United Nations SDGs

The meeting was jointly organized by the Permanent Missions of Georgia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Qatar, Sierra Leone and Singapore to the United Nations together with the UNDP and the UNODC. These countries came together to share their experience fighting corruption.

The meeting was opened by the participants’ recognition that corruption-free institutions are critical to improving governance and the attainment of the entire 2030 Agenda. All the countries brought attention to the SDG 16, which underpins peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. They place further emphasis on the targets 16.5 and 16.6: substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms, and develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.

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The six countries shared how they localized the implementation of the targets. Juan Carlos Mendoza illustrated Costa Rica’s anti-corruption efforts such as its national strategy and public accessible information. Nikolaj Hejberg Peterson from Denmark, the cleanest country according to Transparency International, discussed his country, and that it would host the International Anti-Corruption Conference in 2018. Zurab Sanikidze from Georgia focused on the country’s institutional framework, key anti-corruption reforms, and open government partnership strategies. Abdulrahman Al-Hamadi from Qatar talked about the importance of achieving peaceful, just and inclusive societies to his country, even before the adoption of the SDGs. Felix Alie Koroma from Sierra Leone reported steady progress made in his country. The last panelist Joseph Teo from Singapore highlighted its strict anti-corruption approach. He added that society and culture in Singapore eschew corruption. This cultural aspect was surprisingly not mentioned by other country representatives.

As an important benchmark of anti-corruption efforts, representatives from Georgia, Qatar, Sierra Leone discussed how their countries had already established independent anti-corruption bodies to fight against corruption. Witness protection, intelligence sharing and training for judges are also common.

Meeting: Corruption-free Institutions for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Date/Location: Thursday, April 27, 2017; 11:00-13:00; Conference Room 12, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY
Speakers:
Juan Carlos Mendoza, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations;
Nikolaj Hejberg Petersen, Director of the Department of Quality Assurance and Financial Management of Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark;
Zurab Sanikidze, Director of the Analytical Department, Ministry of Justice and Secretary of the Anti-Corruption Council of Georgia;
Abdulrahman Al-Hamadi, Deputy Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations;
Felix Alie Koroma, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations;
Joseph Teo, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations

Written By: WIT Representative Jadice Lau

Edited By: Fred Yonghabi.