THE OECD and the Greek Government, with the support of the European Commission, today launched a collaboration project to strengthen Greece's action plan to fight corruption.
The OECD will help Greece - under the coordination of the General Secretariat for Anti-Corruption and the participation of various ministries and government agencies - to implement its National Anti-Corruption Action Plan based on international best practices.
The recently updated National Anti-Corruption Action Plan aims to integrate effective measures to promote integrity within the government's overall reform programme, enhance public-private sector cooperation on tackling fraud and corruption and raise public awareness of the negative impact of corruption for Greek society.
Developing the know-how for successful implementation and providing evidence of what works and why, will be central to the OECD's involvement in the 18-month project.
Speaking at the launch ceremony in Athens, alongside Greece's Deputy President of the Government Ioannis Dragasakis, Alternate Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Dimitrios Papagelopoulos and Anti-Corruption Secretary-General, George Vassiliadis, OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa, Head of the OECD-Greece Joint Steering Committee, Gabriela Ramos , said:
"The fight against corruption is one of the most effective ways to promote more resilient, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. It is also essential to restoring public trust in our governments, corporations and national institutions. It is crucial to recovering trust in democracy and market economies, trust in our countries."
OECD guidance and technical assistance will cover the project's 10 targeted outcomes. They aim to :
++ Modernise internal and external audit mechanisms,
++ Adapt and advance anti-corruption approaches for high risk policy areas,
++ Strengthen institutional capacity of the General Secretariat against Corruption,
++ Enhance anti-corruption awareness across relevant stakeholders in the field of corruption prevention and public integrity,
++ Strengthen whistleblower protection mechanisms in the public and private sectors,
++ Improve processing of corruption complaints,
++ Improve integrity safeguard through enhanced asset declaration, conflict of interest and political financing systems,
++ Mainstream integrity in the education system,
++ Enhance public and private sector partnership in combatting corruption,
++ Improve asset recovery system.
Strengthening anti-corruption frameworks is one of a number of areas where the OECD is cooperating with the Greek government in the design and implementation of reforms to boost inclusive growth and improve well-being. Both parts are also collaborating in other key areas like education and competition. This collaboration could be expanded to other key areas like investment, innovation, immigration and transport, in line with the cooperation agreement that was signed in March 2015 by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría .
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