Egypt’s coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh will host the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNODC), from 13 to 17 December. It is the largest event in the field of preventing and combating corruption in the world.
The UNODC is the global reference for combating corruption and how to cooperate between countries of the world in related fields.
The conference is considered one of the most important international conferences that brings together member states, parliamentarians, international, regional and non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, to discuss issues related to combating corruption.
The conference will review the implementation of the UNODC, which is the only binding global legal document that is an anti-corruption tool.
It will also discuss ways to prevent and reduce corruption, enhance international cooperation in order to better confront all forms of corruption, and ways to recover impartially from the COVID-19 pandemic, and to move forward after the special session of the United Nations General Assembly against Corruption held last June.
The conference also addresses many related topics, including preventing corruption through education, the role of women in promoting integrity, and the initiative to recover stolen assets and funds.
It also addresses anti-corruption efforts in Africa, the Arab Network to Combat Corruption and Integrity (ACINET), the challenges and opportunities offered by ICTs and digitalization to combat corruption, and the global initiative to make cities resistant to corruption.
The states parties to the agreement meet every two years to review the implementation of the agreement and discuss ways to improve cooperation between the states parties to achieve the goals of the agreement.
Egypt joined the Convention in December 2003, believing in the importance of international solidarity to prevent cruel practices around the world.
In this context, the Egyptian mission to the United Nations in New York for the second consecutive year organized an event in cooperation with the missions of the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Peru and the United Nations Office on drugs and crime on the occasion of the celebration of World Anti-Corruption Day.
The event dealt with the importance of following up on the implementation of the Political Declaration adopted by the General Assembly last June on the common commitment to work effectively in order to address challenges, implement measures to prevent and combat corruption and enhance international cooperation.
The Egyptian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Osama Abdel-Khaleq, stressed during his speech that the celebration of the International Anti-Corruption Day is an opportunity to affirm our commitments towards preventing and combating corruption at all levels in order to achieve the sustainable development goals.
He also reviewed the various national efforts to prevent and combat corruption, most notably the launch of the second anti-corruption strategy 2019/2022, which is based on laying the foundations of a society that understands the dangers of corruption and rejects it, with the support of an administrative body that upholds the values of transparency, integrity and effectiveness.
He referred to the pivotal role played by the Administrative Control Authority in order to prevent and combat corruption in all its forms.
