A/HRC/44/43 private sector,8 and the special session of the General Assembly against corruption, to be held in 2021.9 C. Coronavirus disease pandemic 5. The present report was drafted during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The accompanying economic crisis poses a test for governments and business: how to not lower responsible business standards while trying to support economies. The Secretary-General has emphasized that the recovery must lead to a better world. 10 The Guiding Principles provide one blueprint for action. Their implementation requires that responsible governments and businesses improve policy coherence, collaboration, transparency and their own accountability.11 6. Corruption often arises during crises, particularly when public institutions are weak. Procurement of medicines and supplies for health systems is one area most vulnerable to corruption.12 Corruption in the health-care sector causes annual losses of approximately $500 billion.13 With health-care systems strained worldwide, diversion of critical resources due to corruption threatens the rights to health and life. A United Nations policy brief has highlighted the need to “push back against those who seek opportunistically to use the crisis to … steal through corruption resources intended for the pandemic response”.14 TRACE, an anti-bribery business association, has recognized that the pandemic means that every sector will face new corruption, business and human rights challenges, including in relation to workforce and labour management, privacy and surveillance, supply chains, and security. It has highlighted how companies’ anti-corruption programmes can integrate human rights, for example through due diligence and risk assessments.15 The pandemic makes responsible, coherent and coordinated action on business and human rights and corruption urgent. II. Connections between the business and human rights and the anti-corruption agendas within the United Nations and beyond 7. Corruption is a complex phenomenon affecting all States. It takes many forms, including bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influence peddling, graft, embezzlement and fraud. While there is no universal definition, the United Nations Convention against Corruption addresses many different forms of corruption, such as bribery, trading in influence, abuse of functions and private sector corruption. The Convention, one of the most widely ratified international treaties, is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. In the present report, the Working Group addresses corruption as a spectrum of acts outlined in the Convention, which includes bribery, and other acts. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 A/HRC/44/27. See https://ungass2021.unodc.org/ungass2021/index.html. See www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/2020-04-02/recovery-the-coronavirus-crisis-must-leadbetter-world. See also www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25837&LangID=E. See https://rm.coe.int/corruption-risks-and-useful-legal-references-in-the-context-of-covid1/16809e33e1. See http://ti-health.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IgnoredPandemic-WEB-v3.pdf. See www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_ 23_april_2020.pdf. See www.paulhastings.com/docs/default-source/pdfs/human-rights-covid.pdf. 3