African, Caribbean, Pacific Parliamentarians Link Corruption to Human Rights Exploitation

Suva, Fiji – Tackling corruption is at the heart of achieving human rights, the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) Oceania Chair John Hyde told parliamentarians at the African, Caribbean and Pacific – European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Suva, Fiji.

Addressing the assembly’s Standing Committee on Political Affairs on 13 June, Mr Hyde detailed how the partnership within the United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) project, between GOPAC Oceania, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was enabling parliamentarians to tackle corruption head-on.

“Respect for human rights denies the oxygen for corruption to thrive,” said Mr Hyde.

Mr Hyde welcomed the committee’s amended motion passed at the June 13 meeting on cultural diversity and human rights, which now calls on member States to ‘guarantee effective eradication of all forms of human exploitation and corruption’.

“Parliamentarians understand the clear link between corruption and the denial of human rights,” said Mr Hyde.

The assembly’s co-President, Hon Fitz A. Jackson, called on parliamentarians to take up their commitments under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

“We need to pay attention to the mechanisms of transparency and accountability such as proper procurement processes that prevent corruption in the first place,” he told MPs.

Tonga’s deputy Speaker and GOPAC member Lord Havea Tuiha’ateiho is among a number of GOPAC parliamentarians who are attending the assembly, including active members from Jamaica, Benin and Mozambique. Parliamentarians from the Pacific island Kingdom of Tongan voted unanimously in their Parliament last month to establish a GOPAC chapter, along with the Pacific’s first Standing Committee on Anti-Corruption.

GOPAC and UN-PRAC will be providing a special side-event on Pacific anti-corruption works during the Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

GOPAC is a worldwide alliance of parliamentarians working together to combat corruption, strengthen good government, and uphold the rule of law. Based in Ottawa, Canada, GOPAC has 55 national chapters on 5 continents. GOPAC supports its members’ efforts through original research, global anti‑corruption capacity building, and international peer support. Visit GOPAC on the web at gopacnetwork.org, on Twitter at twitter.com/GOPAC_Eng, and on Facebook at facebook.com/gopacnetwork.
 
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Contact:

John Hyde
Suva, Fiji
+679 7655509
gopacau@gmail.com

Ann Marie Paquet
Communications Officer, GOPAC Global Secretariat  
+1.613.366-3164 x 304
annmarie.paquet@gopacnetwork.org

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