A study by Chile Transparente and Amuch shows that 70% of Chile's municipalities lack anti-corruption policies. The report highlights significant gaps in integrity mechanisms, especially in rural areas. Comptroller General Dorothy Pérez urged speeding up a bill in Congress to prevent corruption risks.
The Association of Municipalities of Chile (Amuch) and Chile Transparente presented a national study on municipal integrity this Thursday. The report, based on responses from 310 municipalities (89.9% of the total), aims to identify the existence of instruments, structures, and mechanisms for public ethics and irregularity prevention, analyzing gaps by communal typology and development level.
Key findings show that only 41% of entities have codes of ethics, while 40% do not, 6% are in process, and 13% did not respond. On complaint channels, 62% lack them, 19% have them, and 17% did not reply. For anti-corruption policies, 70% do not have them, 6% have a valid one, 2% have one but invalid, 5% are developing them, and 17% did not respond.
The study concludes there is a significant gap between higher-development metropolitan communes and lower-development semi-urban or rural ones. “This demonstrates that the capacity to install integrity systems is deeply conditioned by structural factors related to resources, institutional capacities, and available human capital,” the authors state. They add that “the probability that a municipality has a functional integrity system depends more on its territorial development level than on a state public policy.”
At the presentation, Comptroller General Dorothy Pérez discussed challenges in municipal public integrity and anti-corruption policies, calling to expedite the bill in Congress. This initiative seeks to prevent, detect, and reduce corruption risks across all municipalities.