Second National Anti-Corruption Conference Focuses on Enhancing Collaboration Among Agencies

The second National Anti-Corruption Conference was held in Belize City today. The Good Governance Unit of the Ministry of Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform, and Religious Affairs is hosting the event in collaboration with the United States Embassy. The conference brings together various organizations with anti-corruption mandates, including the Belize Police Department, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Participants are discussing a wide range of topics, including Belize’s commitments under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and various laws in Belize that address corruption. Cesar Ross, Director of the Good Governance Unit, stated that a major goal of the conference is to enhance synergy among the organizations involved in the national anti-corruption framework.

Cesar Ross, Director, Good Governance Unit: “Okay, the objectives are twofold. One, there are a number of anti-corruption initiatives that we have and what we’re trying to do is make sure that both at the national level and at the municipal level, our public officers have the capacity to operationalize these objectives, to make sure that when we talk about transparency they know exactly what it is, whether in the financial area or the administrative area, they’re ready to do the work necessary to make sure that we are transparent, we are accountable, we follow the rule of law and we are efficient at governing for the people. The second area is the, one of the things UNCAC mentioned in their review is that there are a lot of initiatives in Belize but there’s too much silo work. There’s not enough coordination and enough work. So what we are doing here is we are partnering up with different institutions, with the Contractor General, with the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Financial Service Commission, the Ombudsman, Integrity Commission, Central Bank, the police, with different agencies, because what we want to do is put together a sort of framework, an institutional framework in which we work together, we help each other, and we carry out our mandates of establishing good governance, but also ending corruption as best as we could.”

Leni Ysaguirre-McGann, Director of the FIU, delivered presentations on Belize’s anti-money laundering and civil asset recovery legislation. She noted that the FIU conducts its own investigations and assists the police department with investigations into corruption.

Leni Ysaguirre McGann, Director, Financial Intelligence Unit: “The FIU does see itself as a partner in terms of the country’s anti-corruption efforts, and we focus specifically on the investigative side as well as pursuing the proceeds of corruption. And as I would have said, we have civil asset recovery so that can now be with or without a conviction in terms of pursuing the proceeds of corruption. But our role specifically is to work with the different authorities such as the police department, in terms of generating the necessary financial intelligence that may support an investigation into a corruption offense. We also have a role in terms of looking at the money laundering aspect of a corruption related investigation. Where a corruption investigation is complex, particularly complex and involves complex fraud, we can work jointly on those cases as well. So we see ourselves as being an important partner in our national effort to address corruption.”

The conference was held at the Belize Biltmore Plaza.