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General Assembly High-Level Debate on Convention Against Corruption - Part 1
Secretary-General Highlights Convention’s Near-Global Acceptance, Hails Money-Laundering Efforts of Nigeria, Tunisia
The battle against corruption was vital to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, General Assembly President Miroslav Lajčák (Slovakia), told delegates today, noting that corruption stifled growth and development.
During a high-level debate to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Assembly’s adoption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the President said that institutions, businesses and citizens suffered as corruption destroyed everything in its path. “When they are stopped at checkpoints for bribes, when a bus doesn’t come or a clinic doesn’t open because budgets are mismanaged,” it was ordinary people who endured the consequences, he noted.
While Sustainable Development Goal 16 dealt explicitly with corruption, in fact, the success of the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development hinged on fighting corruption, he pointed out. Governments must not only legislate, implement and enforce laws, but also enlist the media, the private sector, civil society and academia in the battle, he stressed, describing the 2003 Convention as the bedrock of the international community’s anti-corruption efforts.
Also addressing the delegates, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the near-global acceptance enjoyed by the Convention, as he urged Member States to use it as a platform for mobilizing political and popular support. With 184 States parties, it represented a fundamental recognition that corruption was neither an acceptable cost of doing business nor a necessary evil, but simply an unacceptable crime, he said.
“Those who can least afford corruption suffer the most,” he pointed out as he described its negative impact on economic development, entrepreneurship and foreign investment. When public officials enriched themselves instead of performing their duties with integrity, crimes such as human trafficking and illicit financial flows flourished while schools and hospitals suffered. African countries had taken a leading role in the fight against corruption, he said, praising the anti-money‑laundering efforts of Nigeria and Tunisia.
Echoing that sentiment, Yuri Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), recalled that Switzerland had returned €3.5 million to Tunisia in 2017, which he described as a small fraction of the funds lost to corruption every year. Noting that such funds could have been used to build schools, hospitals and roads, he said anti-corruption measures were a prerequisite for sustaining investment in development and for providing basic services to citizens.
Emphasizing the Convention’s instrumental role, he went on to say that its implementation review mechanism had served as a powerful incentive for anti‑corruption reforms. About 60 per cent of countries said that undergoing the review had improved their institutional structures and boosted international cooperation. Calling for more support for the mechanism, he said Member States must respect time frames and provide the necessary funds.
Several delegates shared experiences from their respective countries’ fight against corruption, with Georgia’s representative highlighting extensive reforms that had transformed his country from a corrupt post‑Soviet State into one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Protection for whistle-blowers, e‑governance and obliging public agencies to disclose public information were some of those reforms, he said, noting that a new Freedom of Information Act would soon be presented for adoption by Parliament.
Italy’s delegate acknowledged that his country’s anti-corruption record had been unsatisfactory at the time of the Convention’s adoption, but the situation had changed profoundly after that with significant achievements in the field of prevention. New legislation had been enacted to improve transparency and compliance in both public and private entities, he said, calling upon Member States to address the link connecting corruption, organized crime and money‑laundering.
China’s representative also called on the international community to combat money-laundering, and to strengthen exit and entry institutions. Pointing out that disparities in the legislative systems of different countries were diminishing accountability across borders, she emphasized the importance of seeking common ground and enabling collaborative mechanisms for sharing information and investigations.
Delegates later participated in two interactive discussions featuring panellists from Government and civil society. Moderating the first on “Fifteen Years of United Nations Convention against Corruption Implementation: Trends, Achievements and Challenges” was John Brandolino, Director of the Division of Treaty Affairs at UNODC. Panellists praised the Convention for enabling increased national legislation and awareness, while warning against “numbness” and inaction.
Moderating the second panel discussion on “Achieving peaceful and inclusive societies through preventing and combating corruption” was by Simone Monasebian, Director of the UNODC New York Office. Panellists stressed the importance of independent institutions, protection for whistle-blowers and respect for freedom of the press.
Others participating today were representatives and high-level officials of Portugal, Honduras, Colombia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, United States, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Bahrain, El Salvador and Guatemala.
A representative of the Inter-Parliamentary Union also spoke.
The General Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 24 May.
