International Anti-Corruption Day 2025

Each year on 9 December, the world pauses to observe International Anti-Corruption Day, an initiative originally adopted by the United Nations (UN) in connection with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
For 2025, the spotlight is on the future, with the theme “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”. This theme underscores the growing recognition that young people are vital stakeholders in building fairer, more transparent societies.

For organisations operating in highly regulated sectors, such as health and social care, education, justice, housing, and local authorities, this theme has powerful implications. Integrity, transparency, and ethical leadership cannot be left to institutions alone: they must be echoed throughout the workforce, embraced by individuals at every level, and supported by robust governance systems.

In this blog, Anna Nova Galeon will unpack what corruption means in practice; why youth, and staff more broadly, matter to anti-corruption efforts; and how regulated organisations can take concrete steps today to build a culture of integrity that lasts.

What does “Corruption” really mean - Beyond bribes and scandals

At its core, corruption is defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. While many associate corruption with overt acts of bribery, embezzlement, or under-the-table deals, in regulated organisations, corruption often appears in more subtle but equally damaging forms:

• Undeclared or unmanaged conflicts of interest - For example, awarding contracts to suppliers linked to decision-makers, or favouring particular individuals in recruitment or promotions

• Unfair or opaque procurement and commissioning practices, lacking transparency or proper documentation

• Misuse of resources or public funds, including misallocation of assets, supplies or budgets

• Manipulation, falsification, or suppression of records - From financial ledgers to incident reports, staffing logs, or care documentation

• Lack of clarity in decision-making processes, with no defined governance or audit trails

• A culture that discourages speaking up - When staff believe that no one is listening, or that raising concerns is risky or pointless.

In regulated sectors, where services affect people’s health, safety, education, and wellbeing, such behaviours not only undermine trust and compliance but can also lead to harm, institutional failure, and regulatory breaches.

Why this year’s theme matters - Youth, Tomorrow, and systemic integrity

The 2025 theme, “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”, is not about blaming young people for current failures. Rather, it’s a call to action: to harness youth’s energy, ideals, innovation, and moral clarity in building systems and cultures that resist corruption. 

Here’s why this theme is especially relevant for regulated organisations:

Empowerment starts with people

Regulated organisations are only as strong as the people within them, from frontline caregivers and social workers to procurement officers, administrators, and leaders. By empowering individuals (particularly newer, younger, and early-career staff) to recognise risk, speak up, and act ethically, organisations create multiple “guardians” of integrity.

Long-term cultural impact

Procurement rules, policies and governance frameworks are essential, but they are only effective if the people using them believe in them. Engaging staff, especially youth and early-career professionals, fosters a long-term culture where transparency and fairness are the norm.

Innovation, energy, and vigilance

Younger staff often have fresh perspectives, are digitally savvy, and may be more willing to question “how things have always been done”. Their involvement can invigorate compliance processes, drive digital transformation, and spot vulnerabilities others may overlook.

Succession of leadership

Today’s junior personnel become tomorrow’s leaders. Instilling a strong sense of ethics, fairness, and accountability early helps ensure future leadership is rooted in integrity, not just regulatory compliance.

The hidden forms of corruption in everyday operations

Corruption rarely begins with systemic breakdown. It often starts quietly, through patterns of small compromises. Common vulnerabilities in regulated services include:

• Opaque procurement and contracting - Bypassing competitive processes, failing to document supplier selection, or favouring preferred vendors without objective criteria.

• Manipulated documentation or suppressed reporting - Altering staffing records, misreporting incidents, hiding near-misses, or failing to log concerns.

• Conflicted recruitment or promotion decisions - Selecting or advancing individuals based on relationships rather than merit or documented process.

• Lack of separation of duties and oversight - The same person authorises, executes, and audits a transaction.

• Cultural normalisation of questionable practices - “This is how we’ve always done it”, or “no one will notice”, or “just get it done”.

• Barriers to speaking up - Fear, lack of confidentiality, lack of confidence in follow-up, or belief that reporting won’t lead to change.

These hidden behaviours are often precursors to bigger failures, regulatory breaches, financial loss, reputational damage, or even harm to service users.

By adopting this year’s IACD theme, organisations can proactively encourage staff to see themselves as integrity guardians, not just rule-followers.

Building a culture of integrity - What regulated organisations should do

Here are practical, strategic steps organisations in regulated sectors can take, with a focus on people, empowerment, and systemic integrity.

1. Develop clear, accessible governance frameworks and policies

• Clearly articulated Codes of Conduct, conflicts-of-interest policies, procurement standards, anti-fraud/anti-bribery rules, whistleblowing and speaking-up procedures, and reporting pathways

• Make policies easy to find, understand, and reference, not hidden in complicated manuals or shared drives

• Review and revisit policies regularly, at least annually, to reflect evolving risks and contexts.

2. Invest in role-specific training and competency building

Empowerment requires competence. Training should:

• Educate staff on what corruption looks like, including subtle, non-financial forms such as conflicts of interest, procurement irregularities, or documentation lapses

• Explain how to identify, report, and escalate concerns

• Clarify individual roles and responsibilities under regulatory frameworks (e.g., safeguarding, procurement rules, financial management standards)

• Use real-world scenarios and case studies from regulated sectors, so staff recognise relevance to their daily work

• Be ongoing and reinforced, not a one-off tick-box exercise.

By building knowledge and confidence, organisations reinforce the notion that every staff member is a stakeholder in integrity.

3. Embed transparent, objective decision-making and procurement processes

Governance integrity relies heavily on visibility, objectivity, and documentation. Key practices include:

• Competitive, evidence-based procurement and commissioning

• Clear selection criteria and documentation of evaluation, decision-making, and approval

• Separation of duties (e.g., one team requests, another approves, a third reviews/audits)

• Digital systems or workflows that record all steps and store audit trails

• Regular, independent audits and periodic compliance reviews.

Transparent processes not only deter corruption, but they also make organisations more resilient, compliant, and inspection-ready.

4. Foster a speaking-up culture - Encourage whistleblowing and safe reporting

A culture of integrity depends on people feeling safe to speak up. Important elements:

• Confidential and, where possible, anonymous reporting channels

• A clearly communicated commitment from leadership that concerns will be taken seriously and addressed fairly

• Fair, timely investigations and feedback, even when reports turn out to have no clear outcome, staff should know their voice was heard

• A non-retaliation policy and protection for whistleblowers

• Visible action and organisational learning, repeating patterns must lead to change, not cover-up.

When staff trust reporting systems, small issues get flagged earlier, before they escalate into serious failures.

5. Embrace digital governance and real-time oversight

Modern regulated organisations are under increasing pressure to move from paper-based, manual processes to digital workflows. Digital systems help by:

• Creating audit-ready documentation at all stages

• Maintaining version control of policies and procedures

• Tracking training, compliance, and competencies across the workforce

• Monitoring incidents, risks, and non-conformities in real time

• Providing evidence and visibility for regulators, auditors, and inspection bodies.

Digital governance, when combined with a culture of integrity, dramatically reduces opportunities for corruption, while increasing transparency and accountability.

From awareness to action - What International Anti-Corruption Day 2025 should mean for you

The 2025 theme, “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”, calls on everyone to take responsibility: not just institutions, not just senior leaders, but every staff member, especially newer and younger employees.

Here’s what you can do right now:

• Use IACD 2025 as a trigger to review your governance and compliance framework

• Raise awareness among your workforce about what corruption can look like, especially the subtle, hidden forms

• Commit to regular training and ethical leadership development for all staff levels

• Review your procurement and decision-making processes. Ask: “Could this be perceived as unfair or opaque?”

• Ensure there are safe, trusted channels for reporting concerns, and that reports are taken seriously

• Move toward digital systems that provide data integrity, visibility, and audit readiness

• Ultimately, building a culture of integrity is not a one-off project; it’s ongoing, evolving, and maintained by people who believe in fairness, transparency, and accountability.

Why anti-corruption matters to regulated organisations and what’s at stake

Corruption undermines not only finances, but also service quality, public trust, safety, and the very purpose of regulated services. In health and social care, it can lead to compromised safeguarding, poor outcomes, under-resourced services, or inequitable resource allocation. In education, procurement, or housing, it can erode fairness and disadvantage vulnerable people.

Unchecked corruption increases regulatory and legal risk, invites reputational damage, and endangers inspection outcomes. For organisations with public obligations, even small lapses, skewed procurement, undocumented decisions, and unchecked conflicts of interest can open the door to serious consequences.

On the other hand, a robust anti-corruption framework enhances:

• Regulatory compliance and inspection readiness

• Financial efficiency and resource stewardship

• Workforce morale, fairness, and staff retention

• Public trust and organisational reputation

• Resilience against fraud, abuse, and systemic failure.

A culture of integrity, rooted in empowered people, is a competitive advantage, a safeguard, and a moral imperative.

Take action - Build integrity with ComplyPlus™ 

In honour of International Anti-Corruption Day 2025, and inspired by this year’s theme of uniting with youth to shape tomorrow’s integrity, now is the ideal time to ask:

• Are your governance structures strong, transparent, and accessible?

• Do your staff at every level feel empowered to spot and speak up about suspicious practices?

• Are your procurement, documentation, and decision-making processes clear, objective, and audit-ready?

• Do you have real-time oversight of compliance, risk, training, and incidents?

If the answer is “there’s room for improvement”, then The Mandatory Training Group and ComplyPlus™ are designed precisely to help organisations like yours build a lasting culture of integrity.

With ComplyPlus™, you can:

• Embed governance, compliance, and transparency into everyday workflows

• Maintain digital audit trails and evidence portfolios

• Track staff training, competence, and CPD compliance

• Manage procurement, decision-making, and risk oversight more transparently

• Provide inspection-ready documentation that demonstrates integrity in action.

ComplyPlus™ can support your journey toward ethical, transparent, and resilient service delivery and help you turn the spirit of International Anti-Corruption Day 2025 into a long-term organisational reality.

Let’s unite, empower our people, and shape tomorrow’s integrity, starting today.