UN 7 December 2012 – A United Nations senior official today reaffirmed the world body’s support for Indonesia’s anti-corruption efforts, particularly in the environmental sector.
“We will continue to support the national efforts in corruption prevention and eradication,” the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, told reporters at an event organized by Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (known by the acronym KPK) in the capital, Jakarta.
Indonesia is home to the largest single UNODC country programme in the region, which provides support to anti-corruption efforts by the Supreme Court, the KPK, the criminal justice system and general law enforcement. It also involves civil society mobilization to better combat emerging threats such as corruption and its links to deforestation.
In his remarks, Mr. Fedotov praised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s commitment to independent anti-corruption agencies and highlighted UNODC’s work supporting Government initiatives to combat corruption, illicit drugs, and wildlife, forest and environmental crimes.
“Transnational organized criminal syndicates operating in Indonesia and the region play a role in illicit resource extraction – like protected natural resources, timber, fish and other wildlife – and crimes which harm the environment. They are a threat to public health and society’s well-being,” said Mr. Fedotov. “Let’s put them out of business.”
While in Jakarta, Mr. Fedotov met with senior Government officials to whom he reiterated the importance of the strong partnership between UNODC and national authorities to strengthen the rule of law and improve the capacity of anti-corruption institutions, implement prison reform, and combat environmental crime, as well as the use of illicit drugs.
The UNODC chief’s four-day visit to Indonesia concludes his five-country trip to Southeast Asia to engage both with government counterparts and civil society partners.
Prior to Indonesia, Mr. Fedotov visited Thailand, Myanmar, Viet Nam and Laos, where he exchanged views with regional leaders on the human security challenges facing the region and how the world body could respond better.
