Strengthening Capacity of Anti-Corruption Institutions IDF Grant TF053946 The IDF grant will finance the following activities:  Developing an action plan for the Prevention Department of the CPB.  A first step in building capacity in the Prevention Department is the development of an action plan for the medium term.  The purpose of the plan is to identify strategic priorities, build consensus inside and outside the public sector around these priorities, and obtain and organize the staff and other resources that are needed to execute this plan.  In accordance with national priorities, the CPB has already identified one of its strategic priorities . reducing opportunities for corruption in budget execution . which it intends to begin tackling with procurement reform.  A key element of the strategy will involve building capacity for anticorruption within state bodies, possibly building on the example of New York City which requires the internal audit staff of public sector organizations to propose ten reforms each year to reduce opportunities for corruption within their organizations.  A preliminary agreement has been reached with Hong Kong.s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to provide advisory services to the Prevention Department.  This agreement will allow the staff of the CPB to visit the Hong Kong ICAC and for staff of the ICAC to provide technical assistance to the Latvian Bureau at no cost (other than travel and subsistence). Developing an ex ante conflict-of-interest (COI) system.  Most COI systems in ECA countries focus on identifying and punishing conflicts of interest ex post, after the official has committed a crime.  Following the example of the US and several other OECD countries, the Latvian CPB will build a complementary system that aims to prevent conflicts, before the violation of law actually takes place.  This system will help politicians and other senior officials to identify and resolve potential conflicts upon entry into office.  Staff in the Prevention Department of the CPB will review the income and asset declarations of officials upon their election or nomination, and provide them with a set of option for resolving their conflicts of interest.  The IDF will help the Prevention Department to develop an operations manual and guidelines for conducting ex ante reviews. Developing and piloting a methodology for conducting corruption vulnerability assessments.  One of the primary tools for preventing corruption is a vulnerability assessment.   These assessments are designed to identify institutional arrangements that exacerbate the risk of corruption based on an analysis of the decisionmaking process within an organization.  The aspects of decisionmaking that may be examined are:  (i) what is the flow of decisions?  (ii) who makes the decision?  (iii) who benefits/loses from the decision?  (iv) how transparent is the decision?  (v) can the decision be appealed?  The methodology also includes options for how to allocate responsibility for the assessment between staff in the CPB, consultants hired by the CPB, and staff in the public sector organizations to be evaluated.  Usually the decision to conduct a vulnerability assessment is linked to an enforcement action within the organization (i.e, a scandal which reveals the existence of a serious problem and which makes the organization receptive to reform).  The purpose of this task is to develop a methodology to conduct these assessments and train the CPB staff in the use of the methodology.  The pilot assessment to be conducted is of the vulnerability of the procurement system in key public sector organizations to corruption. Strengthening NGO participation in corruption prevention and monitoring activities.  The Latvian Government recognizes that public participation and oversight is essential for its anticorruption program to be  successful.  Latvia has a strong record of involving NGOs in developing the national anticorruption strategy and in monitoring its implementation.  The purpose of this task is identify how this role might be deepened.  For example, NGOs might be invited to sit on advisory boards of the CPB, to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of vulnerability assessments, and/or to measure the effectiveness of the Government.s program in reducing different types of corruption in specific sectors.  As part of this task, NGOs will be invited to participate in the pilot vulnerability assessment in procurement described in (iii) above.  They may also be invited to be part of the solution, for example, monitoring key public procurements. Strengthening capacity of the Parliamentary commission on anticorruption. The creation of the Parliamentary commission on anticorruption is an important new development in Latvia.  The purpose of this task is to provide commission members with guidance on developing policy options in anticorruption, especially in reducing the potential corruption of politicians and senior government officials.  Specifically the commission has requested assistance in developing policy options in the areas of Parliamentary ethics, lobbying, and reducing the cost of election campaigns. To build capacity in the Prevention Department of the Corruption Prevention Bureau (CPB) and the recently created anticorruption Parliamentarian Commission; and to strengthen the capacity of the anticorruption Non-Governmental Organization Community.