Integrity pacts: a how-to guide from practitioners

“Integrity Pacts” are a tool developed by Transparency International for tackling corruption in public procurement. They have been applied in many countries around the world for over 20 years. There are even countries in which the use of the Integrity Pact has become part of the law or governmental procedures, such as in India or the “Social Witness” in Mexico. In other countries, the adoption of an Integrity Pact for specific public procurement projects is a result of strong advocacy efforts from civil society. Many guides, manuals and handbooks on the topic have been published. The most well-known is Integrity Pacts in Public Procurement: An Implementation Guide, which is a hands-on, practical guide designed to familiarise government officials in charge of public procurement processes with Integrity Pacts, and to provide them with the tools and ideas to apply them. This document will be referenced regularly throughout the present document.

The purpose of this publication – which was written collaboratively in only four days – is to contribute to the already existing literature on Integrity Pacts, but from a civil society perspective. This document is based on the experience of the Transparency International global network. Representatives from 10 Transparency International chapters were brought together to review the challenges that are faced in the different stages of Integrity Pacts, and to document the alternatives they have found to overcome these challenges. These include challenges from the moment Integrity Pact implementation is being considered, until the time when the final results are evaluated. This guide does not intend to convince anyone of the usefulness of Integrity Pacts: rather, it is designed for those who are considering implementing, or have already decided to implement, an Integrity Pact. It is for those who are new to Integrity Pacts – who have questions about where, when and how to start implementing them.