FORUM HELD TO DISCUSS ARMENIA’S ANTI-CORRUPTION OBLIGATIONS

armradio.am
02.07.2008 11:40

Representatives of civil society organizations, state agencies,
international organizations, the private sector, and the media
discussed Armenia’s international obligations to fight corruption
during Armenia’s first Anti-Corruption Forum held today in the Armenia
Marriott Hotel in Yerevan.

The forum, organized by the USAID Mobilizing Action Against Corruption
Activity (MAAC), in cooperation with UNDP, served as an arena
for discussions between interested parties and the Anti-Corruption
Strategy Monitoring Commission on the current state of international
obligations, especially as they relate to the new Anti-Corruption
Strategy being developed by the Government.

Among the topics discussed in this first of a series of forums
planned on corruption-related matters that MAAC will organize
in Yerevan and the regions were Armenia’s obligations within the
framework of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, the OECD
Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Istanbul
Anti-Corruption Action Plan), and the Council of Europe Group of States
Against Corruption (GRECO). Also discussed was the role of the new
Anti-Corruption Strategy in assuring compliance with these obligations.

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan; the U.S. Embassy
Chargé d’Affaires, Joseph Pennington; the UN Resident Coordinator
in Armenia, Consuelo Vidal; the Head of OSCE Yerevan Office, Sergey
Kapinos; and the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Monitoring
Commission and Assistant to the President of Armenia, Gevorg Mheryan,
delivered opening remarks.

In his opening remarks, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires stated:
"The U.S. Government recognizes the important steps the Armenian
Government has already taken by becoming signature to several key
international obligations. Today’s forum provides an important arena
for government, the private sector, and civil society to come together
in a joint fight against corruption."

–Boundary_(ID_yjx0kKvsVpzLAR69 cXoudA)–