Corruption must be fought to secure the worlds future
ATHENS, 2 November 2008: Seeking to put an end to the misery, alienation and instability that corruption breeds, a global anti-corruption meeting culminated Sunday in Athens, with a call for making corruption a key factor that must be addressed in order to strengthen financial, environmental and natural resources governance.
The 13th International Anti-Corruption Conference brought together more than 1.300 participants from 135 countries who recognised the central role of transparency and accountability in mitigating the current financial crisis and preventing future failures.
– In the spirit of ethical inquiry and justice, the global anti-corruption community today sets forth with delegates returning to their countries, rich and poor, carrying ideas, tools and practical solutions to prevent and stop corruption, said Justice Barry OKeefe, Chair of the IACC Council on the conclusion of the conference.
– It is imperative that governments, business and civil society consider and integrate the corruption factor into the solutions they are trying to implement to ensure a cleaner, healthier and fairer world, added OKeefe.
Participants at the IACC explored ways to combat the many types of corruption that consistently undermines all facets of sustainability: fostering conflict and violence, distorting natural resource exploitation, aggravating climate change and hampering our response to it; all the while, deepening global inequalities.
Under the banner “Global Transparency: Fighting corruption for a sustainable future”, the 13th IACC, held from 30 October to 2 November, featured prominent speakers such as:
HRH Prince El Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank, Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, Kostas Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece, Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana and George Papandreou, President of Socialist International and President of Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).
The IACC, first held in 1983, has evolved into the leading global forum on governance and anti-corruption. The conference fosters cooperation and innovation in developing tools to tackle corruption, a scourge that continues to trap millions in a vicious cycle of poverty and threatens sustainable development.
For more information and the full conference declaration, please visit: www.13iacc.org
