The Conference of the States Parties (COSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) closed its sixth session in St. Petersburg last Friday. Among the nine resolutions adopted, one referred to “Education and training for professionals on anti-corruption”.

The Resolution recognizes the power of education, which acts as a catalyst for greater equality and equity, fair and just societies, peace and security, and the need to develop educational and information programmes in order to promote a culture of transparency and accountability at all levels of society. It stresses that investing in anti-corruption education and empowering professionals are effective ways towards achieving sustainable development, safeguarding human rights, and strengthening the rule of law.

Moreover, the Resolution urges States Parties to the UNCAC to further strengthen their efforts to support anti-corruption education, invites them to consider capacity-building activities, specialized academic initiatives, and tools developed by major international stakeholders in the fight against corruption, and recognizes the important contribution of the International Anti-Corruption Academy in this context.

The COSP also adopted resolutions on public-private partnerships, asset recovery, and information technologies for implementing the Convention, among others. States Parties agreed to launch the second cycle of the Review Mechanism next year, focusing on corruption prevention and asset recovery.

The IACA delegation to the sixth session of the COSP was led by Mr. Martin Kreutner, Dean and Executive Secretary. To read more about IACA’s side event on anti-corruption education and training in implementing the UNCAC, as well as its contributions at the high-level plenary and other events, please click here