Publication

Corruption - Definition and Facts

21 January 2026

Cover of the UN Convention Against Corruption

Definition of Corruption

Corruption is a serious impediment to the rule of law and sustainable development. In the Declaration of the High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law, Member States recognized the negative impact of corruption, which obstructs economic growth and development, erodes public confidence, legitimacy and transparency and hinders the making of fair and effective laws, as well as their administration, enforcement and adjudication. (Source: UN Thematic Areas - Corruption)

Corruption is a global problem that affects us all, undermining institutions and impacting individuals, countries and societies. Its corrosive effects drain resources, exacerbate inequalities, fuel conflict and weaken democracies. To address this, we work with governments, anti-corruption practitioners, the private sector and civil society, including youth and academia, to ensure that corruption does not stand in the way of development. UNODC supports the translation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption commitments into tangible action. (Source: UNODC)

The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) was adopted by the General Assembly through resolution 58/4 in 2003 and entered into force in December 2005. UNCAC is the first legally binding instrument against corruption. It presents a comprehensive set of standards, measures and rules that all state parties to the convention should apply to strengthen their legal and regulatory regimes to fight corruption. The United Nations provides assistance to Member States in implementing the UNCAC as well as in strengthening capacities to prevent, detect and investigate corruption, and to implement programmes to promote transparency, integrity and accountability in criminal justice and rule of law institutions. (Source: UN Thematic Areas - Corruption)

Relevant Links and Documents

About The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) refrains from providing a single definition of corruption. Instead, it focuses on identifying specific acts of corruption that should be established as criminal offences by every State adhering to the Convention. This approach is a response to the inherent difficulty of determining a comprehensive definition of corruption due to its diverse manifestations at the national, regional and global levels.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. It was drafted and negotiated in Vienna, Austria in 2002-2003 and subsequently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 31 October 2003.

The adoption of the Convention represents a historic milestone as it reflects a shared commitment by countries to fight corruption. What makes the Convention unique is its comprehensive approach to tackling corruption, emphasizing the importance of preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation and asset recovery.

The Convention plays a pivotal role in uniting countries against corruption and fostering effective international cooperation. Today, this landmark anti-corruption instrument enjoys near universal adherence. At the national level, the Convention has been instrumental in fostering numerous impactful anti-corruption reforms, prompting important changes to legislative and institutional frameworks while strengthening international cooperation in cross-border cases and asset recovery. The Convention also serves as a crucial tool driving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals forward, addressing the pervasive effects of corruption on all core values and principles of the United Nations.

The Convention's far-reaching approach and the mandatory character of many of its provisions make it a unique instrument for developing comprehensive responses to corruption at the national, regional and global levels. (Source: UNODC - UNCAC)

You can download the UNCAC document below this article.

Forms of corruption

UNCAC addresses various forms of corruption, including:

Bribery and embezzlement in the public sector;
Bribery and embezzlement in the private sector;
Trading in influence;
Abuse of functions;
Illicit enrichment;
Money-laundering;
Concealment; and
Obstruction of justice.

The Convention establishes measures to prevent and combat corruption in five main chapters:

1. Preventive measures (chapter II)

Prevention plays a crucial role in combating corruption. It helps tackle corruption before it can result in serious negative consequences and helps address its root causes. Effective preventive strategies and measures strengthen integrity of public institutions and public officials and promote public trust and confidence in their actions.

Recognizing the importance of preventing and proactively addressing corruption, the Convention dedicates one of its chapters solely to prevention (chapter II). This chapter presents a comprehensive and mutually reinforcing system of measures directed at both the public and the private sectors that, if applied, provide the transparency and accountability to prevent opportunities for acts of corruption.

These measures include preventive policies, such as the development of effective and coordinated anti-corruption strategies and the establishment of corruption prevention bodies and measures to ensure transparency in the financing of election campaigns and political parties. The Convention also provides that public services should be subject to safeguards that promote efficiency, transparency and recruitment based on merit. Once recruited, public servants should be subject to codes of conduct, requirements for financial and other disclosures and appropriate disciplinary measures. Transparency and accountability in matters of public finance must also be promoted, and in addition, specific requirements are established for the prevention of corruption involving the private sector. In critical areas of the public sector, such as the judiciary, the prosecution service and public procurement, the Convention promotes measures to increase the transparency and integrity of institutions and individuals involved. As preventing corruption requires an effort from all members of society and to foster this whole-of-society approach, the Convention calls on countries to promote the active involvement of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society and non-governmental and community-based organizations, and underlines the importance of public reporting and access to information in preventing corruption.

UNODC’s work in the area of prevention

Support to the development of laws, regulations, policies and strategies.
Training and capacity-building programmes to enhance technical skills.
Development of practical assistance tools and knowledge products, including handbooks, training manuals, guidelines and resource guides aimed at improving the capacity of States to prevent corruption.
Provision of targeted assistance in various specific thematic areas:
- Promoting the importance of education and youth empowerment, including through the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) initiative
- Strengthening judicial integrity, including through the activities of the Global Judicial Integrity Network
- Strengthening business integrity
- Preventing corruption in the health sector
- Preventing corruption in public procurement
- Preventing corruption in sport
- Preventing corruption as it relates to crimes that affect the environment
- Promoting transparency of beneficial ownership and building capacities to collect and verify beneficial ownership data
- Enhancing collaboration between anti-corruption bodies and supreme audit institutions, including through the Abu Dhabi Declaration Programme
- Preventing corruption in conflict affected settings.

2. Criminalization and law enforcement (chapter III)

Criminalizing forms of corruption and effectively enforcing related laws are key in the fight against corruption and in the efforts to address its corrosive effects. They provide a path to delivering justice and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. Furthermore, criminalization and law enforcement promote the rule of law and serve as powerful deterrents against committing corruption.

The Convention dedicates an entire chapter to criminalization and law enforcement (chapter III), calling on States to criminalize, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate corruption in the public and private sectors with a view to ending impunity.

In the field of criminalization, the Convention calls on States to counter a range of corrupt behaviour, including domestic and transnational bribery, trading in influence and abuse of functions, embezzlement and money-laundering, as well as offences such as corruption in the private sector, obstruction of justice and illicit enrichment. States commit to applying appropriate sanctions and criminal justice measures to ensure that perpetrators, whether individuals, corporations or legal entities, are held to account.

In the field of law enforcement, States commit to having in place independent, specialized law enforcement authorities tasked with countering corruption, which have adequate independence, capacity and specialized skills to successfully investigate, prosecute and adjudicate corruption and related offences. Institutionally, the Convention calls for better coordination, cooperation and information exchange among authorities and with the private sector. Parallel measures should be in place to protect witnesses, experts, victims and reporting persons, and to deprive offenders of their illicit wealth by freezing, seizing and confiscating assets.

Civil society and other stakeholders are called upon to participate in the fight against corruption in all its forms. These provisions are complemented by the chapters of the Convention on prevention, international cooperation and asset recovery.

UNODC’s work in the area of criminalization and law enforcement

Legislative drafting to ensure that legal frameworks meet the obligations of chapter III.
Training and capacity-building programmes to enhance technical skills in the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of corruption cases.
Support to the development of policies, mechanisms, standard operating procedures and/or memoranda of understanding to strengthen cooperation among national law enforcement and prosecution entities.
Development of practical assistance tools and knowledge products, including handbooks, training manuals, guidelines and resource guides aimed at improving the capacity of States in the areas covered by chapter III.
Development and implementation of measures and systems to protect witnesses, experts, victims and reporting persons.
Facilitation of peer-to-peer information exchange and informal cooperation to better identify, investigate and prosecute cross-border corruption offences and recover stolen assets, in particular through the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network).
Promotion of the collaboration between supreme audit institutions and anti-corruption bodies, including through the Abu Dhabi Declaration Programme.

3. International cooperation (chapter IV)

As corruption cases are often complex and transnational in nature, effective international cooperation is essential to successfully investigating and prosecuting cases. International cooperation promotes a coordinated and unified global approach to addressing this crime and allows for the sharing of information, evidence and other important legal assistance among relevant authorities in different countries.

Recognizing the intricate and cross-border nature of corruption cases, the Convention dedicates an entire chapter to international cooperation (chapter IV). The chapter offers a strong framework for States to engage in international cooperation at both the formal and informal levels. For this purpose, States commit to the existence of independent and specialized law enforcement authorities to provide the widest possible mutual legal assistance, as well as direct and secure informal exchange of information related to ongoing corruption cases. The Convention further covers additional modalities of international cooperation in criminal matters, such as extradition, transfers of sentenced persons, direct law enforcement cooperation, joint investigations and special investigative techniques. It also calls on States to consider assisting each other, where appropriate, in investigations and proceedings in civil and administrative matters.

UNODC’s work in the area of international cooperation

Legislative drafting to ensure that legal frameworks meet the obligations of chapter IV.
Training and capacity-building programmes to enhance technical skills in all areas covered by chapter IV.
Development of practical assistance tools and knowledge products, including handbooks, training manuals, model laws, case digests, legal commentaries, a mutual legal assistance request writer tool and other materials aimed at facilitating international cooperation and improving the capacity of States to cooperate in transnational corruption cases.
Facilitating effective transnational cooperation through the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network).
Provision of targeted assistance through the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative – a partnership between UNODC and the World Bank Group.
Maintenance of the online directory of Competent National Authorities for international cooperation.

4. Asset recovery (chapter V)

In a major breakthrough during the negotiations of the Convention, countries agreed that asset recovery should be one of the fundamental principles of the Convention. Asset recovery is the process by which the proceeds of corruption are recovered and, when they were transferred abroad, returned to the country from which they had been taken or to their rightful owners. This is a particularly important issue for many developing countries where high-level corruption has resulted in a plundering of national wealth, and where resources are essential for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of societies under new governments.

To support these efforts, the Convention dedicates an entire chapter to asset recovery (chapter V). The chapter aims to support countries to redress the worst effects of corruption, while sending a message to corrupt officials that there will be no place to hide illicit assets of corruption.

The provisions of this chapter specify how cooperation and assistance are to be provided during all stages of the asset recovery process, including measures to identify, trace, freeze, preserve, seize, confiscate, manage and return stolen assets. The Convention encourages the widest possible cooperation between countries and foresees various mechanisms in this regard, such as direct enforcement of freezing or confiscation orders of another State, non-conviction-based confiscation in cases of death, flight or absence of the offender, or in other appropriate cases such as civil actions initiated by another State.

UNODC’s work in the area of asset recovery

Legislative drafting to ensure that legal frameworks meet the obligations of chapter V.
Training and capacity-building programmes to enhance technical skills in all areas covered by chapter V.
Development of practical assistance tools and knowledge products aimed at improving the capacity of States in the area of asset recovery.
Provision of targeted assistance through the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative – a partnership between UNODC and the World Bank Group.
Facilitating effective transnational cooperation through the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network).

5. Technical assistance and information exchange (chapter VI)

The availability of technical assistance to States that are parties to the Convention is essential to ensuring that States have the support, guidance and expertise necessary to address gaps in the full and effective implementation of the Convention.

The Convention therefore includes a chapter dedicated to technical assistance and information exchange (chapter VI). The chapter underlines the importance of specific training programmes for the personnel responsible for preventing and combating corruption and invites all States to provide assistance to one another, such as material support or exchange of relevant experience and specialized knowledge. It therefore aims to support States in the implementation of all substantive chapters of the Convention on preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation and asset recovery.

Since the adoption of the Convention in 2003, UNODC has been providing tailored technical assistance to States around the world. Technical assistance spans all of the Convention’s substantive areas and comprises a wide range of activities, including the review and revision of legislative and policy frameworks; the development of new institutional frameworks; enhancing coordination among public institutions, including across borders; increased support for criminal justice systems; and activities in the areas of asset recovery, education and the private sector, among others.

More recently, UNODC has established regional anti-corruption hubs as an integral part of its enhanced delivery model. The hubs strengthen UNODC’s field-based anti-corruption infrastructure and capacity to facilitate greater support for anti-corruption reforms based on enhanced partnerships and coordinated assistance with other providers, regional bodies and intergovernmental associations. The hubs also support UNODC’s regional anti-corruption platforms which bring together countries from the same region to identify common challenges and priorities in implementing the Convention and devise strategies and commitments to address these challenges.

(Source: UNODC - Corruption and Economic Crime Branch)