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G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group
Progress Report 2013
PART V: COMPILATION OF G20 RESPONSES ONEDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
The 2013 questionnaire included a question (#54) on the provision of anti-corruption educational/training programs for officials, including public office holders. The following compilation of national responses to this question includes websites where provided.
ARGENTINA
The Anticorruption Office has developed its Training System on Public Ethics (SICEP), which aims to provide training at a distance for public officials, by the e-learning courses methodology. These courses have several modules. Two years ago Argentina began running a new course on the criminal aspects of the fight against corruption aimed at lawyers and officials of the National Public Administration who work in the areas of Legal and Summaries. From this course, together with UNDP, was published the work of the AO´s Investigations Direction “PERSPECTIVA DEL DERECHO PENAL SOBRE LOS ACTOS DE CORRUPCIÓN – EL ROL DE LA OFICINA ANTICORRUPCIÓN”.
I) TRAINING FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS OF THE ARGENTINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
A) Public Ethics Training System (SICEP)
Background
Within the framework of the Institutional Strengthening Project of the Anti-Corruption Office (OA), the creation of a distance training system (Public Ethics Training System or SICEP) has been promoted in order to allow OA to carry out training activities for public officials of the Argentine Public Administration.
In recent years, regulations on public ethics in the Argentine Republic have experienced great development both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Within this context, OA has decided to create a forum for the diffusion of and training in rules and tools to promote transparency and fight corruption, aimed at public officials.
Although the Argentine Republic has taken important steps in relation to the passing of laws on public ethics, it is crucial that citizens – and particularly public officials – be aware of the existence of said laws in order to ensure they are complied with.
The preventive measures recommended by the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) include the creation, maintenance and strengthening of “instruction to government personnel to ensure proper understanding of their responsibilities and of the ethical rules governing their activities” (Article III.3).
In addition, Article 41 of the Law on Ethics in the Exercise of Public Functions (Law No.25188) provides the following:
“Application authorities shall promote permanent programmes of training in and diffusion of the contents of this law and its regulations, in order for all those involved to be duly informed.”
The Anti-Corruption Office, as the application authority of Law No15188 and the entity in charge of “(…) Ensuring compliance with the International Conventions against corruption ratified by the Argentine Government”[1], has decided to launch a far-reaching diffusion and training programme for State officers, focused on the tools and rules to fight corruption that are currently in force, including the codes of ethics of the organizations of which they form part. Its aim is to train them in the effective use of said tools and rules, promoting awareness of the crucial role they have in the fight against corruption and, consequently, in the creation of a more just society.
The great number of officials working in the various institutions of the Argentine Public Administration (APN) and their geographic dispersion are two of the main obstacles to train them in these rules and tools at a reasonable cost that does not exceed the budget allocated to these activities.
Faced with this need, the possibility exists of using the Government’s electronic tools to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. E-learning, that is, distance learning using computers and networks, represents a new paradigm in education systems.
This paradigm is based on constructivism applied to the new forms of education, and it focuses on the creation of a learning environment in which a group of persons can carry out a series of training activities, and participants have access to a wealth of resources. E-learning combines resources, interaction, flexibility, support and structured learning activities, giving us the opportunity to create learning environments that focus on the persons being trained.
The challenge inherent in this teaching-learning methodology is to promote the creation of new learning environments, combining e-learning with other training methods, such as face-to-face programmes and courses, learning networks, thematic forums, practice communities, and improvement groups, among others.
Within this context, OA has decided to use e-learning in order to create an environment of diffusion and training in rules and tools to strengthen transparency and fight corruption, aimed at officials of the Argentine Public Administration.
SICEP includes the development of a digital library or database with documents on issues related to transparency and the fight against corruption. This library has three main sections: Technology, Contents and Cultural Management. Each of these sections has its own goal – which can be thoroughly worked on – and the three of them, in turn, comprise the OA education portal.
The Technology Section included the adaptation and implementation of an e-learning platform in order to distribute and do the follow-up of OA activities.
The Contents Section was based on the development of a catalogue with at least two on-line courses, elaborated on the basis of the strategic alliances and needs of the State organizations involved in the pilot phase. The goal of this stage was to distribute the courses among a minimum of 500 officials.
The Cultural Management Section consisted of the development and management of a communication, participation and promotion plan that would allow adequate access by public officials to the e-learning courses, including a final satisfaction survey aimed at designing actions for the continuous improvement of the system.
From the technological aspect, open software tools were chosen and developed. A digital platform named “e-moodle” – recently implemented with success by several renowned institutions – has been adopted.
First Stage of SICEP
The development and implementation of the first stage of SICEP took place between March 2006 and May 2007. In order to carry out the project, two crucial agencies that participated in the pilot test were selected: the Argentine Institute of Social Services for Retired Persons (PAMI) and the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP). Inter-institutional agreements were concluded with a view to addressing issues relating to public ethics and the fight against corruption.
In PAMI, a course on “Transparent Procurement” was offered to the officials taking part in the Institute’s procurement processes. Likewise, in the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP), a course on “Public Ethics and Strengthening of Transparency in Tax Administration” was taught.
The experience acquired in the implementation of this process is contained in the book “SICEP – Sistema de Capacitación a distancia en Ética Pública” (SICEP – Public Ethics Distance Training System), available on the web site of the Anti-Corruption Office (www.anticorrupción.gov.ar), under “Publicaciones de la OA” (OA publications).
Second Stage
Taking into account this experience, OA began a second phase of SICEP with a view to consolidating the development and implementation of the System in four specific areas: technology, educational strategy, internal training and strategic partnerships.
From the point of view of technology, the Moodle virtual platform was updated, including migration to the servers of the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights –which have greater bandwidth and thus facilitate access by students– and a website was created as a gateway to SICEP in order to promote the dissemination of the system (see http://sicep.jus.gov.ar).
With a view to improving the educational strategy, the number of students per course was reduced to groups of 30 to 35 people; the number of teaching resources used, such as videos, recordings, graphs, pictures, etc., was increased; the development of contents was improved and intensified; and intensive lessons were implemented, featuring forums, class assignments, chat and exams, among other things. During that year, members of the staff began to be trained as teachers of distance courses.
A course on “Ethics, Transparency and the Fight against Corruption in Public Administration” was developed for all officials of the Argentine Public Administration and seeks to provide training in general issues of public ethics, transparency and the fight against corruption as applied to management. The Argentine Institute of Public Administration (INAP) included this course in the credits system for career officials. (INAP Regulation No. 720 of December 2008). Thus, it awards credits and is part of the civil service regime for officials within the Argentine Public Employment System (SINEP, formerly SINAPA).
On the basis of a Cooperation Agreement signed with the Argentine Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) in November 2008, a distance course was developed through SICEP for the staff of that agency.
Furthermore, a course was developed together with the Ministry of Defence with a view to training Army officials working in procurement sectors. The course addressed issues of ethics and transparency, with particular emphasis on procurement. On 1 July 2009, certificates were delivered at the Army Audit Department to all officials who completed the training course.
In addition, tasks continued to be performed with PAMI, in this case, by teaching a course for officials working in the procurement sector of the César Milstein Hospital, formerly Hospital Francés.
As a corollary of this course, a book entitled “Ética, Transparencia y Lucha contra la Corrupción en la Administración Pública” (Ethics, Transparency and the Fight against Corruption in the Public Administration) —Buenos Aires, Anti-Corruption Office, United Nations Programme for Development (UNDP) and British Embassy in Buenos Aires, 2009— was published. The book is available on the website of OA (www.anitcorrupción.gov.ar), under “Publicaciones de la OA”.
Throughout 2010, the Anti-Corruption Office continued to develop the Public Ethics Training System (SICEP) for the purpose of providing distance training to public officials in matters of Ethics and Transparency.
During 2010, several courses were taught to officers of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force which were developed in close cooperation with the Directorate for Transparency of the Ministry of Defence. In total, four courses have been taught to nearly 160 officials of the Armed Forces (two for the Army, one for the Air Force and one for the Navy).
OA has also undertaken actions (with financial support from the UNDP ARG/10/0004 project and from its own budget) to continue developing new courses for implementation through its SICEP distance training platform. In late 2010, OA completed development of a distance course on “Ethics, Transparency and Corruption Control”, which is currently in the accreditation process before INAP and is intended for National Public Administration officials in senior and management positions.
During 2011, OA continued development of the Public Ethics Training System (SICEP), aimed at providing distance training in Ethics and Transparency to public officials.
Towards the end of 2010, OA completed development of a distance course on “Ethics, Transparency and Corruption Control”, which was accredited under INAP Resolution DSNC INAP No. 217 of 12 May 2011 and is intended for National Public Administration officials in senior and management positions. This course was offered twice in 2011, from August to September and from October to November, and was attended by a total of six groups of approximately forty officials each.
Also in 2011, OA offered another distance course specifically intended for lawyers and officials in the National Public Administration working in the Legal Affairs and Administrative Proceedings divisions. The title of the course is “The Punitive Approach to the Fight against Corruption – Competence of the Investigations Division of the Anti-Corruption Office” and it seeks to develop a strategic vision in order to examine instances of corruption giving rise to crimes prosecutable by the State under our legal system. The course was accredited under INAP Resolution DSNC INAP No. 453 of 26 August 2011 and was delivered from October to November through the distance training platform.
MINISTRY OF SECURITY. Execution of a Cooperation Agreement and Training Courses
Following several meetings between officials of the Transparency Office of the Ministry of Security and of the Transparency in Public Procurement Office of the Directorate for Planning of Transparency Policies, a joint training program in this field was developed, which can be geared to the needs of security forces and will be run in the second half of the year.
The training and further training of human resources was thus enhanced by developing programs for the courses to be given by officials of both jurisdictions, as follows:
Security forces:
The first course took place in August 2012 and was attended by some 40 agents from all four security forces (National Border Police, Federal Police, Airport Security Police and Coastguard). It dealt with Ethics and Transparency in Public Procurement, Tax Return Filings by Public Officials and Ethics and Transparency in Civil Service.
National Border Police:
An intensive seminar was held in September 2012 for National Border Police personnel from the city of Buenos Aires and from around the country, which was attended by some 250 members of the Border Police. It ended with a workshop on case studies involving different situations related to public procurement.
CIVIL SERVICE PERSONNEL UNION (UPCN). Execution of a Cooperation Agreement
On 7 November 2012, the Administrative Control Attorney of OA, Julio F. Vitobello, and the head of the Civil Service Personnel Union (UPCN), Andrés Rodríguez, executed a framework cooperation agreement for the conduct of training and technical assistance activities aimed at public sector workers, dealing with transparency, procurement and public ethics.
As a result of this Agreement, work began on plans for a comprehensive training program to be implemented in 2013, primarily aimed at union representatives, within the Trades Union Training School, which would subsequently be replicated throughout the National Public Administration.
It should be noted that UPCN groups National Public Administration workers and has over 360,000 members.
Ethics Education to Prevent Corruption in Citizens
Education in Values Project
Within the Project for Institutional Strengthening, the component on “Ethics Education to Prevent Corruption” (“Education in Values”) has set out to design and conduct educational activities (courses, workshops, seminars, debates, etc.) for secondary school students from around the country, their families and teachers, in order to create and promote social awareness of the importance of respecting the rule of law, publicize among young people issues related to public ethics, fostering debate in the formal educational setting and within the family, and training teachers to ensure continuity in the pursuance of these goals. In a nutshell, the idea of this component is to strengthen education in values as a step towards preventing acts of corruption at all levels in social life.