ABU DHABI, DECEMBER 16 – The Italian Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Alessandro Cortese, addressed today the world’s primary anti-corruption conference which opened today in Abu Dhabi with a call to advance efforts to prevent and combat corruption to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
In his statement to the eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, Cortese stressed Italy’s strong commitment to prevent and combat corruption and to address links between corruption and organized crime, as well as the need to foster partnerships with social society and the private sector.
“You meet at a critical moment. As we enter the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, we must unite against corruption to stop the drain on resources caused by illicit financial flows,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in a message to the Conference from Geneva: “Corruption threatens the well-being of our societies, the future of our children and the health of our planet. It must be fought by all, for all.”
The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, emphasized corruption’s role in facilitating crime, and other threats, calling corruption “the sinister enabler of some of the worst problems we face”.The Convention against Corruption, with 186 parties, is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. Every two years, the States parties to the Convention meet to review the implementation of the Convention and to discuss how States can better tackle corruption. The week-long meeting brings together more than 1,300 participants from countries around the world. Some 15 draft resolutions will be considered. Among the topics to be discussed at the eighth session are prevention, asset recovery and international cooperation, as well as the preparations for the special session of the General Assembly against corruption, to be held in 2021.
During the Conference, 47 on-site special events will be held at the ADNEC, organized by Governments, Departments and Agencies of the United Nations, Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations and UNODC. The Italian Anti-Corruption Agency (ANAC), with co-sponsorship by the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) and supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has organized today’s first event on the need to follow the example of the Network of Corruption Prevention Agencies which aims at, on one hand, assemble and strengthen collaboration among peer corruption prevention agencies around the globe and, on the other hand, recognize and promote solid standards and good practices typical to the prevention of corruption. (@OnuItalia)