Annual Report on IFAD’s Investigation and Anticorruption Activities during 2019

In December 2018, IFAD’s Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Activities and Operations (the Anticorruption Policy) was revised to align it with best practices at the other United Nations agencies and international financial institutions. The revised policy provides effective and efficient tools and mechanisms for IFAD to combat fraud and corruption in the challenging environment in which IFAD operates.

In 2019, AUO intensified its outreach activities to support the roll out of the revised Anticorruption Policy, including developing training materials, contributing to the revision of the Project Procurement Guidelines, and delivering anticorruption training. AUO maintains a close working relationship with operational units to proactively mitigate residual risks identified through its fraud and corruption investigations.

This report presents information on the investigation and corruption prevention activities carried out by IFAD’s Office of Audit and Oversight (AUO) in 2019. Information is also provided on investigation outcomes and sanctions, on outreach and cooperation efforts, and on the use of staff and other resources. In 2019, AUO received 76 allegations of misconduct or of prohibited practices, the same number as in 2018. Of these, 60 per cent related to alleged fraud or corruption in IFAD-financed projects. The continued high volume of project-related allegations, most of which were reported by project staff and project contractors, points to IFAD’s effective outreach activities in recent years, and the impact of the mainstreaming of the Revised Anticorruption Policy.