Anti-Corruption in Eastern Europe and the CIS

This year for the first time a celebration of the Anti-Corruption Day was organized in the Slovak Republic. To mark the occasion a public event was organized by the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre in partnership with Transparency International Slovakia, the British Embassy in Slovakia and the European Union. The event was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic and hosted at the Ministry’s Premises in Bratislava. Representatives of International Organizations, Diplomatic Services, Civil Society Organizations, Public Agencies, and the Media were present at the event. At the event the results of the survey “Global Corruption Barometer” of Transparency International were officially presented. The survey was conducted in Slovakia for the first time this year with the support of UNDP BRC.

Mr. Jens Wandel, Director of the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, opened the event highlighting the importance of the UN Convention Against Corruption and the significance of the Anti-Corruption Day. Mr. Wandel also outlined the newly established review mechanism of the UNCAC and described UNDP’s approach to promoting and supporting anti-corruption activities.

The Minister of Justice of the Slovak Republic, Ms. Lucia Žitňanská, stressed the commitment of the Slovak Government and of the Ministry of Justice in combating corruption and patronage practices through the strengthening of preventive and law enforcement measures.

The British Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, Mr. Michael Roberts, expressed his concerns about the high levels of corruption in the country; he acknowledged the efforts of the Government and the Ministry of Justice to fight corruption highlighting on the other hand that legislative interventions are insufficient if they are not integrated within a broader reform process and supported by sound implementation mechanisms.

The Director of TI Slovakia, Gabriel Šipoš, presented the results of the Global Corruption Barometer; Mr. Pavel Nechala, Legal Advisor at Transparency International discussed how statute of limitation affects the prosecution of corruption in Slovakia and Mr. Peter Čerešník, General Director of Microsoft Slovakia, reported examples of anti-corruption and whistleblower protection systems implemented by his company.

The event was followed and commented by several national newspapers and TV channels. 

 

Moldova

In occasion of the international Anti-Corruption Day the UNDP Moldova, the Moldovan Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption and the European Union Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) jointly organized a Conference on Progress and Perspectives in Fighting Corruption. The Conference was attended by representatives of the government and civil society and by international experts.

At the conference the Prime Minister of Moldova, Mr Vlad Filat, stressed the importance of the global anti-corruption movement symbolized by the Anti-Corruption Day for promoting a radical change in the attitudes toward corruption in Moldova.

Mr. Filat highlighted that the fight against corruption can succeed only if accompanied by total intolerance towards the phenomenon and by the refusal of any compromise or exception. The Prime Minister said that during 2010 a multi-stakeholders consensus on the importance of addressing corruption was achieved in the country; he also stressed that practices to prevent corruption were introduced by strengthening the legal and institutional framework, developing new tools for diagnosis of corruption and encouraging constructive partnership between state, civil society and private sector. Intensified cooperation with international institutions and the accelerated course of European integration were also described by Mr Filat as positive steps in the fight against corruption.

Mr. Chetraru Viorel, Director of the Centre for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption (CCECC) highlighted that Moldova has irreversibly embarked on the path of anti-corruption; he described some of the measures undertaken by the Centre for enhancing the legislative framework for anti-corruption and for preventing corruption. The CCECC Director also expressed his expectations in relation to the new anti-corruption strategy, to be developed.

At the conference Mr. Dan Dionisie, Policy Specialist at the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, presented the results of the Capacity Assessment of the Prevention of Corruption Department of the CCECC conducted by the UNDP BRC in May 2010, describing the capacity gaps but also the strengths and achievement of the CCECC in the area of prevention of corruption.

 

Macedonia

In occasion of the Anti-Corruption Day the UNDP Macedonia in cooperation with several stakeholders organized three events:

1) Youth essay competitions in four municipalities. The main goal of this event was to mobilize high school students to present their views on how corruption affects the lives of young people and advance ideas as to what they can do to contribute in the fight against corruption in their local communities. The leading idea was to hear the young people’s opinion on the topic of corruption, and motivate them to recognise that everyone can say “NO” to corruption.

The main message that wanted to get across was: “Young People Say NO to Corruption: I Can Make a Difference in My Local Community”

In order to implement the above mentioned event, UNDP has identified and partnered with four local civil society organizations from the municipalities of Bitola (Youth Cultural Centre), Veles (Association of Finance Officers of the Local Governments and Public Enterprises), Gostivar (European Link Centre) and Stip (Humanitarian Association Synergy). The local NGO’s have facilitated the organization of the essay competition within their respective municipalities.

In coordination with the four NGO’s were defined rules for competition in order to have the same criteria in all municipalities. In the process of implementation the activities, local NGO’s has cooperated with the representatives (directors and professors) from all secondary schools in order to facilitate the entire process. In each secondary school within those four municipalities, were announced a call for essays on the proposed topic: “How does corruption affect the life of young people? What can you do in your community to fight the corruption you face?”

The professors from the respective secondary schools have done the first screening of the received proposals from high school student. Based on evaluation from the professors, five best rated essays were send to the NGO’s responsible for further proceeding with the proposals. The local NGO’s have established an Evaluation Committee composed with representatives from the NGO, local self-government unit and professor. The Evaluation Committee from each municipality has decided which proposals would get the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prize for best essay. The awards were received by the students at the ceremony during the public debate on Anti-corruption on 9 December 2010.    

2) Journalist stories on positive effects of improved governance practices. The main goal of this event was to mobilize members of the network of trained journalist on investigative journalism to write/produce positive pieces on the effects of the fight against non-transparent procedures and corruptive activities. The leading idea was to see how certain municipalities have achieved positive results by introducing good governance practices throughout the past period in the process of decentralization.

In order to conduct this concrete activity, UNDP has informed the pool of trained journalist on investigative journalism that they could apply for financing the cost for three positive proposals regarding the issue of transparency and fight against corruption. There were selected three proposals for financing of the following journalist stories:

1.    Journalist Biljana Nikolovska (National TV Telma, local 5FM Radio) – A TV story on that how the work of the kindergarten in the municipality of Veles has been improved since it falls under the authority of local self-government unit, how the processes related with the kindergarten are transparent and accountable, how has been improved management of the institution, how procurements are done, etc.

2.    Journalist Vladimir Tevcev (National TV A1) – A TV story on that how police with the reforms has became more transparent and closer to the citizens in the municipality of Veles, how are the relations between the local authorities (municipal council) and local police, how the procedures has been more transparent and efficient, in which way the relationship with citizens has been improved and what cooperation do they have, etc.

3.    Journalist Zoran Madzoski (Radio BBC World Service, national radio Kanal 77, local radio Kometa) – There will be three radio stories which emphasize transparency as one of the main measure for fighting and reducing corruption within the municipality of Gostivar.

The selected stories from the three journalists will be broadcasted in the electronic media and possibly published in printed media.

3) Public Debate – “Say NO to Corruption”. The leading idea of the public debate was to give opportunity to the youth, students and future leaders to express their opinion on the subject of anti-corruption, as well as to propose actions and measures as to how corruption can be tackled and timely eradicated.

The main message that wanted to get across is: Say NO to Corruption - Strengthen Democracy, Promote Justice, Support Education, Bring Prosperity, Safeguard Development.

Aiming to implement this activity and commemorate the International Anti-corruption Day, UNDP has established cooperation and partnership with the Club of Orators “Forum Oratores” from the Faculty of Law in Skopje. The representatives from the “Forum Oratores” conducted a public debate on the topic “Say NO to Corruption” by including students from the law studies, political studies and journalism. The students panellists presented and engaged in discussion related to the area of anti-corruption with their ideas and thoughts. The media was invited to cover the event, but also actively participated in the discussion.

At the end of the event, the certificates and prizes for the best essays on the topic of anti-corruption in the high schools from the municipalities of Bitola, Veles, Gostivar and Stip were awarded.       

 

Montenegro

Press conference 

In order to celebrate the International Anti-Corruption Day, the Directorate for Anti-corruption Initiative (DACI) hosted a press conference (for the third year in a row). At the Conference the DACI provided an opportunity for the representatives of the Government, international organizations and NGO Sector to present a brief overview of the results in the fight against corruption in the country during 2010, and the challenges still to be faced. 

During the Conference the media were addressed by Mr. Igor Luksic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mrs. Vesna Ratkovic, director of the DACI, Ms. Vanja Calovic, executive director of the Network for Affirmation of NGO sector, Mr. Nicola Bertolini, Head of Operations at the EU Delegation to Montenegro, and Mr. Sarunas Adomavicius, head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

Representatives of the state authorities highlighted the efforts taken to curb corruption in Montenegro, stating that significant results in this area have been achieved; thus, the Government's determination to suppress corruption was noted by relevant international organizations in their reports. They affirmed the number of citizens who report corruption to be constantly on the rise, year in year out, and pointed out future challenges regarding the fight against corruption, such as: strengthening anti-corruption legal framework, implementation of the new Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption, etc. Representative of the NGO sector gave a critical overview of the overall activities of the state bodies and institutions in Montenegro in the anti-corruption area, whereas the representatives of the international organizations emphasized that suppression of corruption is of particular importance for Montenegro, in order to successfully advance the European integration process.

High Schools competition “Why should we say NO to corruption“

The Directorate for Anti-corruption Initiative, aiming to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, presented awards to high school students who created the best literary works on the topic “Why should we say NO to corruption”.

Kosa Dincic, student of the High School for economy and tourism from Niksic, was the author of the best paper for which she received a lap top. Second best paper was created by Kristina Radenovic, student of the High School Beco Basic from Plav, and she was awarded with a digital camera. The author of the third best paper was Jovana Spaic, student of the High School Ivan Goran Kovacic from Herceg Novi, and she was awarded with a book on history of arts.

Towards the beginning of academic year 2010/2011, the Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative invited the students of high schools in Montenegro to prepare literary works for the competition entitled “Why should we say NO to corruption”, organized in view of the International Anti-corruption Day. High school students responded to this call; hence, the Directorate received 29 papers from nine high schools.

Cultural events organized by the Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative, targeting high school students, are becoming a tradition in marking the International Anti-Corruption Day. It’s worth remembering that last year, on December 9^th, the Directorate organized an exhibition of art works by students, entitled “Corruption” and “Society without corruption”. 

The Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative pays great attention to the education of young population on detrimental effects of corruption. The Directorate plans to organize cultural events for students in the future efforts to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day.

 

 

Projects highlight

 

Montenegro: Judges and prosecutors take on larger role in fight against corruption