The summit, which was held from November 2-6, was facilitated by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), with support from SRA-Caribbean & Partners NV. BZK has been actively working to strengthen integrity and resilience within government to ensure a healthy, effective public administration.
During the summit, experienced integrity officers shared knowledge, best practices, and key learnings on integrity issues. Updates were given on how far each of the public organizations are in implementing integrity initiatives within their organizations.
One highlight was a keynote by Alejandro Salas of Transparency International on combating corruption. Topics covered included building an integrity-aware culture, policy development, and the implementation of integrity tools.
Key takeaways:
- Acting in the interest of the common good must be a top priority for public administrators.
- Integrity must be embedded within organizations, grounded in strong morals, an understanding of what integrity means for the respective island, and open dialogue about the challenges.
- Collective action - from government staff and the wider community - is needed to combat issues such as corruption
- Strong collaboration across the islands is essential for sharing experiences, best practices, and solutions.
- A transparent organization includes accessible policies and procedures, e.g. Code of Conduct, escalation routes and investigation process.
- Accountability must be promoted.
- People must feel safe reporting integrity issues and confident they will be addressed; research from Social Economic Research (SEO) shows many fear repercussions.
"Building transparency fosters a culture of trust and this means promoting a shared culture of integrity and creating a safe environment where people feel able and supported to speak up," said McNicholas. "We therefore look forward to building a framework for Integrity for the Public Entity in the upcoming months."
The event highlighted many important topics, such as strengthening internal expertise, combating corruption and promoting collaboration across the islands, all focused on promoting integrity within the public sector and addressing shared challenges.
