When hospital funds disappear into officials’ pockets, people die from preventable causes. When police demand bribes, poor people are denied justice. When procurement is rigged, schools go unbuilt, water systems fail and trains crash. Corruption and human rights aren’t separate issues – they’re two faces of the same problem.

This connection, long argued by civil society campaigners, gained official backing at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s (HRC) 59th session in June. Among other key resolutions on issues including civic space, climate change and gender rights, its resolution on the impact of corruption on human rights broke important new ground. For civil society working on the frontlines of anti-corruption struggles, it marks a promising step forward.

A new framework to tackle corruption

The resolution represents a significant departure from previous approaches. It mandates a comprehensive study by the HRC Advisory Committee to develop guidelines for states on how to meet their human rights obligations to prevent and combat corruption. The intention is to offer practical guidance that governments will use. It’s to be based on broad consultations, including with civil society organisations (CSOs), to ensure the voices of those most affected by corruption are heard.

The resolution also aims to foster stronger coherence between UN processes in Geneva, Vienna and New York. This addresses a real problem, as distant offices often lack coordination. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna handles the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), while human rights work takes place primarily in Geneva, where the HRC is headquartered, and the General Assembly and many other processes are based in New York. The resolution creates a mandate for more effective collaboration, while encouraging other HRC initiatives to consider the impacts of corruption on their existing mandates.

The resolution aligns with the UN’s 2021 Common Position on addressing global corruption, which recognises efforts to curb corruption as an enabler and accelerator of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and found echoes at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, held in early July, which affirmed that combating corruption, along with accountability, good governance, the rule of law and transparency are essential to achieving the SDGs.

The resolution’s power lies in recognising that corruption isn’t just about money illegally changing hands – it’s about the systematic denial of human rights. Corruption has a destructive effect on state institutions and the capacity of states to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, particularly for vulnerable people and excluded groups. By diverting resources that should fund essential services such as education, healthcare and housing, corruption undermines states’ ability to meet their core obligations. By allowing companies to subvert rules designed to protect people, it also underminesdemocratic institutions.

The resolution also acknowledges that the fight against corruption can violate human rights, including by ignoring due process and implementing broad surveillance programmes that violate privacy.

The reality is that around the world, anti-corruption activists, whistleblowers and journalists face persecution from states and criminal forces as part of the broader crackdown on civic space. In many parts of the world, authorities weaponise defamation and ‘fake news’ laws to silence critical voices. People who expose corruption face arrest, detention, fines, harassment, physical violence and death. Repression violates the human rights of people working to end corruption, undermining essential efforts to protect human rights.

The resolution’s successful passage required skilled diplomacy. Morocco, the state that championed the resolution, assembled an unlikely coalition including Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Poland and the UK – countries that don’t always find themselves on the same side of HRC debates. Broad geographic representation helped ensure unanimous agreement.

It’s important to acknowledgment that Morocco’s diplomacy may in part be intended to deflect attention from its ongoing campaign of repression, racial discrimination and violence against people advocating for Western Sahara’s independence. But whatever Morocco’s motivations, its diplomatic strategy proved effective.

The civil society campaign

Since the HRC’s Advisory Committee issued its first report on corruption and human rights in 2015, in response to a 2013 resolution that put the topic on the Council’s agenda, progress had been painfully slow. For years, subsequent HRC resolutions on the issue did little more than mandate the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to organise panel discussions – the bureaucratic equivalent of treading water.

The breakthrough came because of sustained, coordinated civil society advocacy that built momentum over almost two decades. At the centre of this effort was the UNCAC Coalition, a global network established in 2006 and comprising almost 400 civil society organisations (CSOs) in over 120 countries.

The Coalition’s approach evolved over time. From 2006 to 2009, its primary objective was securing an effective, transparent and participatory way of monitoring UNCAC implementation. This phase ended with the 2009 adoption of the UNCAC review mechanism, which began operating in July 2010.

From 2010 onwards, the Coalition focused on ensuring civil society participation in this new review process. Over time, it supported the production of over 40 parallel reports, bringing a civil society perspective to the UNCAC review process. More than 30 states signed its Transparency Pledge, supported by a Guide to Transparency and Participation in the UNCAC review process. Its Access to Information campaign encouraged around 20 governments to publish information on the UNCAC review process in their countries, with civil society groups across the world using freedom of information laws to request release of documents related to UNCAC review cycles. The Coalition’s UNCAC Review Status Tracker shared information on 189 states’ UNCAC reviews to create pressure for change.

However, it increasingly became clear a dedicated strategy was needed to explicitly link corruption and human rights.

The Coalition’s Working Group on Human Rights and Corruption, a platform for exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences among civil society and academics, proved crucial in coordinating advocacy efforts and advancing international and regional laws and policies. The group brought together experts from organisations such as Amnesty International, Transparency International and numerous regional networks.

In May 2025, the Coalition launched a major campaign. Through an open letter to the HRC signed by 368 CSOs and experts from 107 countries, it called for the adoption of a strong resolution on the negative human rights impacts of corruption. The letter emphasised that anti-corruption initiatives should promote common good and equity and safeguard fundamental freedoms, and urged the HRC to take a human rights-based approach to anti-corruption efforts. The Coalition also co-organised HRC side events bringing together state representatives, UN officials and civil society experts, with its first such event at the HRC’s 58th Session in March.

What made the civil society campaign ultimately successful was its strategic evolution from purely technical anti-corruption advocacy to a rights-based approach that centres human dignity and community impact. Campaigners shifted strategy, focusing on achievable goals that could create momentum for bigger changes, while simultaneously maintaining pressure across multiple UN forums.

In Africa, the CAPAR Civil Society Network played a complementary role. The Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR), adopted by the African Union in 2020, provides a continent-wide framework for addressing illicit financial flows and asset recovery. The CAPAR Civil Society Network emerged from a 2022 forum on monitoring its implementation. It developed assessment tools and held assessments in six countries during 2023 and 2024, advocating for victims’ rights to be embedded in asset recovery laws.

The CAPAR network’s approach places emphasis on promoting human dignity in the fight against corruption. As highlighted during African Anti-Corruption Day 2025, this framework recognises corruption as fundamentally a human rights issue that exacerbates poverty, fuels inequality and particularly harms women and those already most excluded.

The road ahead

The resolution’s adoption comes at a critical juncture. The 11th Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC is approaching, offering an opportunity to strengthen links between human rights and anti-corruption efforts across different parts of the UN system.

The study mandated by the resolution will be crucial. If done well, with meaningful civil society participation, it could produce guidelines that help states implement human rights-based approaches to corruption prevention and response. However, impact will depend on how seriously states take their obligations, whether CSOs can maintain pressure for meaningful implementation and whether the UN continues to be able to deliver on its mandate in the context of an acute funding crisis that is seeing major cutbacks, all amid a political climate where powerful states are turning their backs on multilateralism.

More can be done, such as establishing a dedicated UN Special Rapporteur on corruption and human rights, a move that would bring greater focus, coherence and scrutiny to states’ actions. But the latest resolution is a step in the right direction, providing better tools to the international community to ensure human rights are at the centre of anti-corruption efforts. The question now isn’t whether corruption violates human rights – it’s whether states and international bodies will act on this recognition.

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