KUALA LUMPUR - Act effectively to stamp out corruption.
This was the forceful message to over 100 countries that are signatories to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the most comprehensive global legal instrument to prevent and fight corruption.
The push for 136 governments to adopt a transparent, accountable and effective system to monitor progress in achieving anti-corruption commitments was made by 239 non-governmental organisations from 73 countries.
In a statement, the NGOs have issued under the umbrella UNCAC Coalition - a network of civil society organisations supporting the UN Convention - they listed specific ways to monitor the way the convention is carried out as they urged countries to do more than pay lip service. The statement was submitted on Aug 25 to governments meeting at the United Nations in Vienna for a last round of negotiations prior to the UNCAC’s Third Conference of States Parties to be held in November.
Monitoring system
It calls for a monitoring system that is supported by a well-resourced secretariat; assisted by a group of independent experts; based on tested review methods, including peer review and country visits; participatory, involving civil society organisations and other stakeholders; transparent, resulting in published country reports with recommendations; carried out in coordination with regional review mechanisms; and funded from the regular UN budget or assessed contributions, supplemented as needed by voluntary contributions.
Though the governments involved have agreed on the review mechanism in 2006, its adoption has been hobbled by a small group of countries who opposed guarantees on transparency and civil society participation.
“Blocking the progress of monitoring is unacceptable if countries truly do want to implement standards and requirements to prevent, detect, investigate and sanction acts of corruption“, said Transparency International Conventions programme manager Gillian Dell.
Transparency International is among various groups that have signed the statement, including the International Federation of Journalists, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam International and Amnesty International.
This was the forceful message to over 100 countries that are signatories to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the most comprehensive global legal instrument to prevent and fight corruption.
The push for 136 governments to adopt a transparent, accountable and effective system to monitor progress in achieving anti-corruption commitments was made by 239 non-governmental organisations from 73 countries.
In a statement, the NGOs have issued under the umbrella UNCAC Coalition - a network of civil society organisations supporting the UN Convention - they listed specific ways to monitor the way the convention is carried out as they urged countries to do more than pay lip service. The statement was submitted on Aug 25 to governments meeting at the United Nations in Vienna for a last round of negotiations prior to the UNCAC’s Third Conference of States Parties to be held in November.
Monitoring system
It calls for a monitoring system that is supported by a well-resourced secretariat; assisted by a group of independent experts; based on tested review methods, including peer review and country visits; participatory, involving civil society organisations and other stakeholders; transparent, resulting in published country reports with recommendations; carried out in coordination with regional review mechanisms; and funded from the regular UN budget or assessed contributions, supplemented as needed by voluntary contributions.
Though the governments involved have agreed on the review mechanism in 2006, its adoption has been hobbled by a small group of countries who opposed guarantees on transparency and civil society participation.
“Blocking the progress of monitoring is unacceptable if countries truly do want to implement standards and requirements to prevent, detect, investigate and sanction acts of corruption“, said Transparency International Conventions programme manager Gillian Dell.
Transparency International is among various groups that have signed the statement, including the International Federation of Journalists, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam International and Amnesty International.
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