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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 On
this day I call on all the countries of the region to redouble their
efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and integrity in the
Americas, and to put into practice the mandates of the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption.
Corruption is a crime that has
devastating effects on democracy: it degrades institutions, eats away at
the basis of the rule of law and alienates the population.
However,
ethics in the administration of public policy, transparency and
accountability are values capable of rebuilding the trust of our
citizens and restoring credibility to politics.
19 years ago this
region was a pioneer in adopting a legal instrument to fight this
scourge: the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.
The
Convention is the perfect legal instrument to prevent, detect, and
investigate acts of corruption, punish those who commit such acts, and
recover the goods obtained through them. In this document, those who
want to fight corruption have a guide and a how-to manual for its
elimination.
It is the guide that we are currently using, for
example, in the establishment of the Mission to Support the Fight
Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH).
The OAS is also home to the Follow-Up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC).
With on-site visits to the countries of the region including the
participation of civil society, the Mechanism has adopted 114 reports
with concrete recommendations to improve laws on the prevention of
conflicts of interest, the declaration of assets of public servants, the
internal controls of businesses, and the classification of acts of
corruption such as transnational bribery and illicit enrichment, among
others.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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