INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY MARKED IN ARMENIA
armradio.am
09.12.2008 11:59
The International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated worldwide on December
9, was marked in Armenia by the Anti-Corruption Forum, organized
by USAID Mobilizing Action Against Corruption (MAAC) Activity in
cooperation with the UNDP Anti-Corruption Project. Over 75 participants
from civil society organizations, state agencies, international
organizations, private sector and the media participated in the
Forum and discussed the findings of the Armenia National Household
Corruption Survey, UN Convention Against Corruption Gap Analysis,
draft of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Paper for 2008-2012,
and the introduction of Advocacy and Assistance Centers in Armenia.
The Forum was opened by Cynthia Pruett, USAID/Armenia Acting Mission
Director and Dirk Boberg, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative. Heghine
Manasyan, Country Director of the Caucasus Research Resource Center,
presented the findings of the MAAC 2008 National Household Corruption
Survey, after which UNDP Anti-Corruption Project expert Mane Beglaryan
presented the gaps that subsist between the UN Convention Against
Corruption and Armenia’s legal and institutional framework. Armen
Khudaverdyan, Coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Monitoring
Commission’s Expert Group, then delivered a presentation on key
approaches of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan
currently being developed.
Presentations also cover ed the new mechanism that allows citizens to
voice corruption-related complaints (Advocacy and Assistance Centers),
delivered by Sona Ayvazyan, Executive Director of the Transparency
International Anti-Corruption Center NGO, Karen Zadoyan, President
of the Armenian Young Lawyers Association NGO, and Tigran Stepanyan,
President of the Syunik Center for Civil Society Development NGO.
USAID MAAC Chief of Party Francois Vézina closed the forum, noting
that "the acknowledgement of the International Anti-Corruption Day
is another opportunity to remind people that there are actions they
can immediately undertake and opportunities they can make use of to
effectively combat corruption".
December 9th was designated as the International Anti-Corruption Day
by the UN General Assembly resolution 58/4 of 31 October 2003 in order
to raise people’s awareness of corruption and of the role of the United
Nations Convention Against Corruption in combating and preventing it.
The Forum today was the third in a series of anti-corruption forums
organized by the USAID MAAC Activity since July 2008.
–Boundary_(ID_pD7QbEbQAgnMdkIsgY2sQw)–