Albania’s Anti-corruption Co-ordinator presents OSCE-supported national action plan to combat graft
TIRANA, 16 July 2014 - Bledar Çuçi, the Minister of State for Local Issues, who also serves as Albania’s National Co-ordinator on Anti-corruption, and the OSCE Presence in Albania today in Tirana presented the draft Anti-corruption Action Plan 2014-2017. The Action Plan was put together with the support and co-operation of the OSCE Presence in Albania.
Attending the presentation of the Plan were some 70 representatives of government and independent institutions, civil society, business community and international organizations. Most of the participants have been involved in the drafting of the Action Plan or were consulted during the drafting process.
“Corruption hinders development. Public resources are diverted to the pockets of corrupt individuals instead of being used for investments in transport, energy, environment, health and education,” said Ambassador Florian Raunig, Head of the OSCE Presence, as he presented the plan. “It is important to undertake harmonised efforts and concrete actions to minimise its occurrence, to punish the corrupt officials and restore public trust. Albanian citizens deserve the right to transparent, accountable and fair governance.”
Çuçi said the Plan is a product of fruitful co-operation between all institutions. “This is just the beginning of a dynamic process. Now it is time for action, as all institutions should be at work to translate these commitments into tangible results that will affect visibly the lives of Albanian citizens,” he said. He urged civil society to not only play a role in raising public awareness but also to monitor public institutions’ performance to ensure their transparency and accountability.
The draft Action Plan will now be forwarded to the Council of Ministers for approval.
The fight against corruption has been identified by the Albanian Government as one of the key priorities. The Government has already started drafting the National Anti-corruption Strategy 2014-2017, supported by the OSCE Presence in Albania.
The Draft Action Plan corresponds to the main pillars of the Strategy - prevention, repression and awareness-raising – and presents a concrete set of measures to be implemented by institutions at the central and local level, in the short-, medium- and long-term.
The OSCE Presence supports these activities as part of its continued assistance to Albania in fighting corruption and in increasing the transparency of government and the political process.