On 13 and 14 October, an IACA delegation headed by Martin Kreutner, Dean and Executive Secretary, paid a working visit to Beirut at the invitation of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice.

The delegation met with a number of high-ranking officials, including H.E. Mr. Ashraf Rifi, Minister of Justice, H.E. Mr. Nabil de Freige, Minister of State for Administration and Reform, and Mr. Ghassan Moukheiber, a member of the Parliament’s Law and Justice Committee.

Discussions focused on concrete steps for strengthening cooperation, including organizing joint events, as well as possibilities to enhance multi-stakeholder engagement in the prevention of and fight against corruption. The Lebanese officials reiterated their country’s support for IACA and commended its efforts in providing professional training, helping stakeholders to strengthen their anti-corruption regimes, and offering neutral ground for dialogue and learning.

At a joint press conference hosted by Minister Rifi, Mr. Kreutner expressed IACA’s commitment to empowering Lebanese professionals and emphasized that the new United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda is a suitable framework for further cooperation.

The two sides agreed to include such measures in a future Memorandum of Understanding, and in his capacity as Chair of the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network (ACINET), Minister Rifi pledged to identify additional opportunities for collaboration between IACA and ACINET.

During the mission to Beirut, the delegation also met with Mr. Arkan El-Seblani, Manager of the UNDP Regional Project on Anti-Corruption and Integrity in the Arab Countries.

This was IACA’s first official visit to Lebanon. It served as a follow-up to a meeting between Minister Rifi and Mr. Kreutner in the framework of the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Doha, Qatar, from 12 to 19 April.