Project Case Study
Building anti-corruption institutions in Bangladesh
Improving the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission's ability to effectively tackle corruption
During the first few years of the 21st century, Bangladesh was consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.
Under pressure from Bangladeshi civil society, in 2004 the Government of Bangladesh established an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The ACC is an independent body mandated by Parliament to address corruption and lead the prosecution of corrupt government officials. However it was initially hampered by political turmoil and constrained by limited institutional capacity.
We were asked by the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Bangladesh to provide technical assistance to the ACC in 2007. Our team’s goal was to strengthen the ACC’s operational capacity, to help create a more effective, efficient and less corrupt Bangladeshi public sector and to improve public confidence in government institutions.
Reporting directly to the ACC Chairman, an Adam Smith International team worked on a range of initiatives including structural and procedural redesign, strengthening of investigative and prosecutorial capacity, database development, human resources development and the establishment of corruption prevention committees in every district in Bangladesh. Our work was subsequently commended as “pioneering” by the Asian Development Bank for delivering results in a highly challenging and sensitive political environment.
“The Anti-Corruption Commission has successfully graduated as a modern and independent anti-corruption organisation and its business process has been substantially restructured... the overall objectives of this pioneering technical assistance have been fully achieved.”
Firoz Ahmed, Senior Governance Officer, Asian Development Bank
