Head of the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network (ACINET) Dr. Hassan Al-Yasiri calls for supporting Arab anti-corruption bodies and creating a legal environment for their work.
Dr. Hassan Al-Yasiri: Election is one of the means of fighting corruption provided that it brings the best.
The Arab Forum for Anti- Corruption Bodiies and Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) aims to explore ways and means of developing and activating domestic and international cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units FIUs and the National Anti-Corruption Committee, has been held in the Lebanese capital Beirut, in addition to strengthening cooperation frameworks with the law enforcement authorities.
The Head of the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network ACINET and the COI Commissioner in the Republic of Iraq, Dr. Hassan Al-Yasiri stressed in his speech at the forum held within general meeting of the Financial Action Task Force in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA FATF), to the need to robustly confront corruption phenomenon by all, provided that the confront is practical starting from the right approach. In response to the need to review the legal system concerned with fight against corruption in the Arab world; and called for more fruitful cooperation; in order to establish Arab alliance on eradication of corruption, because facing of this scourge has become an international responsibility, not a national responsibility confined to the local scope only.
In his address to the forum, which was attended by prominent and international figures from the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Egmont Group of Financial Support Units of the forum, (MENA FATF) and the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network represented by Al- Yasiri, called for the need to pay more attention to Commissions of Arab Anti-Corruption, support and strengthen its procedures as well as to provide the necessary legal environment for its work, stressing the need to protect society against fall in corruption trap, calling for the importance of focusing on the preventive aspects as one of the most important methods of combating corruption, calling for selecting of professional, efficient and fair leaders; to assume leading positions in the Arab world.
The conference included speeches of the Head (MENA FATF) Mr. Abdl-Hafeedh Mansour, Head of the Anti-Corruption Department at the OECD’s Financial and Institutional Affairs Directorate Mr. Patrick Moulette, Head of Egmont Group (Egmont) for FIUs Ms. Hennie Verbeek Kusters, (UNDP) Coordinator in Lebanon Mr. Philip Lazarene and Governor of the Lebanon bank, Chairman of Inquiry Committee Mr. Riad Salamah.
Three forum witnessed concluding of three meetings. The first meeting discussed the legal framework for fighting corruption, focusing on exchanging knowledge significance on international and national standards which could better in combat corruption and facilitating cross-border global cooperation between authorities and concerned parties. The second meeting discussed monitoring systems and reporting on corruption cases as the cornerstone of anti-corruption efforts. The third meeting entitled (Anti-Corruption and Financial Intelligence Units) has discussed the activation of cooperation between them; to enhance its participation in the fight against corruption effectively and the importance of improving cooperation mechanisms with law enforcement authorities.
It should be noted that the COI Commissioner Dr. Hassan Al-Yasiri chaired ACINET at its sixth meeting held in Baghdad last April.
ACINET is the most prominent regional mechanism to support Arab efforts to combat corruption in line with national priorities. The network includes 47 ministries, governmental and judicial bodies from 18 Arab countries and 25 independent organizations, supported by UNDP and other partners.
