III CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION Doha, Qatar, November 9-13, 2009 His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Fetais Al Marri Mr. Chairman, Distinguished delegations, In the time frame between the two last Conferences of the State Parties, Cuba, amid the severe economic crisis affecting us all and the criminal blockade being imposed against it for more than 50 years, has achieved a level of sustained work in the implementation of the preventive and comprehensive strategies, and devoted a greater effort to the generation of institutional capacities to meet the commitments made. The establishment of the General Comptroller’s Office through Law No. 107, adopted on the 1st of August 2009, by the National Assembly of the People’s Power, the supreme organ of the State in Cuba, is an example of this. The above-mentioned legislation improves and provides the function of controlling and protecting public funds with due hierarchical order and authority. Pursuant to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, it promotes a wide and multidisciplinary approach to prevent and fight corruption. Likewise, another commitment made by Cuba as a State Party has been honoured, that of creating a state organ in charge of fighting corruption with the necessary independence to efficiently perform its duties without undue influence. The Law integrates, unites and organizes the Control System of the State and Government in hierarchical order, by identifying and defining the components of the Internal and External Control Systems and by setting up the duties, obligations and responsibilities of the governing structures. Our State develops a process of institutionalization aimed at simplifying and eliminating bureaucracy procedures which downplay efficiency of administrative management and direction by promoting and improving the planning instruments. We agree with the opinion that corruption has become a global phenomenon of mankind. It has characteristics that go beyond national borders, reason why it requires solutions at that same level, with a holistic and systemic approach which facilitates the integration of the best practices in order to prevent, confront and fight corruption, respecting the protection of the sovereignty set up by the Convention in its Article 4. Finally, Cuba renews its decision to continue strengthening the fight against corruption at a national level and to cooperate at the international level, convinced that the compliance with the principles of the Convention prevents the review mechanism from being susceptible to the ill-intentioned manipulations in the selection of the State Parties to be reviewed and of the members of the review commission, which may distort the essence of those principles. We hope that this opportunity be auspicious to join efforts, share best practices and improve the coordination and cooperation among States in order to revert the scourge of corruption. Thank you very much. (Cubaminrex- Embacuba Qatar)
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