To ensure that integrity policies are relevant, efficient and effective, integrity risks have to be adequately identified, assessed and mitigated. According to the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity, risks to public integrity include not only corruption and fraud but also practices that, while unethical, may not be illegal. Despite the importance of integrity risk management, many countries face significant challenges in implementing an integrity risk management culture in their public administrations. Indeed, the value of risk management is not always clear to public managers.
Understanding why integrity risk management matters requires a clear understanding of the values and objectives of the public function in question. Such an understanding can be difficult to achieve if clear objectives, a performance culture, or robust accountability are lacking, especially given the difficulty of quantifying public sector impact and productivity. In addition, public managers may lack the necessary capacity, knowledge and support to manage integrity risks effectively.
Many of these challenges apply to Brazil, which, through the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union, is seeking to strengthen its policies, methods and institutions for promoting integrity in the federal executive branch. This report is part of a project through which the OECD supports these efforts by the Office, which leads integrity policies at the federal level. The project has three components: a review of the integrity risk assessment methodology; the application of behavioural insights to public integrity; and strengthening the Integrity Management Units (UGI) within the Public Integrity System of the Federal Executive Branch (SIPEF).
This report contributes to OECD work to support countries in effectively implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity. It provides an analysis and concrete recommendations on improving the implementation of integrity risk management in the Brazilian federal executive. In addition, this report provides an input to the forthcoming OECD Integrity Review of Brazil.
The review was approved by the OECD Working Party of Senior Public Integrity Officials (SPIO) on 13 April 2022 and declassified by the Public Governance Committee on 5 May 2022.