Public-Private Partnerships Essential to Ending Corruption, Bribery, Secretary-General Stresses in Message for Conference of Parties

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Yuri Fedotov, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to the sixth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, on 2 November:

I am pleased to send greetings to this important conference, and I thank the Russian Federation for hosting it.

In September, world leaders met in New York to endorse the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  In doing so, they pledged bold action to promote peace, prosperity and lives of dignity for all.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals contain the promise of a better collective future for people and planet, and they address the potential challenges that can impede our progress.  One such threat is highlighted in Goal 16, which calls for substantial reductions in corruption and bribery in all its forms.

Across the globe, corruption and bribery devastate lives.  No country is immune; everyone suffers.  The malicious impact of corruption makes people’s lives more expensive; it erodes consumer confidence and business credibility; it depletes public funds and destroys prospects for a fair society.  Corruption also facilitates other crimes, including human and illegal wildlife trafficking, and terrorism.

To achieve the new development agenda, we must end corruption and bribery.  Public-private partnerships will be essential in this fight.  To reject corruption, every sector of society must act together, including Government bodies, civil society, the media, young people and businesses.

Every nation’s ratification and implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption is essential to forging this cooperation.  Our ultimate goal must be to turn hands thrust out in hope of payment into hands joined together against this pernicious crime.  Let us forcefully convey the message that when bribes are paid, everyone counts the cost.

All of us have a reason to eliminate corruption and to create societies founded on justice, fairness and the rule of law.  The world counts on you to take bold decisions and act decisively to strengthen the global fight against corruption and bribery.