In light of the Administrative Control Authority's 1st participation in Cairo’s International Book Fair in its 53rd edition, the Egyptian Anti-Corruption Academy (EACA) convened a symposium titled “Towards the New Republic: Egypt’s Strategy to Combat and Prevent Corruption”.
This comes in line with the Authority’s vision towards promulgating the values of integrity and transparency and engaging the public in the ongoing anti-corruption efforts. The symposium aimed at tackling three main issues: 1) ACA’s progress in combating and preventing corruption, along with spreading awareness of the hazards of this issue; 2) The Egyptian National Anti-Corruption Strategy's role in deterring corruption, and the EACA's key importance in developing the Egyptian youth.
Major General Essam Zakaria, Head of the ACA Planning Sector, steered the conversation towards the recent developments in the ACA’s role regarding combating corruption and raising awareness of its adverse effects. Mr. Zakaria further elaborated the national and international perceptions of corruption and the progress in the modern anti-corruption measures over the course of the years.
Mr. Zakaria proceeded to the Egyptian Constitution’s mandates for the independent and regulatory authorities while attuning the audience to the competences of the ACA and the role of international cooperation in propelling bilateral and multilateral conventions. Finally, he concluded by highlighting some of the anti-corruption media campaigns launched by the Authority in its attempt to raise awareness across a broad spectrum of the society.
In the same vein, Major General Khaled Saeed, ACA's Head of the National Coordinating Committee for Combating Corruption (NCCCC), laid out the National Anti-Corruption Strategy as one of the Committee’s valued outcomes, along with presenting the constitutional basis of the Strategy, its core objectives, and the operational framework for implementing it.
The Major General highlighted the strategy's significant successes while reviewing international anti-corruption conventions, namely the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Arab Anti-Corruption Convention, and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC). In addition, he introduced the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA) and concluded by outlining the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their relevance to anti-corruption efforts, especially SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
The Egyptian Anti-Corruption Academy’s role was expounded by Major General Dr. Mohamed Salama, ACA’s Under Secretary, EACA Deputy Director for the Research and Studies Center, who began by tracing the development of the EACA since its establishment and then proceeded to delineate its organizational structure, vision, target groups for training, and its recent activities.
Dr. Salama explained that the Academy aims at training Egyptian employees, especially the ones moving to the New Administrative Capital. The Academy, thus, strives to enhance communications and local and international relations, develop anti-corruption strategies, and provide a rich database for the Academy’s graduate students who shall tackle the future challenges pertinent to corruption.
The symposium witnessed a large volume of attendees of different age ranges and diverse backgrounds, all of whom actively took part in the discussion, further attesting to the importance of public engagement in this discourse on integrity and transparency.
For more details on the event, anti-corruption conventions, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, and Egypt's Administrative Corruption Perception and Combating Index, please visit the official website of the Administrative Control Authority:
https://aca.gov.eg