Kuwait marks International Anti-Corruption Day

Kuwait's Public Anti-Corruption Authority organizes on Tuesday a function under "Launch and Responsibility" to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
The occasion recalls procedures that have been taken over decades to legalize and develop anti-corruption mechanisms, combining efforts by the public and the private sectors as well as the public benefit societies. The efforts have been rewarded, with establishing the Authority.
According to the Anti-Corruption Authority, the event will be attended by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah as a representative of His Highness the Amir.
The inaugural speech would be delivered by the Authority Chairman Abdulrahman Al-Namash, focusing on its vision and mission. UN representative Bader Albanna will address the function on the role of the international organization for combatting corruption worldwide.
On 31 October 2003, the General Assembly adopted the UN Convention against Corruption and requested that the Secretary-General designate the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as secretariat for the Convention's Conference of States Parties.
The Assembly also designated 9 December as the International Anti-Corruption Day, to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the Convention in combating and preventing it. The Convention entered into force in December 2005.
The UNCAC is the first global legally binding international anti-corruption instrument.
Kuwait signed the UNCAC in December 2003, to be one of the leading signatory countries.
Since that time, efforts continued on all levels to produce an executive base to counter corruption, and finally Law Decree 24 was issued in November 2012 establishing Anti-Corruption Authority, which is now working on the final touches of its executive bylaw to kick off tasks with the start of the new year 2015.
In UN terms, corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. It undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability.
Corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existing is the soliciting of bribes. Economic development is stunted because foreign direct investment is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to overcome the "start-up costs" required because of corruption.