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Law enforcement, criminalization, international cooperation, assets recovery focus of draft
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Harib Saeed Al Amimi, president State Audit Institutions, hails UAE’s role in negotiations
Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has submitted a draft of the political declaration on the fight against corruption and enhancing international cooperation at the UN session against corruption that concludes on Friday.
UAE’s draft was submitted by Dr. Harib Saeed Al Amimi, president of State Audit Institutions (SAI) and chairman of the 8th session of the Conference of the State Parties to United Nations Convention against Corruption that was held in Abu Dhabi in 2019.
He chaired the UAE delegation participating in the special session of the General Assembly against corruption, which was held from June 2 to June 4 at the UN headquarters in New York.
The draft reflects the summary of conclusions reached by the panels and discussion sessions focusing on the law enforcement, criminalization, international cooperation, assets recovery, role of the private sector in supporting the efforts of anti-corruption, measures to address impunity, and harnessing the full potential to use the education and technology in preventing and fighting against corruption.
Al Amimi emphasized the comprehensive nature of the preparatory process to issue the political declaration in addition to the contributions of member states, including the intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the academic community, the private sector, and other organs of the UN.
He also pointed out that the conference – during its 8th session held in Abu Dhabi in December 2019 – adopted a record number of 14 resolutions, the most significant of which was adopting the Abu Dhabi Declaration on enhancing the cooperation among the SAIs and anti-corruption bodies to prevent and combat corruption more effectively.
Al Amimi stated that the UAE has recently allocated an amount of $5.4 million to support the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime to implement the program of the Abu Dhabi Declaration at the regional and international level over the next three years.
The program will aim at promoting the role of SAIs in preventing and fighting against corruption, as well as enhancing the cooperation between audit institutions and anti-corruption agencies.
He also praised the role of the UAE through its chairmanship of this conference and through its participation in leading the international negotiations together with Peru to prepare and facilitate the discussions between the State Parties resulting in the draft of the Political Declaration.
Transparency International, the leading non-governmental organization dedicated to combating corruption and affiliated activities, ranked UAE 21st globally on its 2019 Corruption Perception Index released last year. The index ranks 180 countries on various factors related to public sector bribery. The UAE was ahead of France and the US in 2020, both jointly ranked 23rd.
The UAE remains the flagship for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with the lowest levels of perceived corruption.
