ISS Consultancy Service anti corruption studies 2017 ISS Consultancy Service anti corruption studies 2017 In 2014, Sida, initiated a process for identifying new strategic entry points for anti-corruption efforts in Africa. The process, which included workshops and the commissioning of input papers, was coordinated by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) through a consultancy contract with Sida. 

Due to various reasons, the project became delayed and instead of being terminated before the end of 2015 as originally planned it has only recently reached that stage. The original contract(Contract no.C02520)  has since expired,and the ISS has been able to invoice Sida for its services only once, implying that there are costs incurred but not cancelled by Sida. The new contract no. is C100568.

Hence, the present contract with updated ToR provides the legal framework for the continuation and termination of the original assignment, to be undertaken by the ISS. Costs incurred in relation to the original assignment but not yet invoiced due to the expiration of the first contract (Contract no.C02520) and costs of the news tasks to be performed are eligible under this contract (C100568) whenever they relate to the main activities previously agreed upon.

The recipient of the services is the Swedish Embassy in Addis Ababa. Efforts to tackle and prevent corruption in Africa have been in place for over two decades. Most African states are signatories to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.  However, despite these conventions and substantial amounts of donor funding spent on strengthening African governments anti-corruption capacity, there is little sign of corruption being on the decline. 

One of the main reasons for this relative failure of donor supported anti-corruption efforts relates to conceptual flaws in the analysis of corruption, leading to the design and promotion of inadequate strategies. Focusing on legal and institutional mechanisms for controlling corruption is generally doomed to fail if the undertaking is located in a country where there is a lack of rule of law and where state institutions lack capacity or have no real independence from the executive power. 

It was in this context that Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) initiated  a project in 2014 with the objective of developing evidence-based and analytical recommendations for new approaches or strategic entry-points for tackling corruption at national, sub-regional and regional levels in Africa. 

More specifically, the project aimed to:
•	Identify and analyse corruption within areas that may hold special strategic importance from a development perspective.
•	Identify innovative anti-corruption efforts on the African continent and elsewhere, new and pending initiatives, as well as recent or forthcoming major studies within these areas.
•	Identify and analyse possible interventions from the perspective of viability and feasibility, with an emphasis on self-sustainability and with goals that can be realised within a reasonable timeframe.

ISS was selected as the coordinator of the project and a consultancy contract for this purpose was signed with Sida at the end of August, 2014. According to the initial plan, the project should have achieved its goals before the end of 2015.  However, due to various reasons, the implementation was delayed and will be finalized before 30th of November, 2017.