Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, is visiting St. Maarten from 8 to 12 December as part of its National Integrity System assessment.
To mark the week of International Anti-Corruption Day (on 9 December), when citizens around the world celebrate the efforts to fight corruption, the Transparency International project team for St. Maarten is joined by Mr. Dion Abdool, Vice Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute, who has close to twenty years of experience working on anti-corruption in the Caribbean. The public is kindly invited to his free lecture on ‘Towards Good Governance: Experiences from the Caribbean’ on 11 December at 19hs at the University of St. Maarten.
The National Integrity System assessment looks at twelve key pillars that enable St Maarten to stop corruption – including the legislature, the executive branch of government and the private sector — and evaluates their readiness and ability to withstand corruption. The purpose of the research is to identify risk factors that can lead to corruption as well as to provide recommendations for medium and longer term solutions mitigating those risks.
The research is carried out through dialogue with key stakeholders from across core bodies of the public and private sectors as well as civil society. As part of the National Integrity System assessment’s consultative methodology, Transparency International is organising a Key Stakeholders Workshop this week. During the workshop, input will be sought for the development of priority and long-term recommendations for St Maarten in the areas of anti-corruption, transparency and good governance.
To further gather the views of the citizens of St. Maarten on the best way forward to create sustainable, long-term defences against corruption, Transparency International is looking for input from the public. All residents of St. Maarten are invited to send their answers to the question ‘What would it take, in your opinion, for St. Maarten and all its institutions to become an integrity leader in the Caribbean by 2020?’ via email to consultationstmaarten@transparency.org by 31 December 2014.
This input will feed into the development process of the National Integrity System assessment. The final report will be put together following this consultative process and based on input from across the political, social and economic spectrum.