Director-General/Executive Director
13 September 2017
Distinguished participants,
My thanks to the German Presidency for bringing the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group for the first time to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the guardian of the Convention against Corruption.
As the only universal legal anti-corruption instrument, with one hundred and eighty-two States Parties, UNCAC remains the foundation of global action, providing a comprehensive framework to prevent and combat corruption, and help promote accountability, fairness, transparency and sustainable development.
This meeting is further recognition of the Convention's relevance to the work of the G20, and takes place at an important time ahead of the seventh session of the Conference of the States Parties in Vienna in November.
The G20 plays a crucial role in leading the fight against corruption, which is not only a crime in and of itself, but the facilitator of so many other forms of crime and exploitation.
I very much appreciate the efforts of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group to raise awareness of multifaceted challenges presented by corruption.
This includes your work to address the links between corruption and wildlife crime, in particular through the development of the high-level principles and the special event held yesterday.
UNODC supports Member States to implement UNCAC as well as address transnational organized crime, and we stand ready to help all governments to translate these principles into concrete action.
Our Office is working on a wide range of initiatives geared at enhancing the capacity of Member States to deal effectively with corruption wherever we find it.
In this regard, I also welcome the Group's decision to include sport in its agenda.
Acts of corruption undermine fair play and the good governance of sports organizations, and hamper the ability of sports to act as a force for positive change.
There has been growing momentum among governments and sports organizations to tackle corruption in sport, including preventing match fixing as well as mitigating the risks associated with the organization of major sporting events.
In addition to the efforts of this Group, initiatives such as the International Partnership against Corruption in Sport, of which UNODC is a member along with a number of G20 countries, also have the potential to help mobilize resources and enhance cooperation.
Building coalitions of stakeholders and partnerships across regions is a critical part of all of UNODC's work to support UNCAC.
Next April, we are launching the new Global Judicial Integrity Network, a peer-networking and learning platform for judges that aims to strengthen judicial integrity and prevent corruption in the justice system.
At its first meeting, the network will gather Chief Justices and supreme court justices, as well as heads of judicial training institutions and disciplinary bodies and other justice sector stakeholders.
Furthermore, we are working with UNDP, national statistics offices and other partners to go beyond corruption indicators based on perception, instead focusing on actual experiences of corruption to provide evidence-based assessments.
We are currently in the process of finalizing a Manual for the Measurement of Corruption through Surveys, and look forward to sharing this with you soon.
International cooperation is the linchpin of UNCAC, and I see a great deal of potential for promoting closer links and synergies between the work of the G20's Anti-Corruption Working Group and UNODC's efforts to support the Convention's implementation review mechanism.
The review mechanism addressed UNCAC chapter four on international cooperation in its first cycle.
Some one hundred and sixty reviews have been completed, providing the means to identify strengths, challenges and needs for assistance.
Based on this, UNODC will be launching a comprehensive study on the state of implementation of UNCAC at the seventh session of the Conference of the States Parties in November.
The study will support States Parties to assess the effectiveness of the mechanisms they have adopted to enhance international cooperation, and examine how they are used in practice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I wish you every success with your discussions in the days ahead.
Rest assured that UNODC is here to support your efforts to combat corruption, foster sustainable development, and give people new opportunities and hope for the future.
Thank you.