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AMAN launches a draft of the national action plan against corruption
AMAN announced the completion of the pilot program for the NGO certification
Under the patronage of his Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, AMAN coalition launched a draft of a national action plan against corruption for the Palestinian institutions during its annual conference commemorating International Day against Corruption. The conference was organized and held at the Grand Park Hotel in Ramallah, on December 13, 2007, utilizing videoconference technology to connect with Gaza.
The plan stemmed from and is based on the principles and goals of the United Nation’s Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Representatives of the international community including heads of the representative offices to the PA and donor organizations attended and participated in the conference as well as representatives of the private and public sectors, political parties and civil institutions. The general audience included representatives from the international community, Palestinain ministers, former and present PLC member, head of civil organizations, university professors in addition to media representatives.
Dr. Fayyad announced that “starting next year, 2008, the Ministry of Finance will resume releasing detailed reports about the Palestinian treasury on monthly basis". He also promised that new measures will be taken in the management department that will ensure transparency of managing public funds. For example, he said that procedures of approval of the budget; and announcing the revenues and expenses of funds will be published periodically where the public can easily access and review the information.
Dr. Fayyad added that: “I stress upon our commitment before this conference to the government's program regarding adopting a new policy in order to reform and fight corruption under the umbrella of transparency and accepting all kinds of monitoring and constant accountability”.
Dr. Fayyad also declared his full support for any effort made towards creating a culture that calls for a corruption free society. A society that while reviving itself from the Israeli destruction, seeks to eliminate chaos and lawlessness; and at the same time is working to reestablish the role of the institution by new and improved ways of strengthening good governance and the rule of law.
He said: "all the sacrifices made by the Palestinian people in their struggle to achieve their national rights deserve our stern efforts to build strong influential institutions that are capable of supporting the people's interests and fulfilling their needs.
Dr. Fayyad noted that the Palestinian government declared its approval of the UN convention despite the fact that the Palestinian representation has not reached the level of a state
Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, General Commissioner for Anti- Corruption Affairs- AMAN, assigned to promote the abovementioned convention, confirmed that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad sent a letter of intent to the United Nations expressing his commitment to the agreement. The letter also indicated that president Mahmoud Abbas informed the World Bank of his approval of sending experts to work on implementing the program - combating corruption.
Ashrawi and Al-Shirafi: accountability is a culture
Parliamentarian Hanan Ashrwai, chairwoman of the board of AMAN and board of directors of MIFTAH said that: “AMAN has reflected an impressive shift to enforce the Palestinian address within the League of Arab States to establish similar institutions in the Arab World that would tackle corruption issues. She also gave her support to the innovative idea that AMAN adopted, which is granting awards for good work in the Palestinian institutions; pointing out that this is but a pilot phase.
Ashrawi called for a comprehensive national discussion before the general elections "to rescue the system and the society from chaos and to strengthen national willpower".
She stressed the importance of civil society intervention on this self rescue mission and said:" the process can't be separated as it is a mental and cultural issue, if we intend to achieve accountability and good governance.
Kamal Al-Shirafi, President's advisor on Human Rights and civil society and a board member at AMAN, said that “it's not easy to face the challenges that the Palestinian society is undergoing at the present time without a clear plan on fighting corruption; and without governmental and civil participation in preparing for and implementing this plan.
Al-Shirafi, who participated from Gaza through video conference, said that poverty and unemployment can't be tackled separately from fighting corruption. He clarified that the dominant Palestinian culture rejects monitoring. Therefore, he pointed out that this challenge is all about "changing this rejected idea to an admissible one within the Palestinian culture".
Al-Shuaibi: appointing an illicit income commission
Dr. Shuaibi, General Commissioner for Anti- Corruption Affairs - AMAN, talked about the aspects of the national action plan against corruption asserting that it is only a draft, calling on all sectors to contribute in the development of this plan.
Al-Shuaibi also indicated that many Palestinian institutions are working without legislation until now. At the same time, he criticized the government and the presidency for not appointing an illicit income commission despite adopting the illicit income law.
He said: "it is not logical for the number of employees in the public sector to increase from 150 thousand to 180 thousand without appointing some to the illicit income commission.
Al-Shuaibi called on the Palestinian Authority to carry out the procedures and legislations to combat all forms of corruption within its institutions.
Parliamentarian and chairperson of the social affairs committee of the Palestinian legislative council, Qais Abdul Karim, in his speech on behalf of the national forces, said that he can not declare their commitment towards the anti-corruption plan but can declare their support on the subject.
He said: "I cannot guarantee their commitment. However, I assure you that presently there are great efforts being exerted towards pressuring the political system and its apparatuses to commit to this ambitious plan; and I convey my appreciation for this diligent work"
Dr. Atef Alawneh, Director of the Palestine Capital Market Authority (PCMA), stated that good governance as it relates to the Palestinian Institutions has many benefits. Preventing corruption, reducing the threat of having financial crisis and promoting healthy competition are only few of those benefits. He also added that good governance is a process that is not limited to implementing few principles, but also includes that institutions are committed to fighting corruption by being transparent and are accountable for their actions. This can only be effective if formal mechanisms for monitoring are reactivated within the private and public sectors as well as providing an independent judiciary system that is effective and free of corruption.
International Donors declare their support for the plan
Representatives from donor institutions participated in the conference by pledging their support for the plan as part of their commitment to fight corruption. Present were representatives from the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the Norwegian and Dutch representatives and the UNDP.
Thomas Birringer, Resident Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung to the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, emphasised that the strengthening of the transparency in the cooperation among international and Palestinian NGOs must come to the fore. He also suggested that the Palestinian society in general should begin to look for ways of becoming self dependant economically rather than remaining fully dependant on external funding. Birringer stressed the importance of cooperation among the international and local NGOs on an equal level and based on common principals. Furthermore, he appealed to the international community to combine political and financial support in order to tackle the root problems of corruption. The mechanism of the NGO-Certificate, which was created by the Nazaha-project, will encourage NGOs to become more accountable for their actions and could be used beyond the boundaries of the Palestinian Territories.
Mr. Frans Makken, Representative of the Netherlands in the oPt, spoke on behalf of his government and that of Norway’s, saying that ‘implementing the UNCAC is not a simple task and would need a lot of work”. He applauded the fact that so many stakeholders were involved in the process of developing a national action plan for combating corruption, and were present at the conference.
Mr. Makken, stressed that the Netherlands and Norwegian governments were ready to help AMAN to do its part as far as fighting corruption is concerned. Yet, he added that this would require a broad effort by all stakeholders to make real and irreversible progress.
Corruption is a universal phenomenon
The UNDP/PAPPP special representative in the Palestinian territory, Jens Toyberg, stated that: corruption is a universal trend. He said that corruption destroys societies not only on the financial level but also destroys the basic principles of society, in addition to creating a lack of confidence among the people hence threatening the feeling of security.
The conference included several discussions; and inputs by the audience, regarding ways to fight corruption. All suggestions were recorded to be taken into consideration.
Recommendations from Gaza on combating corruption in the local media
It is worthy to note that discussions among participants took place in Ramallah and Gaza at the same time. Talal Okal, writer and political analyst, read the participants’ recommendations from Gaza. The recommendations stressed the importance of treating corruption in the media sector.
Some of these recommendations are:
- The importance of joining forces of all stakeholders to combat corruption.
- Link this plan, for combating corruption, to a comprehensive reform plan
- Prioritize reform within the political system
- Form a committee representing the various political parties to combat corruption; and draft a code of conduct for the parties.
- Establish a code of ethics that specifies standards for the civil society work.
- Detect corruption cases that the local media suffers from.
Transparency Festival 2007
In the second part of the conference AMAN held it’s annul celebration of the Transparency Festival. To commemorate the event, AMAN announced the completion of the pilot program for the NGO certification in Palestine. A special committee nominated by the network “NGOs Against Corruption” awarded three Palestinian NGOs the “Good Governance Certificate” after insuring that they had fulfilled the requirements of the certificate. The three institutions were Riwaq, Musawah and Arab Thought Forum. All three NGOs volunteered their participation in the program.
By awarding the NGO-Certificate to the three Palestinian NGOs, the Nazaha-project, which was implemented with the financial support of the European Union, has reached its peak. The successful introduction of an all encompassing control mechanism for Palestinian NGOs is one of the great accomplishments of the project and will ensure the continuation of the fight against corruption within the NGO sector for years.
Based on the already released Code of Conduct for Palestinian NGOs, the NGO-certificate was drafted with the cooperation of the network “NGOs against Corruption”, which was launched by the Nazaha-Project. The NGO-certificate is a unique incentive for Palestinian NGOs to increase transparency.
Afterwards, a larger committee that is formed of a number of academics and other professionals honored individuals who earned the AMAN integrity award for this year. The sectors included the private sector, municipalities and village councils and the media.
Copyright AMAN © 2007
