|
09.12.2008 11:59
 The International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated worldwide on December 9, was marked in Armenia by the Anti-Corruption Forum, organized by USAID Mobilizing Action Against Corruption (MAAC) Activity in cooperation with the UNDP Anti-Corruption Project. Over 75 participants from civil society organizations, state agencies, international organizations, private sector and the media participated in the Forum and discussed the findings of the Armenia National Household Corruption Survey, UN Convention Against Corruption Gap Analysis, draft of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Paper for 2008-2012, and the introduction of Advocacy and Assistance Centers in Armenia.
The Forum was opened by Cynthia Pruett, USAID/Armenia Acting Mission Director and Dirk Boberg, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative. Heghine Manasyan, Country Director of the Caucasus Research Resource Center, presented the findings of the MAAC 2008 National Household Corruption Survey, after which UNDP Anti-Corruption Project expert Mane Beglaryan presented the gaps that subsist between the UN Convention Against Corruption and Armenia’s legal and institutional framework. Armen Khudaverdyan, Coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Monitoring Commission’s Expert Group, then delivered a presentation on key approaches of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan currently being developed.
Presentations also covered the new mechanism that allows citizens to voice corruption-related complaints (Advocacy and Assistance Centers), delivered by Sona Ayvazyan, Executive Director of the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center NGO, Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Young Lawyers Association NGO, and Tigran Stepanyan, President of the Syunik Center for Civil Society Development NGO.
USAID MAAC Chief of Party François Vézina closed the forum, noting that “the acknowledgement of the International Anti-Corruption Day is another opportunity to remind people that there are actions they can immediately undertake and opportunities they can make use of to effectively combat corruption”.
December 9th was designated as the International Anti-Corruption Day by the UN General Assembly resolution 58/4 of 31 October 2003 in order to raise people’s awareness of corruption and of the role of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in combating and preventing it.
The Forum today was the third in a series of anti-corruption forums organized by the USAID MAAC Activity since July 2008.
|
