Antigraft bodies from 38 countries are jointly drafting principles on anticorruption during a two-day conference, organized by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in Jakarta.
The antigraft body representatives from Asia, Africa, America and Europe shared their experiences and knowledge on Monday. The discussions and studies will be used as a basis for drafting the principles, which will be declared on Tuesday.
KPK chairman Abraham Samad said he hoped that the principles would help to safeguard the independence and effectiveness of antigraft bodies, as mandated in the 2003 United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
“Besides stipulating the formation of anticorruption bodies, the UNCAC mandates that the bodies should have sufficient independence to effectively perform their mandates and free from any intervention,” he said during the opening ceremony.
Abraham pointed out that support from each government was pivotal to improve the performance of their respective antigraft bodies.
He applauded the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong for giving full support to their antigraft bodies. On the contrary, pressure and interference continue to hinder the performance of antigraft bodies in Nigeria, Mongolia and Afghanistan.
Beate Trankmann, UNDP country director in Indonesia, said that Indonesia’s broad experience in eradicating corruption prompted the UN body to choose it as the host country.
“We have well-rounded experience here in Indonesia with the KPK having been established in 2003. It is generally regarded as a well-functioning anticorruption commission. There is important experience to be learned from Indonesia on how these challenges are being overcome,” she told journalists during a press conference.
Blog ta' Carmel Cacopardo 