RENUKA RAI | Thimphu
A three-day regional meeting in Thimphu has highlighted a growing shift in how anti-corruption agencies are evaluated, with experts from across Asia stressing that enforcement statistics alone cannot fully capture the real performance of integrity institutions.
The Asia Regional Expert Meeting on Measuring the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Agencies, hosted by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bhutan in collaboration with the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), concluded this week with discussions centred on redefining how corruption control efforts are assessed in an increasingly complex governance environment.
Speaking at the opening of the session, ACC Chairperson Pema Choden said Bhutan has consistently viewed corruption as more than a legal violation, describing it instead as a broader governance and development challenge.
She stressed that development and integrity must progress together, noting that Bhutan’s anti-corruption framework is closely aligned with the national development philosophy guided by the leadership of Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. She recalled His Majesty’s commitment: “I will not be corrupt and I will not tolerate corruption in others.”
ACC Chairperson also highlighted that as Bhutan advances major national initiatives such as the Gelephu Mindfulness City, integrity, accountability, responsibility and transparency must remain central to development planning.
She further emphasised that anti-corruption efforts require coordination across the entire governance system, stating that integrity must be embedded within public administration, financial management, procurement systems, education, the private sector and public service delivery.
According to her, corruption prevention cannot rely solely on enforcement agencies but must involve a whole-of-society approach.
Bringing together 34 delegates from 15 anti-corruption agencies across Asia, along with representatives from international organisations, national statistical offices, academia and law enforcement institutions, the meeting formed part of IACA’s Global Programme on Measuring Corruption.
The initiative seeks to develop more refined tools that go beyond traditional output-based indicators and instead examine broader institutional impact.
Participants noted that while anti-corruption agencies around the world are often evaluated based on measurable outputs such as the number of investigations initiated, cases prosecuted or convictions secured, such figures do not always reflect whether corruption is being effectively prevented or whether governance systems are becoming more resilient over time.
Instead, discussions in Thimphu focused on developing measurement approaches that include public confidence, institutional credibility, deterrence effects, prevention capacity and overall governance improvements.
A key theme that emerged repeatedly throughout the meeting was the importance of public trust in shaping the effectiveness of anti-corruption institutions.
“I think that public trust is very important to every anti-corruption agency, because public trust is a determinant matter for members of the public to decide whether they will come forward to an anti-corruption agency when they encounter corruption issues in their daily lives. So, in turn, public trust will affect the effectiveness of the anti-corruption agency’s work,” said Angel Kwok, speaking in her capacity as Chief Academy Officer of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Her remarks reflected a broader concern shared by participants that even well-resourced institutions may struggle to function effectively if citizens lack confidence in them or are unwilling to report corruption.
The discussion is particularly relevant for Bhutan, where perceptions of the country’s main anti-corruption institution show mixed trends over time.
According to the National Integrity Assessment 2025, 85 percent of respondents still consider Bhutan’s anti-corruption efforts to be generally effective. However, the proportion of respondents who rate the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bhutan as “doing very well” has steadily declined between 2012 and 2025.
The Commission attributes this trend primarily to uneven public awareness of its mandate and functions, suggesting that variations in understanding of its role may influence how citizens evaluate its performance. Officials have indicated that strengthening outreach and public understanding remains an important area of focus.
Across the three-day discussions, delegates reviewed the evolving methodology developed under IACA’s Global Programme on Measuring Corruption (GPMC), launched in 2022. The programme was established in response to increasing global demand for more reliable and meaningful corruption indicators, particularly those that reflect institutional impact rather than administrative activity.
In 2025, the programme completed a pilot phase involving around 50 anti-corruption agencies worldwide. That pilot resulted in the creation of a global dashboard and the first Global Trends Report on Anti-Corruption Agency Effectiveness, which was presented at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in December 2025.
Building on those findings, the Bhutan meeting formed part of a broader expansion effort aimed at involving up to 100 anti-corruption agencies globally, while refining data collection tools and improving methodological consistency across countries.
Participants also discussed the growing importance of collaboration between anti-corruption agencies and national statistical offices. Experts noted that without stronger data integration, it remains difficult to compare institutional performance across jurisdictions or track long-term changes in governance quality.
Other areas of discussion included the use of digital platforms for inter-agency cooperation, the potential role of artificial intelligence in detecting corruption risks, and the need to strengthen transparency in high-risk sectors such as political financing and public procurement.
Delegates from across East, Southeast and South Asia including representatives from China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan shared national experiences and institutional challenges during the sessions.
Many participants noted that anti-corruption agencies operate under widely different legal frameworks and political environments, making it difficult to adopt a one-size-fits-all evaluation model. This, they said, reinforces the need for flexible but robust measurement systems that can capture both quantitative outputs and qualitative outcomes.
As the meeting concluded, participants agreed that anti-corruption measurement must evolve to reflect not only what agencies do, but what difference they make in society over time. They emphasised that enforcement data remains important, but must be complemented by indicators that reflect trust, prevention capacity and institutional resilience.
For Bhutan, hosting the regional dialogue underscored its continued engagement in international governance discussions while contributing to efforts aimed at developing more comprehensive global standards for measuring anti-corruption institutions.
The meeting is expected to inform the next phase of IACA’s global programme, which aims to strengthen evidence-based approaches to integrity systems worldwide and support countries in building more transparent, accountable and trusted institutions.
