File is not found

UNODC ROPAN at the "Right to Know Fair"

On 27 and 28 September 2018 - Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to political instability. The Member States of the United Nations adopted in 2003 the United Nations Convention against Corruption; the first legal anti-corruption instrument that establishes legally binding rules and offers a way for the creation of a global response to a regional problem. Corruption occurs when there is barely any accountability and there is little transparency in government operations. Consequently, transparency in public management cannot be optional, but mandatory.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) took part in the Right to Know Fair 2018 held in the Electoral Court of Panama City. Under the slogan "Participate and make yours the right to be informed", the fair had as main objective the optimization of the institutional services to guarantee transparency and achieve an integration in relation to the use of information from the national directorates of the Civil Registry, National Identification and Electoral Organization. During the opening ceremony, Yara Ivette Campo -the institutional executive director-; Rigoberto González -the Procurator of the Administration-; Pauline Jácome and Hermelinda Peralta -the director and assistant manager of institutional integrity- executed the ribbon cutting. They also did a tour around the Electoral Court information posts situated in the building which included the posts of other invited governmental institutions.

At the UNODC information post, a special emphasis was placed on publicizing the objectives and existing projects, including the anti-corruption project that is being carried out at the office. Moreover, the realization of the basic ethics course for public servants, prepared by UNODC in conjunction with the Regional Anticorruption Academy for Central America and the Caribbean (ARAC) was promoted among the assistants. This course aims to introduce, improve and consolidate the knowledge of the public servant in matters of ethics and anti-corruption. In effect, it is about promoting rules of conduct and prohibitions and raising awareness about corruption in the public sector.

On 28 September, Ms. Cristina Ritter -legal expert in anti-corruption at UNODC- held a conference entitled "Mechanisms to fight corruption as normative tools that regulate transparency". Mrs. Ritter presented the work done by UNODC in ​​organized transnational crime, since corruption is usually present in the realization of illicit activities by criminal groups.

During the conference, Ms. Ritter presented the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Organized Crime. Laying an emphasis in the first legal text due to the context of the conference. The speaker also addressed in greater depth the issue of the fight against corruption by exposing the articles that seek to prevent, fight and penalize this act. Keeping in mind the "right to know" concept, an analysis was made of the articles of the convention related to transparency and the duty of States to facilitate access to information.

As it has been previously mentioned, corruption is a global problem. That is why States must cooperate. Therefore, the conference included a presentation of the different projects in which UNODC participates in conjunction with other intergovernmental organizations such as the World Customs Organization (WCO), INTERPOL and ARAC to put an end to this crime.