LONDON (Within The Law) - Seven organisations and individuals from around the world have been awarded Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award held in Tunisia.
Among this year’s winners were: the Perdana Leadership Foundation (Malaysia) in the Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement category; Dr Adam Graycar (Australia) and Dr Michael Levi (United Kingdom) in the Academic Research and Education category; and ONG Tolotsoa (Madagascar) and the Center for the Study of Democracy (Bulgaria) in the category of Youth Creativity and Engagement.
Riad Kobaissi (Lebanon) and Instituto Observatorio Politico e Socioambiental (Brazil) won the award for innovation.
This was the fifth running of the awards. Held in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in Tunis, they aim to promote the fight against corruption around the world. The ceremony was attended by senior UN officials and Qatari members of the Supreme Committee of the Award.
“I congratulate the winners of the Excellence Award in Anti-Corruption for this year, which comes while the world is living in an exceptional circumstance due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim said in a tweet.
“I hope that the efforts of our international community will continue to consolidate the values of integrity and the rule of law. I also thank the brothers in Tunisia for hosting the award ceremony.”
The awards coincided with 2020’s Anti-Corruption Day. This year’s theme ‘Recover with Integrity’ highlights the importance of the fight against corruption. Throughout the pandemic, corruption has been a major issue. Regulators have strengthened provisions against issues such as anti-money laundering as they struggle to battle the impact on operations of lockdown.
In a statement, the United Nations Development Fund said: “This year’s International Anti-Corruption Day theme ‘Recover with Integrity’ emphasises the urgent need for countries to ensure that anti-corruption is an integral part of all sustainable development efforts: to build greener economies, end poverty, invest in women’s empowerment and gender equality, provide universal healthcare coverage, and foster resilient and inclusive institutions and societies.”
(Written by Tom Cropper, Edited by Klaudia Fior)