Understanding the Role of Ethics and Compliance in Public Institutions : Perspectives of United Nations and African Union Employees in the Selected African States

The focus of this inquiry was to explore the role of ethical compliance in the UN and AU. This was done through individual narratives on how working for renowned institutions on a day-to-day basis influences their understanding and application of ethics. The study applied an inductive and qualitative approach in order to explore how the AU and UN ethics systems influence governance for member states and employees. A sample of 18 both AU and UN personnel were interviewed. Findings from the study pointed that the AU and UN systems have loopholes in dealing with issues of ethical compliance, with the main problem reportedly being that of enforcing and monitoring, otherwise sound policy and guidelines set by the two organisations. It is recommended that the AU and UN upgrade its ethics monitoring systems in order to ensure compliance from employees and member states.