U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre

Description

U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre is a research institute that studies the causes and effects of corruption in society. It documents how corruption harms development outcomes and identifies and supports efforts to address it. U4 operates as a permanent centre within the Chr. Michelsen Institute, an independent, non-profit, multi-disciplinary research institute in Bergen, Norway.

The centre was established in 2002 by CMI after it won a tender led by the UK’s development agency. Its name recalls the Utstein partnership, a 1999 meeting in Norway of four development ministers from Norway, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany who sought to harmonise aid policy and anti-corruption work. Most of the original funding agencies still support U4 today.

U4 works with global research networks and practitioners to pursue emerging topics in the anti-corruption field. It shares its findings through publications, online training, workshops and events, a helpdesk and dialogue with partners. Its strategy focuses on helping partner agencies and the wider anti-corruption community respond to change and improve results.

U4 has its own director, staff, strategy, work plan and budget, though CMI’s board holds ultimate legal authority. Steering committee members, drawn from U4’s partner agencies, meet annually to set priorities and decide the centre’s direction.