The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (APK) is participating in the one-day conference with the theme: “From transparency to trust: Solutions for fighting corruption and organized crime at the institutional level”. Yll Buleshkaj, Director of APK, Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Nicholas Abbott, Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, and Krenare Sogojeva Dërmaku, Commissioner of the Information and Privacy Agency, also participated in the opening of this activity. The main topics of this conference were corruption in the public sector and the influence of organized crime on public institutions.
In his address, the British Ambassador, Nicholas Abbott, emphasized, among other things, that corruption can erode citizens’ trust in institutions, increasing social inequality, and that the fight against corruption requires collective efforts.
The Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, in her address, emphasizes the large number of cases that she has so far sent to the Police and the Prosecutor, but which have not yet received an answer. Calling this an oversight which does not help the fight against corruption.
The Commissioner, Krenare Sogojeva Dërmaku, emphasizes the growing number of complaints from citizens, but also the mostly positive response by giving access to information from the institutions, and consequently not having to impose coercive measures.
Yll Buleshkaj, the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, expressed his conviction that inter-institutional cooperation is the basis for success in the fight against corruption. He proposes that the plan for the approach to prevention and combat be very one-sided and ruthless. Underlining four main fronts: 1) transparency and accountability of elected officials and public officials, 2) empowering and respecting law enforcement agencies by ensuring that they are adequately resourced, adequately trained and protected from external influences in the implementation of their mandate, 3) cultivating a culture of integrity in families, societies and institutions where every individual refuses to accept or participate in corrupt practices; AND 4) to strengthen inter-institutional and international cooperation, because the prevention and fight against corruption usually transcends the borders of individual institutions, but often also the borders of the country.
The conference was organized by the CorrWatch Initiative which is supported by the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Kosovo, while the initiative is a consortium of three non-governmental organizations: the Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), the GAP Institute and the Institute for Development Policy (INDEP).
