ISLAMABAD – The Eighth Session of the Conference of the States Parties(CoSP) of the UN Convention against Corruption has unanimously adopted aPakistan-sponsored resolution on strengthening the role of parliaments inpreventing and combating corruption.
The conference was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE from December 16-20, 2019, said apress release received here Saturday.
Pakistan’s initiative is in line with the vision of Prime Minister ImranKhan to eliminate corruption and his focus on the issue in his address tothe UN General Assembly in New York in September 2019.
The unanimous adoption of the resolution is manifestation of the trustreposed by the international community in Pakistan’s leading role in thefight against corruption, the Foreign Office spokesperson said in astatement.
The resolution, inter alia, calls upon States parties to enhance exchangesamong parliamentary institutions for promoting good practices to strengthenthe role of parliaments in their respective countries in enactinglegislation and ensuring effective oversight.
In this regard, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) hasbeen mandated to organize a thematic dialogue in collaboration with theInter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on strengthening the role of parliaments incombating corruption in all its forms. The UNODC will also develop acompendium of good practices on the role of parliaments in combatingcorruption.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pakistan Mission in Vienna steeredthe process of consultations to achieve consensus on the Resolution. A widerange of developing and developed countries from all geographical regionsco-sponsored the resolution, including Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China,Indonesia, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore andSwitzerland.
Pakistan’s initiative has brought focus of the international community onthe important role parliaments can play in the campaign againstcorruption,and would be useful in pushing for concerted action worldwide.
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption is the only universallegal framework at the international level to prevent and combat corruptionin all its forms. There are 186 States Parties to the Convention, includingPakistan, which joined the Convention in 2007.
