1. Analyse the corruption risks in your national defence and security establishments, and develop and implement an action plan to tackle the identified risks. Use the detailed information in this index as a starting point. Consider setting up a dedicated unit within the Defence Ministry, charged with overseeing anticorruption initiative and controls. Consider also setting up a Taskforce that can develop a common understanding of the corruption risks and remedies across the armed forces and MOD. Invite civil society or academic experts into a committee that will have oversight of progress of the anti-corruption initiative.
2. Make secrecy the exception, not the norm. Publish the defence budget in detail each year, including the percentage of the budget that is secret. Ensure that secret spending is subject to oversight that is secure but nonetheless is independent of the military and the executive.
3. Engage civil society organisations in the process of increasing transparency and accountability. They can be valuable partners in carrying out reform. Open discussion demonstrates to the outside world, and within your ministries, that you are serious about addressing the issue of corruption.
4. Develop an accessible code of conduct, and provide regular, in-depth anti-corruption training on integrity and countering corruption.
5. Address procurement corruption risks. Ensure that procurement and policy decisions are open and based on published strategic needs. Promote fair competition between bidding companies, and ensure that offsets contracts are subject to due diligence and auditing. Publish information on agents and intermediaries used by the government, as well as financing packages. Require bidding companies to ensure that their subsidiaries and sub-contracted companies have anti-corruption mechanisms in place. Subsequent to purchase, conduct independent audits of all major defence procurements.
6. Strengthen personnel management mechanisms. Set up robust whistle-blowing channels and protection for whistle-blowers. Identify sensitive positions associated with high corruption risks and institutionalise appropriate vetting, rotation, and post-retirement restrictions.
7. Address corruption as a strategic issue on operations. Ensure military doctrine contains provisions on addressing corruption risk, and acknowledges the impact corruption can have on operational abilities. Reduce the risk corruption poses to troops by setting up controls of suppliers in the field and providing rigorous anti-corruption monitoring during deployment.
8. Demand high anti-corruption standards of the other governments and companies when exporting equipment. Exporting governments have a responsibility to ensure that transactions are not corrupt on the purchasing side by importing governments and defence companies.
