Anti-Corruption, Building Institutional Integrity, and Sector-Based Anti-Corruption Reforms
Professor Paul Heywood’s recent work on combating corruption has focused on two main areas: how to define and build integrity at institutional level, and how to harness sectoral knowledge and insights to develop more effective interventions.
He was keynote speaker at a two-day conference organised by the Office of Comptroller General (CGU) in Brazil in December 2023 which centred on his integrity-based approach; at a CGU-led Academic Connections event held in January 2025, the Minister of State Vinicius Marques de Carvalho, stated ‘Recently the CGU launched the integrity and anti-corruption plan, a broad national initiative, significantly influenced by Professor Heywood’s research, […] which brings together 260 strategic actions developed by 53 agencies of the federal executive branch.’ , and also at the bi-annual Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference, held in Darwin in July 2024.
His work on sector-based reforms showcased at CurbingCorruption.com has led to invitations for collaboration from the World Bank (September 2024), the Swedish Development Agency SIDA (December 2024), and the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, all of which are interested in its practical implementation.
Following Heywood’s keynote address at the bi-annual Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference in Darwin, July 2024, the sector-based approach was recommended to the recently appointed Minister for Infrastructure in Tasmania, who is exploring its potential use. In his role as Director of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme, funded by the FCDO, Professor Heywood leads in-depth research projects around the world designed to generate actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners, and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. Since 2015, he has overseen nearly thirty projects that are operationally relevant, problem-driven, rigorous and actionable.