Top UN official lauds new tool to monitor, combat corruption

The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has welcomed a new mechanism to monitor and implement a global treaty to fight corruption, the result of week-long negotiations in Doha, Qatar.

“This agreement will not end corruption, but it will enable us to measure and fight it,” UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said of the deal reached on Friday.

Under the new mechanism, all States parties to the UN Convention against Corruption – which currently numbers 142 – will be monitored every five years to see how they are living up to their obligations to prevent and criminalize corruption, promote international cooperation, recover stolen assets, and improve technical assistance and information exchange.

“From now on, States will be judged by the actions that they take against corruption, not the promises they make,” said Mr. Costa.

The country reports, based on self-assessments and peer reviews by experts, will, among other things, identify gaps in national anti-corruption laws and practices.

“Since corruption hurts us all, we must all unite to fight it,” said Mr. Costa.

Over 1,000 delegates from 125 countries, ranging from parliamentarians, the media, civil society, the private sector and international organizations, met in Doha to review implementation of the UN anti-corruption treaty, which entered into force in December 2005.