16 December 2021 - During the Conference of the States Partiers to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, the CRIMJUST Global Programme hosted a hybrid side event on “Integrity in Border Management” co-organized with AIRCOP, the European Union and G5 Sahel, to highlight how enhanced institutional integrity and accountability are paramount to ensure effective border management.
The event took place both in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and online on 16 December 2021.
Moderated by Guglielmo Castaldo, Anti-Corruption Programme Officer, this side event was inaugurated by Dr. Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC Regional Representative for West and Central Africa, who highlighted the importance of effective border management not only for its economic implications, related to trade and circulation of goods, but also for its direct impact on security and stability, as borders are a hotspot for trafficking and illicit operations related organized crime and terrorist groups. This is why, in line with the United Nations Convention against Corruption, UNODC has been supporting a number of integrity-related initiatives in cooperation with authorities operating in border areas. It has further been engaged in supporting the law enforcement/front-liners in West Africa, with a view to strengthening their capacity to discharge their functions and fight trafficking and crime more effectively across borders.
Dr. de Andrés’ remarks were echoed by Mr. Matthew Willner-Reid, Programme Manager of the Global Illicit Flows Programme (GIFP) of the European Union, who focused on the main objective of CRIMJUST’s institutional integrity pillar and the cooperation between AIRCOP and CRIMJUST, with the European Union’s support, to enhance accountability to ensure effective border management.
Mr. Glen Prichard, Head of CRIMJUST Global Programme, then provided an overview of the implementation and achievements of the project under its integrity pillar, highlighting the importance of partnerships to strengthen institutional integrity at borders to fight transnational drug trafficking. CRIMJUST has been supporting this goal notably by building synergies with other projects funded within the Global Illicit Flows Programme of the EU, and developing ethics and integrity training programmes in cooperation with law enforcement training schools.
Following Mr. Prichard, Mr. Lamin Gassama, Head of the Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) in Banjul, The Gambia, shared his experience on the relevance of ethics and integrity in the work of AIRCOP units. This joint initiative shared by CRIMJUST and AIRCOP reflects the vision and conviction of the Global Illicit Flows Programme of the European Union that building synergies is critical to address the scourge of organized crime. By sharing specific challenges and risks at the airport, he shed light on how corruption can quickly become rampant, limiting enforcement of rules. Therefore, Mr. Gassama pointed out how the JAITF in The Gambia makes important efforts to ensure that corruption does not get generalized, and how the integrity training delivered within the CRIMJUST and AIRCOP projects was a game changer in this regard.
Moreover, Ms. Maria Adomeit, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, UNODC, pointed out how UNODC is supporting customs services in applying UNODC’s Corruption Risk Management methodology to identify internal, priority corruption risks and design concrete strategies to mitigate these risks. Ms. Adomeit explored how applying this methodology in border management can help identify a number of corruption risks that the organization has the capacity to address. Looking forward, this could lead to an institutionalization of this undertaking within an organization’s strategic and operational processes and create capacity within that organization to ensure an ongoing corruption risk management process.
Finally, Colonel Alioune Menane, Expert of the Police Component of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, at the Defence and Security Department of the G5 Executive Secretariat, talked about integrity in the work of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, focusing on how UNODC is supporting the strengthening of integrity within the Police Component of the G5 Sahel Joint Force under its Sahel Programme.
All panellists stressed that border areas are particularly sensitive when it comes to transnational crime and trafficking. Their efficient management is essential to prevent and fight crime. However, efficiency and effectiveness are hardly ensured if high standards of integrity are not enforced to minimize corruption risks. The effectiveness of custom services and other law enforcement authorities fighting drug and other forms of trafficking and transnational crime across borders heavily depends on institutional integrity and accountability.
The examples of UNODC initiatives such as CRIMJUST and AIRCOP, as well as corruption risk management exercises within customs services and the experience of the G5 Sahel, allowed for an in-depth reflection on the importance of integrating an anti-corruption perspective in border management.
This CRIMJUST and AIRCOP activity was funded by the European Union under the framework of the "Global Illicit Flows Programme" [GIFP]). It joins existing efforts to enhance law enforcement and judicial counter-narcotic strategies beyond interdiction activities and to foster transnational responses targeting each stage of the drug supply chain.
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