On 9-10 December, 2003, at a ceremony in Merida, Mexico, the UN Convention against Corruption was signed by the first member-states. Since then 113 countries have signed the Convention. To mark the event, the UN General Assembly designated 9th of December, starting in 2004, as International Anti-Corruption Day. Today, representatives of Transparency International movement all over the world urge the states including Armenia, which have not yet joined the Convention, to sign and ratify it. During the last year, the Armenian Government adopted the Anti-Corruption Strategy Program and the Action Plan of its Implementation. Armenia has joined the GRECO and participated in the OECD/Anti-Corruption Network regional initiative. The Anti-Corruption Council and the Monitoring Commission, with the involvement of NGOs, as well as the Anti-Corruption Department within the Office of the Prosecutor General, have been established. Various legal and sub-legal acts, with some anti-corruption provisions, have been drafted and approved. Both public discussions and media coverage of the corruption-related issues have been notably activated. It should be however mentioned that Armenia still lacks the most critical prerequisites for the effective fight against corruption, namely, true political will and active public participation. Real manifestation of political will assumes not only promoting legal reforms and joining international conventions, but also ensuring the unconditional law enforcement and the elimination of the actual impunity of those involved in corruption crimes in order to punish everybody, regardless of his/her position and income. Only through such manifestations of political it would be possible to gain the public trust and secure citizens participation in combating corruption across the country. Respect to law, preservation of moral values and high intolerance towards corruption must be equally required from authorities and civil society. Corruption, which has infected all spheres of political and economic life of the Armenian society, is diminishing the morale, deteriorating the statehood and making the country vulnerable in the face of modern geopolitical challenges. We can still stop the processes endangering the existence of our nation and independence of our statehood.
TI Secretariat
