Suva (Fiji), 7 December 2021 - On International Anti-Corruption Day, on 9 December, UNODC and the Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists Network (PACJN) will organize a webinar from Fiji as part of US President Joe Biden’s international Summit for Democracy.
On 9-10 December 2021, President Biden will host a virtual Summit for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector. The Summit will focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and will provide a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.
Leaders of the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, along with Australia and New Zealand, are among those invited. The event will focus on three themes: strengthening democracy and countering authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
The “Pacific Law Enforcement on Tackling Corruption @Summit for Democracy”, hosted by UNODC and PACJN will feature a panel discussion by representatives of PACJN, the Public Prosecutor of Vanuatu, Palau’s Special Prosecutor, the Interim Independent Commissioner Against Corruption of Papua New Guinea, the Deputy Commissioner at Fiji’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, and UNODC Pacific Anti-Corruption Advisers.
Leaders at the main Summit will be encouraged to announce specific actions and commitments to meaningful internal reforms and international initiatives that advance the Summit’s goals. A second Summit in one year will take stock of the progress made and forge a common path ahead.
“It’s important for Pacific voices from the media and anti-corruption enforcement to be heard during this international event for Democracy, and to share our experiences on the ground in the Pacific. With 11 Pacific Island country leaders joining the main leaders’ Summit, our Pacific media need to be monitoring their commitments there as well,” said Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists Network (PACJN) and Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Managing Editor, Ms. Makereta Komai.
“Through this local Pacific panel, UNODC aims to give a platform to integrity law enforcement champions from across the Pacific to share with a wider audience the successes and challenges they face in addressing and fighting corruption. It is significant that the Summit recognizes, through one of its three major themes, that to foster democracy there is a need to fight corruption”, said Mr. Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Civil society will be represented on panels and in townhalls across the globe as a part of the official programme. In the period between this first Summit for Democracy (virtual 9-10 Dec. 2021) and the second Summit for Democracy (in person TBD late 2022) one key strategy to increase the impact of these events will be civil society engagement on what governments are committing to and how they can deliver on those commitments.
Registrations for the Suva-based virtual Pacific event can be made at: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0oc-mgqz8uEt1ckwrc0jM4_fVkT7lhq5FJ
