Dear Ms Karen Bell - British High Commissioner, Vanuatu

Dear Mr David Ward - British High Commissioner, Samoa

Dear Mr Tom Coward - British High Commissioner, Solomon Islands

Dear Ms Lucy Joyce - British High Commissioner, Tonga

Dear Mr Paul Welsh - Acting British High Commissioner, Fiji

Esteemed participants from across the Pacific,

Dear experts, dear facilitators,

Dear UNDP colleagues,

On behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, I am pleased to warmly greet all of you today on this important day, 9 December, the International Anti-Corruption Day, which is an important occasion for us to acknowledge and remember why our anti-corruption work matters.

Corruption is a complex social, political, and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Corruption undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development, and contributes to governmental instability.

The fight against corruption is a fight against a malicious crime – one that hinders prosperity, denies justice, and jeopardizes global security.

Despite progress in the world, and in the Pacific, corruption remains a complex and persistent challenge.

According to the World Bank, businesses and individuals pay more than a staggering $1 trillion in bribes every year.

Corruption also has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to services, including education, health, and justice.

This year’s International Anti-Corruption Day seeks to highlight the rights and responsibilities of everyone in preventing and countering corruption with the aim to promote resilience and integrity at all levels of society.

This International Anti-Corruption Day is therefore a moment for us to re-think and reinvigorate our collective efforts at improved knowledge, capacities, and strategies to make a change in the fight against corruption.

This change can and should be informed by knowledge – which is precisely what we offer through our UNDP ‘Pacific Anti-Corruption Project’ aimed to support institutions, systems, and mechanisms to be able to better prevent and tackle corruption.

To achieve the goal, this knowledge programme is offering tailor-made specialized knowledge-sharing opportunities for the Pacific national institutions to strengthen their capacities to combat corruption and thus also improve implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, with focus on SDG 16 targets.

This event today focused on ‘Intelligence-Led Financial Disruption of Corruption’ is one in the series of knowledge-sharing events that UNDP and its team of international experts has been supporting based on prior consultations with the national and regional stakeholders and agencies.

I hope that the knowledge gained through this and other future knowledge events will indeed help steer change and inspire even more ambitious anti-corruption actions in the Pacific – which is everyone’s right and everyone’s duty.

Last but not least, I would like to thank our donor, the Government of United Kingdom and the British High Commission Offices in the Pacific for partnering with us on this important collective journey.

Thank you and I wish you a successful event.