Photo: Ms. Tanja Santucci is a representative from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

by Orlando Pulido

SANTA ELENA, Cayo District, Mon. Aug. 21, 2023

On Monday the Ministry of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs held an opening ceremony for the Country Review of the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) by Belize.

The meeting began with a welcome address by the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs, Mr. Rolando Zetina.

“We have trained and continue to train public officers in good governance …,” he said.

CEO Zetina announced that initial discussions have also been held with Transparency International.

In a question-and-answer session with the media, CEO Zetina remarked that back in 2018 “… the Integrity Commission was pretty dysfunctional.” He said that the current administration has operationalized the new Integrity Commission.

Ms. Tanja Santucci, a representative from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told Amandala that her team was here “… at the invitation of the Government.” Some 189 states are signatories to the UNCAC Convention, she reported. Representatives from two of those signatories, Uruguay and the Marshall Islands, will be gathering information on Belize in the next two and a half days.

Santucci expressed thanks to the Ministry of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs for coordinating the UNCAC teams’ visit for the second review cycle “… in order to take stock of anti-corruption measures.”

UNCAC is a multilateral treaty that aims to combat corruption by promoting and strengthening measures to prevent and combat corruption more efficiently and effectively. Belize signed the UNCAC in December 2016.

The UNCAC has 71 articles that cover five main areas: preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information exchange.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is the first legally binding, global anti-corruption instrument. The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in October 2003 and came into force in December 2005.