measures to expand the practice and coverage of transparent, competitive, and merit-based public processes to most groups 4.1.2 of staff employed by the state and to better manage the culture Continuity and change in the reforms when the of integrity in public institutions. In other cases, governments pandemic broke out made adjustments to their staff procurement and management systems, in accordance with their government programs, in line with the specific recommendations of MESICIC or introducing elements of integrity management in accordance with the During the health emergency in 2020, national authorities in vision promoted by the OECD. In that respect, some national charge of promoting a culture of integrity in the civil service and policies were tackling reforms or enhancing their capabilities to directing and regulating government staff recruitment processes a greater extent while others were focusing on moving forward continued to fulfill their duties. Their daily tasks were naturally with their policies or correcting failings or distortions in their staff restricted or redirected, first of all, because of the initial difficulties management systems in the public sector. to operate which affected all the other public institutions and, second, because the government’s agenda focused on adopting health measures and protecting the population, and in this case the front-line government institutions were those of the health 4.1.1 sector, law enforcement, and border control. An overview of integrity policies in the civil service during the pandemic According to the specialists who were consulted, virtually all six countries gave continuity to their integrity policies in the civil service. In Argentina, the line of work to regularize the situation of temporary civil servants in the state’s administration was The countries attending the Eighth Summit of the Americas in upheld and, although all policy efforts were geared to deal with 2018 adopted the mandates to strengthen the civil service and the emergency, progress was made in evaluating the Nation Anti- ethical leadership in the state, and virtually all countries consulted Corruption Plan for 2019-2023, after which it expects to choose have followed through with their integrity policies in the civil the themes for a national strategy. service. Also in the period, training on integrity was upheld and, in some In Argentina, despite the pandemic, the line of work to regularize cases, even increased. In Brazil, the Comptroller General of the the situation of temporary civil servants and revise the national Union (Controladoria-Geral da União—CGU) upheld the audits Anti-Corruption Plan was upheld. In Brazil, audits of staff on staff procurement and the progress achieved in introducing recruitment was upheld, and progress was made in developing a meritocracy, even in positions of trust of the government a merit-based bureaucracy and a culture of integrity. In Chile—in and in state enterprises. In addition, work has continued on an effort similar to that of Brazil, albeit with a different degree of developing a culture of integrity, that goes beyond the codes of implementation—codes of conduct have been adopted in public ethic with a punitive approach that are in force in all entities of the institutions and integrity committees have been established. In executive branch, in order to move forward toward the drafting of Colombia, the main challenge over the past few years has been codes of integrity. The CGU has also continued to promote the to correct distortions undermining the administrative career development of integrity offices in different public institutions in stream. And in Peru, there have been no changes in the area of charge of implementing risk-based integrity programs. reform in the civil service since 2018, but efforts have been made to implement a high-standard integrity model. In Chile, in 2016 codes of conduct had already been introduced in public institutions, and these codes continue to be drawn In almost all countries, there has been ongoing induction and up and implemented in the executive branch of government, training activities on integrity in the civil service, with varying thereby striving to secure wider coverage. Also, in the National degrees of breadth and depth. Governments have fulfilled their Civil Service Department (Dirección Nacional de Servicio Civil— obligation to inform their civil servants, both clearly and using up- DNSC) integrity committees have continued to be established to-date approaches, about the norms and instructions to which formally in a large number of public institutions of the executive they are subject, the conduct expected of them, and the ethical branch, although with challenges when assigning them a role duties that should be guiding their actions. in strengthening ethical leadership and managing a culture of Cultivating a culture of integrity in the civil service in times of crisis 28