Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Dear colleagues,
Congratulations.
We once again see the great strength of our meeting and of the UN Convention against Corruption.
This session of the world's most representative conference on this universal and comprehensive legal instrument against corruption has reaffirmed and renewed the commitment of the international community to prevent and fight this crime.
Over the past week, you have negotiated and agreed on the practical steps necessary to make this commitment a reality.
The implementation review mechanism, marking its tenth year, will continue its important work, ensuring the forward momentum of the Convention and helping us to target support where it is needed most.
Throughout these last days, you have heard many examples of the deleterious effects of corruption on the lives of people everywhere, and you have shared experiences and best practices to stop bribery and the squandering of public resources, and to ensure accountability.
You have kept your eye firmly on the future, putting a spotlight on the importance of harnessing technology and innovation in strengthening anti-corruption action, and enabling youth to fight for justice.
And finally, you have set the international community on a solid path towards the first-ever General Assembly special session against corruption in April 2021.
Dear Chair, Dr. Al Amimi, we are grateful to you and the Bureau for so ably leading this session.
Your achievements can help to ensure that work through the Convention against Corruption makes a decisive contribution as we enter this decade to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as guardian to the Convention and secretariat to this Conference, is proud to support you in all these endeavours.
It has been an honour for me personally to be with you on this journey, from Marrakech to Panama City, to Saint Petersburg and Vienna, and now here in Abu Dhabi.
This, dear colleagues, is where I leave you. As my tenure at UNODC comes to an end it is gratifying to me to think of all we have achieved together.
But there is still much more work that needs to done in the fight against corruption, and I encourage you to keep going, making full use of this landmark Convention and its unique review mechanism.
At UNODC we often speak of the "Vienna spirit" of consensus. I have considered this to be the polestar, the guiding principle of my work at the UN.
In view of the overall global situation and even doubts about the value of multilateralism, I remain convinced that we need to support and cherish the "spirit of Vienna" more than ever.
And I believe this meeting in Abu Dhabi has contributed to this objective.
My thanks once again to our hosts. Your generous support and dedication have helped to ensure the success of this conference. Shukran jazilan.
Dear colleagues, I wish you the best for these final, festive weeks of 2019 and every success in the years to come.
Ma'a salama.