The eleventh session of IACA’s Assembly of Parties was held on Monday, 28 November, at the Vienna International Centre (VIC), Austria. After two years of online and hybrid meetings, this session was held fully in person with a courtesy live streaming available for interested stakeholders.
The Assembly elected H.E. Mr. Épiphane Ballo Zoro, Minister for the Promotion of Good Governance, Capacity Building and the Fight against Corruption of Côte d'Ivoire, as the President of the eleventh session, succeeding H.E. Mr. Ivo Sramek, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to IACA). H.E. Mr. Épiphane Zoro thanked the outgoing Bureau of the Assembly for its excellent work.
The Vice Presidents of the eleventh session are H.E Mr. Levent Eler, Permanent Representative of Turkiye to IACA, and H.E. Mr. Nelson Antonio Tabajara de Oliveira, Permanent Representative of the Federative Republic of Brazil to IACA. The Rapporteurs are H.E. Ms. Manizha Bakhtari, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to IACA, and H.E. Ms. Mihaela Mocanu, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to IACA.
More than 150 delegates from all around the world participated in the session, representing 50 national and institutional delegations.
In their opening speeches, the Dean and Executive Secretary of the Academy, Mr. Thomas Stelzer, and the Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Patricia Ximena Arriagada-Villouta, strongly urged Parties to provide renewed financial support to the organization in order to put it on a more stable and sustainable financial footing.
In addition, Mr. Thomas Stelzer focused on the implementation of the Work Programme 2021-2024, and its three strategic objectives as well as on current and emerging trends and challenges in the prevention of and combating corruption. In this context, he highlighted areas where the attention of the anti-corruption community may focus moving forward, such as UNCAC implementation, enhanced coordination and support, including for the private sector, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Secretariat also reported on its Global Programme on Measuring Corruption, which aims to design a reliable global corruption measurement framework.
Parties broadly commended IACA for its achievements and global recognition in spite of the Academy’s limited resources, and underscored the necessity of a suitably well-funded general budget.
The Parties adopted resolutions on general matters, on measuring corruption, on IACA’s budget for the year 2023 as well as on the next session of the Assembly of Parties.