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The World Bank announced
the Coalition for integrity and accountability "AMAN," the winner of the
third award in the competition organized during the first quarter of
2009 and targeted non-governmental organizations, companies, academic
institutions, funding bodies and individuals.
The Competition aimed to
highlight and transfer the experience and lessons learned with regard to
distinctive, creative and multilateral interventions in combating
corruption, which had a significant impact in strengthening the role and
efforts of the private sector in combating corruption as well.
The World Bank’s goal from
this competition was to share the innovative solutions to combat
corruption and the efforts of stakeholders to build on the experience
and practice.
AMAN coalition has
participated in this competition through introducing a program that
targeted the private sector over the past years as a creative study case
that won the coalition a third prize funded by the Belgian government.
The Award covers the coalition’s representative’s expenses to
participate in the World Bank conference intended to be held in
Washington between 8 to 11 June, 2009.
The conference will
provide the opportunity to present AMAN’s experience to the participants
in order to circulate. In addition, the World Bank will
publish AMAN’s
program with all its interventions and accomplishments on its portal,
which includes but is not limited to the following achievements:
-
Developing a code of
conduct in cooperation with the Palestinian Trade Center "Paltrade" that
was signed by more than 30 public shareholding companies, to commit to
the principle of moral accountability by the private sector on itself,
on his role in building a Palestinian society free from corruption.
The Code formed the starting point with
the private sector to lead the social mobility of firms and workers
towards strengthening the values of integrity and principles of
transparency in the Palestinian society. The printing and publication of
the Code and the implementation of training workshops were done.
-
Preparing 8 bills and
legislation to be discussed with the specialists, while implementing a
mobilization and pressure campaign for adoption and implementation by
the concerned parties.
-
The Coalition Contributed
in preparing many analytical reports on some of the related public
shareholding companies and non-ministerial institutions on the legal
tenders and procurement that crosses with the private sector.
Also it prepared a study on the
Palestinian experience in the area of money laundering and further,
implementing a pressure campaign to appoint a national team to combat
it.
-
Building professional
relationships with the private sector institutions, represented by the
private sector Coordination Committee and AMAN’s General Commissioner
membership in the national team of corporate governance
-
Implementing several
training courses and preparing training of trainers’ manual on the
private sector.
-
Preparing publications for
the Palestinian consumers on how to deal with public shareholding
companies.
-
Implementing a two years a
pilot project for granting a governance certificate to public
shareholding companies, in order to encourage companies to apply the
principles and standards of good governance in its work.
The Executive
Director of AMAN, Ms
Ghada Zughayar has
said "to
receive this international award is a great credit to us and to all the
non-governmental Palestinian organizations and further the governmental
and private sector institutions. This came as a culmination to what the
coalition has achieved of excellence and development in spreading the
culture of integrity, transparency and accountability in all sectors."
She added "In spite of the lack of
political will in combating corruption on one hand and the continued
Israeli occupation on the other hand that provides unlimited
opportunities for the spread of corruption and an engine for policies
that are based on material values hampering the efforts to build a
national integrity system, but still, we see some progress in
institutionalizing the system of integrity, transparency and
accountability in the various Palestinian sectors ".
She also showed that AMAN is the only
Palestinian institution that adopts a comprehensive program in combating
corruption, where its work with the concerned parties of the Government,
Presidency, judiciary, legislative, civil work, private sector,
political parties and media has contributed in assisting them and the
oversight bodies to adopt interventions that develop transparency and
accountability.
Ms. Zughayar also noted that the
coalition has already won several Arabic and local awards, the most
recent is the Arab Reform Forum award as one of the best twenty
non-governmental organizations. On the Palestinian level, AMAN received
the achievement award for 2008 from the Welfare Association. |
