of this kind was the creation, in El Salvador in March 2020, of to the values of integrity in the civil services, that is, merit-based an Emergency Fund and subsequently a Citizen Monitoring and systems. And they must also rely on an effective system for Oversight Committee for the Emergency Fund and Economic integrity risk management and oversight, that is, with preemptive Recovery amounting to US$2 billion. This Committee was formed mechanisms that guarantee effective accountability. What the by civil society organizations with the power to access government numerous cases of corruption being investigated during the information and with the mandate to deliver periodic reports to pandemic are highlighting is that, when government agencies that the Legislative Assembly and the public.15 Although this special are not yet robust enough to benefit from suitable committed staff body was not allocated with any of its own resources when it was are required to deal with breaches of legal and ethical standards established, it was a pioneer initiative in its field, which is on the by a civil servant or a group of public officials, they find that they 16 right course and has issued a valuable report on the distribution do not have the capacity to anticipate, detect, or use external of resources. oversight mechanisms in order to prevent them. As can be observed, according to international organizations and bodies, most of the risks and whistleblowing involving corruption are in connection with government procurement, food distribution, and allocation of subsidies or assistance to persons and companies, not the recruitment of staff. Nevertheless, there are two aspects that reveal that these whistle-blowing reports and investigations are directly related to the integrity of the civil services: ethical leadership and institutional capacity to ensure effective oversight systems and a culture of public integrity. According to the OECD, it is expected that public-sector leaders will be effective, capable of steering their teams, inspiring their workforce, and instilling a culture promoting innovation while consolidating public sector values, with high standards of integrity and ethics. And this notion does not apply merely to administrative heads or national executives, but also extends to ministers and heads of government. It is impossible to decouple ethical performance in the many echelons of authority from the impacts their conduct, example, and guidance exert on subordinate public officials, stakeholders, 7 and the community. Ministers, governors, mayors, generals, For example, the government of Costa Rica issued, on March 10, 2020, a directive and senior government officials hold offices for which ethical with measures for inter-agency attention and coordination to tackle the health alert performance has an impact on the culture of integrity of their because of the coronavirus and then, on September 30 of the same year, a law governing telecommuting for both the public sector and the private sector. 8 public institutions and on public trust. When a scandal breaks OAS, Report of the Talk with Civil Society on “Democratic Governance Challenges out with respect to overcharging, bribery, illicit enrichment, or of COVID-19 and the Promotion of Open Government Principles” http://portal.oas. org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=fucAB2YCUXk%3d&tabid=1814 VIP vaccines, it is no longer a mere problem of procurement and 9 Transparency International: Open letter to the OAS: https://images. distribution processes. It involves persons and, in the case of transparencycdn.org/images/Carta-OEA-COVID-19-Espanol_TI.pdf a political office, the failure of ethical leadership, which in turn 10 World Bank, Ensuring Integrity in the Governance and Institutional Response to COVID 19, April 2020. https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/33705 undermines governance and public trust. 11 Ibid. 12 See the initiative at the following link: https://yosirvoamipais.cl/emergencia/ The other relevant aspect of the materialization of corruption 13 OAS, Statement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to the States risks in the emergency is that it highlights evident failures of Parties to the American Convention on Human Rights, “COVID-19 and Human Rights: The problems and challenges must be addressed from a human rights institutions—and sometimes between institutions—to prevent perspective and with respect to international obligations,” 2020. See at: https://www. and detect gross breaches of basic agreements on integrity in corteidh.or.cr/tablas/alerta/comunicado/Statement_1_20_ENG.pdf. 14 World Bank, Ensuring Integrity in the Governance and Institutional Response to public affairs. The OECD Recommendation of the Council on COVID 19, April 2020, see: https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/33705 Public Integrity (2017) contends that public institutions must hire 15 To learn more about the initiative, see: https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/10353 professional and qualified individuals that are deeply committed 16 See the report at: http://www.repo.funde.org/1725/ Cultivating a culture of integrity in the civil service in times of crisis 36