01 November 2010
Momentum Builds in Fight Against Corruption
Washington — The Obama administration is pushing for bolder efforts to fight corruption, building on progress made last year by the international community.
An international anti-corruption campaign gained momentum in 2009, when state parties to the U.N Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) agreed to establish a peer review mechanism for compliance with the convention. In June, a review committee adopted guidelines and selected through a drawing the first countries to undergo review. The United States is among the countries chosen.
U.S. officials want to use the momentum of the convention’s implementation to “tie different strands of anti-corruption and anti-organized-crime [measures] into a more forceful international action,” according to David M. Luna, director of anti-crime programs at the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
In November, the fight against corruption and organized crime will be on the agendas of the summit of the Group of 20 major economies in Seoul, South Korea; the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting in Yokohama, Japan; the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Bangkok; and the New Zealand–U.S. Trans-Pacific Symposium on Dismantling Transnational Illicit Networks in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Luna and other officials said they will call for more vigorous enforcement of anti-bribery rules and closer international cooperation in bringing kleptocrats to justice and recovering stolen assets, in promoting good governance and corporate integrity, and in attacking the nexus between corruption and other types of transnational crime and terrorism.
Countries have powerful international arrangements at their disposal, according to U.S. officials, who cite the UNCAC and the U.N. Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. What governments, businesses and nongovernmental groups now must do is create an atmosphere of mutual trust, break bureaucratic barriers and form private-public partnerships to manage efforts across borders, Luna said.
TRANSPARENCY IN THE POST-CRISIS ERA
The recent financial crisis brought into a sharp focus the question of transparency in the public and private sectors in the United States and other countries.
Transparency enables civil society and the media to oversee government and promote accountability, said Robert Leventhal, the director of anti-corruption programs at the INL. Such oversight can help improve governance and make future crises less likely, he said.
The Obama administration early on decided to lead by example, Leventhal said. It has released detailed information about major government programs, including financial backing for the banking sector and economic stimulus spending. The U.S. government also seeks to be a model subject for the UNCAC review process by inviting experts from other countries to visit the United States, by allowing full involvement of civil society and by publishing the results of the review, all optional requirements of the process.
Transparency International, the main organizer of the International Anti-Corruption Conference, which will be held November 10–13 in Bangkok, said transparency — a large degree of disclosure to make agreements, dealings, practices and transactions open for verification — is essential to curbing corruption in both the public and private sectors. Transparency also helps create the atmosphere of trust necessary for many governments and nongovernmental groups to unite around common goals. That’s the message encapsulated in the main theme of this year’s conference: “Restoring Trust: Global Action for Transparency.”
Mutual transparency will help forge partnerships and build momentum for better governance, said Roberto Perez-Rocha of Transparency International. “The IACC is about bringing people together to strengthen collective action,” he said. The conference brings together representatives of many sectors, including government, business, civil society and academia, from across the globe.
At the conference, a U.S. official will lead a workshop on links between corruption and transnational organized crime. Leventhal said the idea behind the workshop has grown from the experience that going it alone against corruption, organized crime and money laundering is not the most efficient way of dealing with these issues.
Efforts to fight illicit activities are likely to be more fruitful, he said, “if you look at the convergence and interplay of these problems.”
More information about the 14th IACC, APEC Leaders Meeting, Trans-Pacific Symposium on Dismantling Transnational Illicit Networks and G20 Summit is available on the respective organizations’ websites.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
