Plans For World’s First Anti-Corruption Academy

UN Partners With INTERPOL To Set Up World’s First Anti-Corruption Academy

New York, Oct 13 2008 10:10AM

A new agreement between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) sets the stage for the establishment of the world’s first training centre devoted to education, research and training to prevent and combat corruption.

The International Anti-Corruption Academy, to be located in Laxenburg, just outside of Vienna, will develop curricula and training tools, as well as conduct training courses and anti-corruption education.

“This will strengthen capacity to prevent, measure and fight corruption,” said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa.

One of the areas the Academy will focus on is the training of experts working in anti-corruption agencies and financial intelligence units. “This Academy will train corruption officers so as to guarantee integrity in the conduct of business, both public and private,” Mr. Costa said.

He also stressed the importance of educating future generations of leaders in government, the private sector and civil society “to build a culture of integrity.”

Among other things, the Academy will contribute to efforts to implement the UN Convention against Corruption, which includes measures related to prevention, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, and asset recovery.

INTERPOL Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble hailed the new partnership with UNODC as a demonstration of “our common resolve and commitment to educate and train police, government officials and others to fight this serious criminal conduct which threatens the security and safety of citizens around the world.”

The Academy is set to open its doors in the second half of 2009, after several administrative, budgetary and staffing arrangements are finalized.

UNODC and INTERPOL looks forward to contributions from other organizations, such as the World Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as academic institutions and the private sector, towards the functioning and the funding of the Academy.

The partnership was announced today in Vienna during the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three Protocols, covering Trafficking in Persons, Smuggling of Migrants, and Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms.

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