The Public Radio of Armenia reports that the International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated worldwide on 9 December, was marked in Armenia by an Anti-Corruption Forum organized by USAID Mobilizing Action Against Corruption (MAAC) Activity in cooperation with the UNDP Anti-Corruption Project.
The 9 December was designated as the International Anti-Corruption Day by the UN General Assembly in 2003 in order to raise people’s awareness of corruption and of the role of the UN Convention Against Corruption in combating and preventing it.
Yesterday’s Forum was the 3rd in a series of anti-corruption forums organized by the USAID MAAC Activity.
Over 75 participants from various backgrounds attended the Forum and discussed the findings of the Armenia National Household Corruption Survey, UN Convention Against Corruption Gap Analysis, draft of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Paper for 2008-2012, and the introduction of Advocacy and Assistance Centers in Armenia.
The 9 December was designated as the International Anti-Corruption Day by the UN General Assembly in 2003 in order to raise people’s awareness of corruption and of the role of the UN Convention Against Corruption in combating and preventing it.
Yesterday’s Forum was the 3rd in a series of anti-corruption forums organized by the USAID MAAC Activity.
Over 75 participants from various backgrounds attended the Forum and discussed the findings of the Armenia National Household Corruption Survey, UN Convention Against Corruption Gap Analysis, draft of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Paper for 2008-2012, and the introduction of Advocacy and Assistance Centers in Armenia.
The Forum was opened by Cynthia Pruett, USAID-Armenia Acting Mission Director and Dirk Boberg, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative. Ms. Heghine Manasian, Country Director of the Caucasus Research Resource Center, presented the findings of the MAAC 2008 National Household Corruption Survey, after which UNDP Anti-Corruption Project expert Ms. Mane Beglarian presented the gaps that subsist between the UN Convention Against Corruption and Armenia’s legal and institutional framework.
Then Mr. Armen Khudaverdian, Coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Monitoring Commission’s Expert Group, delivered a presentation on key approaches of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan currently being developed. Presentations also covered the new mechanism that allows citizens to voice corruption-related complaints (Advocacy and Assistance Centers).
Then Mr. Armen Khudaverdian, Coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Monitoring Commission’s Expert Group, delivered a presentation on key approaches of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan currently being developed. Presentations also covered the new mechanism that allows citizens to voice corruption-related complaints (Advocacy and Assistance Centers).
USAID MAAC Chief of Party François Vézina closed the forum, noting that “the acknowledgement of the International Anti-Corruption Day is another opportunity to remind people that there are actions they can immediately undertake and opportunities they can make use of to effectively combat corruption”.
Student Councils Protest
Given the extent of corruption in the education sector, one can argue that we need to designate one day per week, and not per year, to mark combating and preventing corruption.
The topic seems to increasingly interest the European media. PR Media, for instance, recently covered the press conference given by a group of university students.
Entitled “Armenian University Students Deplore Continued Corruption in the Academic System”, the online news agency noted that the student council presidents of 4 Armenian universities; Yerevan State University (YSU), Yerevan State University of Economics (YSUE), Brusov Yerevan State Linguistic University (YSLU), and State Agrarian University of Armenia (SAUA), recently expressed their concerns regarding widespread corruption within the country's university system and its direct impact on the quality of education.
The continuation of corruption throughout the academic system during the entrance exams all the way to graduation results in “ungifted entrants who become students this or that way graduate from the university in the same way.”
The Most Corrupt: Law!
According to a recent survey conducted at YSU’s 19 departments [by who?], the most corrupted is the Law Department with 24.63% [looks like a student opinion survey], International Relations with 20.67%, Economics with 19.05, and Foreign Languages with 15.68.
A similar survey was conducted in 2007 by the Sargis Dekhruni Youth Student Union, affiliated to Armenia's Social Democrat Henchakian Party with similar results [this was a student opinion survey].
According to both surveys, the main reason for corruption is the low salaries of instructors. Also, it is considered that the blame for corruption should be spread evenly, between educators, the students who pay bribes, and the government for its lax practices.
According to the 4 Student Councils, the continuation of corruption at the higher education system feeds into the future culture of corruption in the Armenian society.
The Student Councils have sent a letter [I have not seen the letter] addressed to the Armenian authorities – the President, the Speaker of National Assembly, and the Prime Minister – demanding their support in the fight against corruption. The Council members have also asked for protection for those who denounce corruption and guarantees that they will not be persecuted.
Transparency International - Armenia
On the occasion of December 9, Transparency International Anti-corruption Center in Yerevan came up with a statement, which in particular reads, “Local and international experts believe that corruption in Armenia is of endemic and systemic nature: no sector or institution is free from that vicious phenomenon. Corruption continues to deteriorate our statehood, economy and morale. Should serious and true struggle against political and administrative corruption not be addressed, the present and the future of the country might be endangered…
To read the statement in full, in PDF, please click here.
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Student Councils Protest
Given the extent of corruption in the education sector, one can argue that we need to designate one day per week, and not per year, to mark combating and preventing corruption.
The topic seems to increasingly interest the European media. PR Media, for instance, recently covered the press conference given by a group of university students.
Entitled “Armenian University Students Deplore Continued Corruption in the Academic System”, the online news agency noted that the student council presidents of 4 Armenian universities; Yerevan State University (YSU), Yerevan State University of Economics (YSUE), Brusov Yerevan State Linguistic University (YSLU), and State Agrarian University of Armenia (SAUA), recently expressed their concerns regarding widespread corruption within the country's university system and its direct impact on the quality of education.
The continuation of corruption throughout the academic system during the entrance exams all the way to graduation results in “ungifted entrants who become students this or that way graduate from the university in the same way.”
The Most Corrupt: Law!
According to a recent survey conducted at YSU’s 19 departments [by who?], the most corrupted is the Law Department with 24.63% [looks like a student opinion survey], International Relations with 20.67%, Economics with 19.05, and Foreign Languages with 15.68.
A similar survey was conducted in 2007 by the Sargis Dekhruni Youth Student Union, affiliated to Armenia's Social Democrat Henchakian Party with similar results [this was a student opinion survey].
According to both surveys, the main reason for corruption is the low salaries of instructors. Also, it is considered that the blame for corruption should be spread evenly, between educators, the students who pay bribes, and the government for its lax practices.
According to the 4 Student Councils, the continuation of corruption at the higher education system feeds into the future culture of corruption in the Armenian society.
The Student Councils have sent a letter [I have not seen the letter] addressed to the Armenian authorities – the President, the Speaker of National Assembly, and the Prime Minister – demanding their support in the fight against corruption. The Council members have also asked for protection for those who denounce corruption and guarantees that they will not be persecuted.
Transparency International - Armenia
On the occasion of December 9, Transparency International Anti-corruption Center in Yerevan came up with a statement, which in particular reads, “Local and international experts believe that corruption in Armenia is of endemic and systemic nature: no sector or institution is free from that vicious phenomenon. Corruption continues to deteriorate our statehood, economy and morale. Should serious and true struggle against political and administrative corruption not be addressed, the present and the future of the country might be endangered…
To read the statement in full, in PDF, please click here.
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