This is to update you on the latest steps taken by the Coalition Coordination Committee to gain government support for proposed decisions at the 5th Conference of States Parties in Panama in November.
The UNCAC Coalition statement ahead of the 5th COSP has now been finalized and is attached here (for now without the Coalition letterhead). There was one change to Ask 11 after I circulated the statement to the Coalition for comment. The statement is currently being translated so that it will be available in all six UN languages and we’ll circulate all versions as soon as the translations are available.
This Coalition statement has provided the basis for some Coalition advocacy ahead of the upcoming sessions of the UNCAC Working Group on Prevention and the UNCAC Working Group on Asset Recovery that will take place from Monday onwards at the UN in Vienna. These two Working Group meetings—together with the IRG meeting back in May—provide the only opportunity for States Parties to get together for in-person preparatory discussions in advance of the 5th COSP. However, according to government representatives that we have talked to, States Parties have thus far tabled neither informal proposals nor draft resolutions.
Access To Information | Beneficial Ownership Transparency | Wrongful Exclusion of Civil Society
Transparency International sent a Coalition letter to the Working Group on Prevention (via the Vienna Embassies of States Parties) ahead of its 3-day meeting—the letter is attached below. It calls for the Working Group to take steps in two priority areas covered by our UNCAC Coalition statement, namely on access to information and on beneficial ownership transparency. The Coalition letter also highlights the issue of the wrongful exclusion of civil society representatives from the Working Group on Prevention. It was drafted by Lydia Medland of Access Info Europe (Coalition regional coordinator for Europe) and Christine Clough of Global Financial Integrity (member of the Coalition Coordination Committee, with inputs from the Coalition Coordination Committee.
Since CSO representatives are excluded from participating as observers in the meetings, they are only able to meet government delegates outside the meeting rooms.
COSP ASKS DRAFT final 16.8.13
Coalition Letter to WG Prevention August 2013
