Fight against corruption focus of OSCE co-organized seminar in Vilnius

VILNIUS, 23 March 2011 – A three-day expert seminar on anti-corruption policy and integrity training, a joint initiative of the OSCE and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), started in Vilnius today.

Egidijus Meilunas, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, said in his opening speech at the seminar: “The promotion of good governance and fight against corruption are important goals for the 2011 Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE in general.” He also stressed the important role OSCE field operations play in assisting OSCE participating States to devise and implement anti-corruption strategies on the ground.

The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities is co-organizing this seminar with the OECD, the OSCE Chairmanship, the Special Investigation Service and the Chief Official Ethics Commission of Lithuania.

Sixty participants from the public sector, business community and civil society in OSCE participating States that belong to the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and other OECD member states are taking part in the seminar. Representatives from OSCE field operations are also attending the event.

The aim of the seminar is to exchange experience and good practices among public sector practitioners on how to develop and implement anti-corruption strategies, as well as public ethics and integrity training policies, in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Participants will focus on the main features of effective anti-corruption policies and ways of monitoring their implementation and impact, as well as designing and carrying out ethics and integrity training for public officials and representatives of the business sector and civil society.

A set of practical recommendations will be developed as a result of the seminar, which the participants could apply to anti-corruption work in their home countries.