Mazar anti-corruption workshop part of national commitment

14 Apr 2016

Mazar anti-corruption workshop part of national commitment

MAZAR - As part of the ongoing fight against corruption in Afghanistan -- which the National Unity Government has identified as a priority -- members of the judicial and law enforcement community in northern Balkh province gathered for a briefing on the UN Convention that deals with corruption. 

The two-day workshop, supported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), involved 25 participants representing the judicial, law enforcement and legal aid community in the province, along with the intelligence department.

In the latest Corruption Perceptions Index Afghanistan ranks second from the bottom – ahead only of North Korea and Somalia – in terms of the perceived levels of public-sector corruption.

President Ashraf Ghani emphasized just this week the importance of tackling corruption in Afghanistan.

“Corruption is like a cancer, and the Afghan economy and political structure does not tolerate it,” said the President. “All the people of Afghanistan stress the need for reforms and the fight against corruption.”

President Ghani said that the government has comprehensive programmes to fight corruption.

The cornerstone of the Mazar event was the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which was introduced and explained. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 2003, the Convention is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument.

Mariam Alimi, a legal officer with UNODC and organizer of the programme, told participants in Mazar that the UN Convention is an international legal instrument that can assist Afghanistan in dealing with corruption problems.

The Convention covers five main areas: prevention; criminalization and law enforcement measures; international cooperation; asset recovery; and technical assistance and information exchange. It refers to different forms of corruption, including trading in influence, abuse of power and various acts of corruption in the private sector.

Afghanistan signed the Convention in 2004 and ratified it on 25 August, 2008 and since then has been working to review the Afghan penal code to include measures against financial crime and corruption.

The European Union has run an anti-corruption campaign in Afghanistan, which It includes a focus on corruption in the judicial sector and is designed to help Afghan citizens fight corruption, and to mobilize support for stronger government action against corruption.

“Afghanistan’s endemic corruption is crippling the economy and undermining the fight against the insurgency. This threatens past achievements and investments in Afghanistan as well as the future of young Afghans,” said an EU statement about the campaign.

UNAMA is mandated to support the Afghan Government and relevant international and local non-governmental organizations to assist in the full implementation of the fundamental freedoms and human rights provisions of the Afghan Constitution and international treaties to which Afghanistan is a State party, in particular those regarding the full enjoyment by women of their human rights.