Tackling corruption: from evidence, to policy and practice

November 15, 2018

Johannes Tonn – Director, Integrity and Anti-Corruption
Paul Heywood – Programme Director, GI-ACE
Alan Hudson – Executive Director

We are delighted to announce a new partnership between Global Integrity (GI) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID): The Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE).

The GI-ACE programme is a new component of the ongoing DFID-funded Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) research programme and will complement a parallel programme led by SOAS University of London, the ‘ACE Research Consortium’ (SOAS-ACE). The newly-agreed GI-ACE component builds on an earlier phase of the programme, managed by the British Academy, that ran from 2015 to 2018.

GI-ACE will support 14 research partners from around the world to generate new and operationally relevant evidence on tackling corruption, explicitly aimed at helping policy-makers, practitioners, and advocates design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. The research will focus on an innovative and exciting suite of projects, covering three priority areas: the international architecture that supports corrupt exchanges; integrity systems in the public and private sectors; and tackling corruption at sub-national and sectoral levels.

The key measure for a successful programme is not solely the production of outstanding research, but – just as important – evidence that the research has contributed to supporting decision-makers and practitioners in making a real-world impact. To accomplish this goal and to ensure the usefulness of the research in addressing some of the most salient corruption challenges, we will strengthen the learning and communications function across the 14 projects, and between researchers and practitioners over the duration of the programme. Engagement by, and feedback from, policy makers and practitioners on the ACE programme has already been very positive and GI-ACE will build on this success by further supporting the generation of evidence with clear practical implications for better policy and practice.

The $7.1 million programme will run until August 2021, with the research component anticipated to be completed by the end of 2020. GI-ACE’s Programme Director will be Professor Paul Heywood who joins GI on secondment from the University of Nottingham, with Johannes Tonn leading on policy engagement and on managing the programme.

Watch this space for frequent updates on the programme, news about our partners, their projects, and the progress they are making, and – not least – information about how we are ensuring that the evidence being generated really does inform policy and practice.