The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held the second meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts to consider the draft OIC Convention against Corruption at its headquarters in Jeddah on Sunday 6 November 2022.

The statement of the OIC Secretary-General Mr Hissein Brahim Taha at the opening session was read on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ambassador Yousef Al-Dobaey. The Secretary-General emphasized that the OIC accords great importance to the issue of corruption given its dangerous impacts as an obstacle to development and being one of the reasons for the loss of national wealth.

He further stated that the OIC General Secretariat’s call for the meeting to prepare the draft Anti-Corruption Convention is in implementation of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers’ resolution 9/48-LO on Strengthening Intra-OIC Anti-Corruption Cooperation. The resolution called for the composition of an expert group to consider the draft ahead of the ministerial meeting of anti-corruption law enforcement agencies, which will pave the way for its submission to and adoption by the 49th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Nouakchott in 2023.

The statement also highlighted that most international and regional organizations, such as the United Nations, League of Arab States and the African Union, have elaborated anti-corruption conventions. This, he said, is borne out of the awareness in the international community of the need to develop cooperation frameworks on anti-corruption.

The Secretary-General welcomed the kind initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the chair of the 14th Islamic Summit to host the first ministerial conference of anti-corruption law enforcement agencies in the OIC Member States in Jeddah in December 2022.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency