Under Secretary of State Dobriansky
on Global Forum on Fighting Corruption

Statement by Paula Dobriansky
Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs
Second Global Forum on Fighting Corruption
The Hague, Netherlands, May 28-31, 2001

On May 28-31, 2001 in The Hague, the Government of The Netherlands will host the Second Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity. This follows up the First Global Forum hosted by the United States in Washington in 1999; the United States is cosponsor of the Second Global Forum.

At the request of Secretary of State Powell, Attorney General Ashcroft will head the United States national delegation at the Second Global Forum. Our delegation will include officials of the Departments of Justice and State and other concerned agencies of the United States Government, including the Department of the Treasury, U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Agency for International Development, U.S. Customs Service and the FBI. We have invited a few representatives of non-governmental organizations concerned with this subject, including the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to join us as public members of our national delegation.

With the First Global Forum in 1999, the international community has manifested an unprecedented level of political willingness to address openly the issue of public corruption and its prevention. Promoting integrity and preventing or fighting corruption among public officials is a common concern for every government and is an interest shared by the people of every country.

The primary values of international gatherings like the Second Global Forum are the international attention they bring to the problem and the sharing of practical experiences of measures and practices that work, or do not work, to effectively promote integrity and fight corruption. Public reaffirmation of commitment by governments against corruption helps develop and sustain political will of leaders and voters to develop effective national strategies and to implement them through enduring measures to control this age-old problem.

Effective action against public corruption ultimately depends on the effectiveness of actions within each country. International actions promote and inform such national efforts, but do not substitute for them. The United States Government hopes that the Second Global Forum will advance concrete, effective measures against public corruption in nations throughout the world. We also hope it will advance our comprehensive national agenda of international initiatives to further advance these anticorruption goals.

In particular, our objectives for the Second Global Forum build on objectives met at the First Global Forum. We will continue work to establish the comprehensive set of "Guiding Principles and Effective Practices for Fighting Corruption" that we developed at the First Global Forum as an important basis for evaluating efforts against public corruption. We want to encourage governments to assist each other in implementing such. We are committed ourselves to continue to enhance our own assistance to other governments in fields related to promoting public integrity and controlling official corruption.