Director-General/Executive Director
14 December 2021
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. I have the honour of closing this special event, and I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to the distinguished panellists.
Thanks in no small part to your efforts and advocacy, governments and the international community have increasingly recognized the important role of Supreme Audit Institutions in the fight against corruption.
Today’s event has put a spotlight on this, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences, and enriching the anti-corruption dialogue at the 9th session of the CoSP.
It was exactly two years ago, at the 8th CoSP, that the Abu Dhabi Declaration was adopted, and we have kept the momentum going since.
In the Political Declaration adopted at the General Assembly special session against corruption earlier this year, Member States pledged to implement policies for the effective operation of SAIs.
For UNODC, SAIs represent important partners.
In July 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions and UNODC, to provide a framework for effective cooperation.
Thanks to a new agreement between the SAI of the United Arab Emirates and UNODC, which I signed with Dr. Al Amimi earlier this year, we have been able to operationalize commitments to enhance the role of SAIs in the fight against corruption.
Currently being rolled out over a three-year period, the Abu Dhabi Declaration programme is the centrepiece of UNODC work to support SAIs around the world, and will help strengthen their functions as well as enhance their cooperation with specialized anti-corruption bodies.
The panellists here today are contributing to these efforts, and I thank you for your participation and support.
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am grateful to the Office of the Comptroller General of Chile for organizing this side event on the margins of CoSP 9. It gives participants from different regions a valuable opportunity to appreciate the concrete efforts being taken on the ground, and to gain insight into the contributions that SAIs can make to a country’s effort to tackle corruption.
It has been an honour for UNODC to have supported this initiative from the very start.
UNODC developed a methodology to support State Parties in creating and implementing national anti-corruption strategies. I am proud to note that it was precisely this methodology that helped build the foundation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy of Chile, and we collaborated closely to plan the phases involved and review outcomes.
Moreover, UNODC embraced the intention of the Comptroller General to undertake this process with a strong participative approach that incorporated the voices of youth, women, and other groups in situations of vulnerability. The results were impressive, with women accounting for 47 per cent of those taking part in the national consultations.
It is my hope that as more hear of these successes, other Supreme Audit Institutions will be encouraged to engage in the development and implementation of national anti-corruption strategies.
As ever, UNODC stands ready to support our SAI partners and States Parties in these endeavours.
Thank you once again.
