Background

Many countries across the Global South and North are facing a growing "trust deficit," where public confidence in institutions to deliver effective and efficient public goods and services is steadily declining. This gap is particularly evident in sectors like public health and natural resource management, where integrity risks—such as corruption, weak oversight, and mismanagement—undermine service delivery, exacerbate poverty, and hinder progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Mongolia and Madagascar, weak enforcement of social and environmental standards in the mining sector limits sustainable natural resource management. These integrity risks disproportionately harm vulnerable populations, especially women and marginalized groups, eroding trust, social cohesion, and economic stability. Addressing these issues is critical to improving governance, ensuring transparent and accountable public service delivery, and advancing sustainable development outcomes.

Objectives

The ‘Integrity for Public Goods & Services’ (‘Integra Initiative’ in short) seeks to explore innovative pathways for addressing integrity issues that prevent greater efficacy in the delivery and accessibility of two critical public goods, i.e. public health and the sustainable management of natural resources (with a particular focus on mineral resources), collecting evidence on what works and what does not work.