaker: Elia Yi Armstrong, Director of the Ethics Office, United Nations
Presentation Title: Preventing Corruption: the Work of the UN Ethics Office
Email: armstronge@un.org
Short Bio: Elia Yi Armstrong is the Director of the UN Ethics Office. She was seconded to be part of the interim team that set up the UN Ethics Office in 2006 and also served as the Director of the UNDP Ethics Office from July 2008 to April 2012. Prior to her current appointment, she served as the Chief of the Development Management Branch at the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations (UN). At DESA/DPADM, Ms. Armstrong worked in the Public Administration Capacity Branch and the Office of the Director. Ms. Armstrong started her career in social services working with non-profit organizations and development NGOs before joining the Canadian public service in 1993. She served at the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Privy Council Office of the Government of Canada and was also seconded briefly to the Public Management Service (now Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate) of the OECD. Since 1997, Ms. Armstrong has contributed to numerous UN policy analysis reports, served as a speaker on public sector ethics on behalf of the UN. Ms. Armstrong holds a B.S.W. (social work) from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and a MSc. in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the University of London, London School of Economics.
Presentation Abstract: The United Nations Ethics Office assists the Secretary-General in ensuring that staff members perform their functions consistent with the highest standards of integrity required by the Charter of the United Nations. As an independent office, the Ethics Office contributes to preventing corruption in the UN through 1) providing impartial ethics guidance and confidential advice, 2) running the financial disclosure programme, 3) providing content into ethics training modules and conducting outreach, 4) reviewing claims for protection against retaliation for staff having made disclosures of possible wrongdoing or cooperated with an audit or investigation, and 5) providing support to ethics-related policies and leading coherence on ethical standards in the UN system. In carrying out its work, the UN Ethics Office works with management and staff as well as other relevant offices within the Secretariat and ethics offices in UN agencies.