Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has urged Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to join hands to expose corruption, return looted funds to host countries and target the safe havens where the corrupt stash their money.
In his key address to the first ministerial meeting of anti-corruption law enforcement agencies of
OIC member states’ huddle against corruption
OIC member states in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) President Mazen bin Ibrahim Al-Kahmous reaffirmed the Saudi support for combating corruption at international and local levels.
He emphasized that the issue of combating corruption was one of the essential pillars of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030. He said the ministerial meeting has been called in light of the Council of OIC Foreign Ministers’ resolution held in Islamabad last March.
He said that the convention clearly reflected the awareness of the member states that corruption was a cross-border crime. “Therefore, it cannot be fought effectively without the commitment of states to cooperate to expose corruption, return looted funds to host countries, and target the safe havens for the corrupt and their money,” he said.
The OIC anti-corruption law enforcement agencies’ meeting, started in Jeddah to adopt the Makkah Al-Mukarramah convention, is being held under the auspices of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
With the high-level international participation of heads, ministers, deputies and representatives of the anti-corruption bodies, the draft endorsement of the convention was discussed.
OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha said that the “Makkah Al-Mukarramah Convention” represents the most appropriate framework with effective mechanisms for law enforcement- agencies to prevent and combating corruption among the OIC member states and internationally.
UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Ghada Wali appreciated the OIC initiative and called it vital in strengthening the existing framework for combating corruption.
She also applauded the efforts of Saudi Arabia for hosting the conference at a critical time when the world was facing an unprecedented epidemic. Wali stressed that corruption had become an existential challenge for societies.
She said that corruption reduces the ability of countries to provide public services and costs the world vast amounts of money.
“The UNDP estimates that corruption causes public project contracts to lose about 10 percent of their value worldwide, equivalent to $1.3 trillion annually,” Wali said.
Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock pointed out that they were closely cooperating with Saudi Arabia in fighting corruption at the regional and national levels and the global level.
Stock urged the OIC member states to further exchange information for combating corruption.
Chair of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units Xolisile Khanyile, said that tackling corruption was fighting financial crime and it must be addressed. She said, “to do so correctly, we must track money.”
Naif Arab University for Security Sciences President Dr Abdul Majeed bin Abdullah Al-Bunyan stressed that the fight against corruption was closely linked to national security. He pointed out that chaos and unrest in a country result in crime, which is a significant cause of destabilization.
