For information only - not an official document
UNIS/CP/1091
20 December 2019
ABU DHABI, 20 December (UN Information Service) - The eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption concluded today with resolutions on strengthening prevention and the work of anti-corruption bodies, improving data collection and more.
Preparations for the first-ever UN General Assembly special session against corruption in April 2021 were also agreed in a resolution that will be recommended for adoption by the General Assembly.
"This session of the world's most representative conference on this universal and comprehensive legal instrument against corruption has reaffirmed and renewed the commitment of the international community to prevent and fight this crime," said Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, in his closing remarks.
"Your achievements can help to ensure that work through the Convention against Corruption makes a decisive contribution as we enter this decade to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals."
Fifteen resolutions were adopted during the week-long session, addressing the work of anti-corruption and audit bodies, financial intelligence units and parliaments, as well as issues including public sector integrity and public awareness, challenges of small island developing states, prevention, asset recovery, bribery, measuring corruption, environmental crime and corruption in sports.
The Conference also agreed to continue work under the second cycle of the Convention's implementation review mechanism covering prevention and asset recovery.
The Convention against Corruption, with 186 parties, is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. Every two years, the States parties to the Convention meet, with the ninth session scheduled to take place in 2021 in Egypt.
Some 46 special events were held on the margins of the conference, including a series of sessions on the work of the World Bank-UNODC Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative. UNODC, in partnership with the Government of Nigeria, also presented the Second Survey on Corruption in Nigeria, which examines prevalence and frequency of bribe-seeking behaviour experienced by Nigerians.
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Further information for the media: http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/events/2019/cosp8.html
Conference website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC): https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/COSP/session8.html
Conference website of the Host Country: http://www.8cosp.ae/
Link to photos from the conference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unisvienna/albums/72157712230981008
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For further information please contact:
Sonya
Yee
Speechwriter and Spokesperson, UNODC
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-4990
Email: sonya.yee[at]un.org
or
Anne
Thomas
Information Officer, UN Information Service
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5588
Email: anne.thomas[at]un.org
Follow @UNODC and @UN_Vienna on Twitter and @unitednationsvienna on Instagram and join the conversation using #NoToCorruption and #UnitedAgainstCorruption
