International experts address risk of corruption in tsunami relief efforts

Expert meeting on 7-8 April 2005, Jakarta, Indonesia

A press conference will be held on Friday 8 April at 18h00 at Hotel Borobudur, Jakarta.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Transparency International (TI) will join senior officials and non-governmental organisations from Tsunami-affected countries in an expert meeting on 7-8 April in Jakarta to address the risk of corruption in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and reconstruction aid in relation to the relief efforts.

Experts will identify concrete priority measures to be taken by all stakeholders, in particular governments, involved donor agencies, international organisations, civil society and private sector organizations, to prevent and curb corruption in service delivery and procurement related to the tsunami relief. The recommendations and findings of this meeting will form the basis for the development of anti-corruption guidelines for future disaster relief efforts.

Important sums have been pledged to date by donors and raised through public appeals to support the reconstruction operations. Although humanitarian assistance is well under way, the vast bulk of this aid has yet to be delivered and the reconstruction phase has barely begun. To ensure the money reaches the people who need it, the leaders of the six affected countries (India, Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand) have made the prevention of corruption in Tsunami relief operations as a priority. Donor agencies and international organisations as well as civil society have echoed this commitment.

The meeting, organised jointly by ADB, OECD and TI and hosted by the Government of Indonesia, takes place in the framework of the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative and will be carried out in co-operation with a broad range of regional and multilateral organisations, including the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Relief, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the World Bank, as well as the private sector and civil society.

For any press enquiries please contact

ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific
Jak Jabes Director, Governance and Regional Cooperation Division
ADB
Phone: +63-2-6325749
Fax: +63-2-6362182
Email: [email protected]

Frederic Wehrlé
Coordinator Asia-Pacific
Anti-Corruption Division
OECD
Phone: +33-1-45251855
Fax: +33-1-44306307
Email: [email protected]

Transparency International
Sarah Tyler
Press Officer
Transparency International
Phone: +49-30-3438 200
Fax: +49-30-3470 3912
Email: [email protected]