Abinader leads act on public integrity and receives OECD study

Santo Domingo.– President Luis Abinader led the public integrity act of the Dominican Republic this Wednesday at the National Palace, a setting in which he received the Integrity Study of the Dominican Republic, prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) together with the General Directorate of Ethics and Government Integrity (DIGEIG).

The document identifies progress, risks, and gaps regarding integrity and proposes recommendations to continue strengthening the country’s governance and public institutions.

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During his speech, Abinader highlighted that public trust is one of the main pillars of public management and stated that State resources must be used for the benefit of the population.

The president explained that the study was requested voluntarily with the purpose of measuring Dominican institutions against international standards, identifying the progress achieved, and determining the areas where there are still opportunities for improvement.

“Governing possibly does not consist of saying that everything is fine. It also consists of having the capacity to ask: what more can we do?”, expressed Abinader.

Abinader speaks about the transformation

President Abinader noted that the country is now entering a stage where it must move from diagnosis to action and convert the international organization’s recommendations into reforms and results that can be verified by citizens.

“True transformation occurs when integrity ceases to be just an obligation and becomes a culture,” stated Abinader.

Abinader also indicated that the Government is working on the 2026-2036 National Public Integrity Strategy, with the intention of establishing a roadmap with objectives, measures, responsibilities, and indicators that allow for the evaluation of progress.

The president maintained that public integrity requires asset declarations, access to information, professionalization of the public service, controls over state resources, anti-corruption mechanisms, as well as justice and transparency.

The OECD study analyzes public integrity from a broad perspective, which includes not only the prevention and punishment of corruption, but also standards of conduct, institutional culture, transparency, whistleblowing mechanisms, controls, decision-making, and the participation of different sectors of society.

During the event, the OECD Director of Public Governance, Elsa Pilichowski, congratulated the Dominican Republic for the commitment made to strengthening integrity and highlighted the progress achieved by the country.

Pilichowski noted that the Dominican Republic has a solid institutional foundation to continue developing its integrity strategy and highlighted that the country is implementing some of the existing international practices.

Among the recommendations put forward by the OECD are strengthening the protection of whistleblowers, incorporating integrity into risk management, and reinforcing investigation and sanction mechanisms.

The organization also recommends increasing participation and social control, involving citizens, civil society, academia, the media, and the private sector more actively in building a culture of integrity.

For her part, the Director General of Ethics and Government Integrity, Milagros Ortiz Bosch, highlighted the support of the OECD and pointed out that strengthening governance requires joint work between the different branches of the State and the participation of the citizenry.

Ortiz Bosch stated that the country’s approach to the OECD represents an opportunity to modernize the Government, strengthen transparency, and generate greater trust between citizens and public institutions.

While the Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, maintained that integrity must be present at every stage of public management, from the planning of an investment to the evaluation of its results.

Paliza assured that the Ministry of the Presidency will support DIGEIG and other State institutions in implementing the study’s recommendations.

“Integrity is not the task of a single institution. Every institution has a task. Every public servant has a responsibility,” he stated.

The Government proposes to use the conclusions of the OECD study as a reference to continue strengthening integrity, transparency, and anti-corruption policies, within the framework of the 2026-2036 National Public Integrity Strategy.