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UN-sponsored anti-corruption agency opens in Austria

By Daniel Makosky

[JURIST] The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), a joint venture undertaken by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) [official websites], Austria and others, opened its doors [press release] on Thursday. Based in Laxenburg, Austria, the school is designed to educate public and private entities on the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) [materials] and train them in its applications. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] remarked [text]:

Across the world, intolerance of corruption is growing. The establishment of this Academy responds not only to this increasing sense of outrage and injustice, but also to an urgent need to train the experts we need to conquer this global menace. The Academy will build a culture of integrity. It will nurture a new generation of leaders in the public and private sectors - a global network of talented, like-minded professionals. To date, anti-corruption training has lacked specialization. It will lead to more effective implementation of the Convention's measures on prevention, law enforcement, asset recovery and international cooperation.

The academy will cater to a wide range of professions involved in combating corruption, including law enforcement personnel, lawyers and judges It is set to become fully operational next year, though several courses are already in progress.

A 2007 report [text, PDF] authored by the UNODC and the World Bank [official website] placed corruption-related losses to developing nations between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion annually. The UNCAC became effective in 2005 after being adopted by the UN General Assembly [official website] two years earlier. The concept was originally recognized in the Resolution 55/61 Annex [text, PDF] as a means by which to counter corruption separate from organized crime.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 03, 2010 (boomark / email).