Second Meeting of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council

GCC - Friday, May 1, 2015

On 29-30 April, Qatar welcomed heads of anti-corruption and integrity agencies from Gulf States. Participants discussed coordination and cooperation mechanisms and means to strengthen their efforts with a view to reaching a united anti-corruption and integrity vision for the Gulf. They included the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain, the Financial and Administrative Control Agency in Oman, the National Anti-Corruption Commission in Saudi Arabia, the Anti-Corruption Commission in Kuwait, the Court of Accounts in the Emirates and the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority in Qatar.

The meeting enabled the adoption of a number of decisions based on proposals prepared by the concerned agencies’ assistants, representatives and the likes in February. They include a decision to adopt draft guiding principles for the exchange of expertise and experiences between the present agencies and authorities, and another for the accession of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the United Nations Convention against Corruption as a regional organization. The transfer of a number of other proposals to a specialized committee for review as well as their referral as recommendations for the next meeting was also approved, including a proposal to develop a united guiding law for the protection of public money in the Council.

This meeting comes in the framework of an initiative launched by the Saudi National Anti-Corruption Commission in March 2013 that aimed to establish a mechanism for the Gulf that strengthens common action in the region for the protection of integrity and the fight against corruption. The first related meeting was held in Kuwait in February 2014.

Source: the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network