WORKSHOP IN SURINAME ADVANCES ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTION PLAN 

On June 7th and 8th, 2010, the General Secretariat of the OAS, through Department of Legal Cooperation under the Secretariat of Legal Affairs, in conjunction with the Republic of Suriname’s Ministry of Justice and Police, held a workshop which sought to evaluate and strengthen the efficacy of the Suriname Draft Plan of Action, a tool which facilitates the implementation of the recommendations formulated for an individual Member State by the Follow-Up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC).

The Workshop was held in Paramaribo, and gathered representatives from Surinamese Ministries, national universities, business groups, and international and civil society organizations.

The workshop participants met to evaluate and strengthen the Draft Action Plan, prepared by Ms. Reshma Alladin - a Surinamese expert on anti-corruption matters. Her comprehensive work reviews Suriname’s degree of adherence to the MESICIC recommendations made during the First and Second Rounds of Review. These recommendations have a wide scope, covering a gamut of topics such as structural protective measures for whistleblowers, standards for the procurement process of public positions, and methods to disseminate and release public information in order to encourage a culture of transparency. The Draft Plan of Action makes recommendations on how the Republic of Suriname can strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms with respect to these topics, and outlines the processes, responsible entities, timeframe, and costs necessary to implement a specific MESICIC recommendation for Suriname.

In his opening remarks, His Excellence Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Minister of Justice and Police, reiterated the importance of working towards a corruption free society, and referred to the importance of the Plan of Action on attaining such a goal. The participants of the workshop reviewed the Draft Action Plan and suggested ways in which the implementation of MESICIC recommendations in Suriname could be facilitated. Their sector-specific knowledge allowed them to insightfully evaluate the timeframe, indicators, key institutions, and proposed legislation mentioned in the Draft Action Plan. With firsthand knowledge of anti-corruption measures in Surinamese society, each representative had the chance to agree with, modify, or suggest an alternative to the methodology of implementing each measure. Their pertinent recommendations will be integrated into the final Plan of Action.

The workshop in the Republic of Suriname is just one of a series of similar projects carried out in different countries throughout the region as part of a cooperative program established by the General Secretariat of the OAS, through the Department of Legal Cooperation under the Subsecretariat of Legal Affairs, in order to facilitate and strengthen the implementation of the recommendations put forward by the MESICIC Committee of Experts.

For more information on the OAS’ actions in fomenting hemispheric cooperation against corruption, including the cooperative action plan program on the implementation of the MESICIC recommendations, please direct yourself to the Anticorruption Portal of the Americas.
 

What is the MESICIC?

The Mechanism For Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, known as MESICIC for its Spanish acronym, is a tool to support the development of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through cooperation between States Parties.

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