Three Working Papers: Is it Enough?

By Edison Park

The UNGASS convened today to discuss three working papers on the topic of solving economic corruption. Each resolution paper focused on different aspects of the crisis, resulting in debate and a sense of confusion in the committee.

The first working paper that was presented was the Anti-Corruption Courts Resolution (ACC), which emphasized the importance of not only responding to the corruption in the situation with the First Russian Czech Bank (FRCB), but also working towards long term goals in fighting corruption as a whole. The resolution consists of multiple strong clauses, including the creation of a three court system that consists of an international level, United Nations level, and a national level. The resolution, if voted favorably upon, would use funds from the United Nations General Fund and the World Bank to educate leaders on corruption and also establish programs to encourage further transparency in bank actions.

The Accountability and Prevention Against Corruption Resolution (APAC) instead focused on economic and political stability. In an attempt to protect the legitimacy of democratic practices, this working paper presents a resolution that specifically denounces foreign involvement entirely in elections. The paper also includes the creation of a new United Nations committee which would oversee bank and government interactions.

The final working paper was the Corruption Accountability and Prevention Resolution (CAP), which centered on researching into the reasoning behind corrupt practices. This working paper introduces the establishment of the International Organization of Corruption Identification and Correction (IOCIC), which would review financial interactions and conduct audits on corrupt actors. 

Disputes broke out following the presentations of the papers, as delegates made it clear that collaborating and combining resolutions would be dissatisfactory. The delegation of Tanzania made this sentiment clear when stating that the ACC Resolution is the “superior resolution” and dismissed the APAC Resolution as mere “suggestions.” However, the delegation of Jordan stated that the APAC Resolution offered “multiple solutions”, and that it is the most “solid plan”. In addition to this, the chair spoke on the legitimacy of specific clauses in the working papers. The chair clarified that loans are a government regulated and transparent action already, and that the creation of courts on corruption would be extremely difficult to pass. As these concerns relate to all the papers, delegates have debated continuously on the effectiveness of each resolution plan.

As debate continues, it is unclear if the true resolution to corruption is one of these working papers, a combination of them, or not any of them. The decision is expected to be made by the end of the day. 

UNGASS Debates Illicit Influence from the First Russian Czech Bank

By: Sophia Rich

The United Nations Special Session General Assembly Against Corruption (UNGASS) was introduced in 2018 and was created to address corruption in the international, private, and public sectors. Today, these delegates from nations all over the world set out to tackle two major topics: illicit influence from the first Russian Czech bank and preventative measures of corruption and warfare.

The first half of today’s committee primarily focused on illicit influence from the First Russian Czech Bank. A controversial topic to all, debates immediately arose regarding elitists in Russia and their knowledge of this internal corruption. Delegates from Belarus and Germany immediately blamed Russian elitists for their knowledge of this financial corruption, and they continuously called them out for their lack of action. This form of financial corruption blatantly benefits Russian elitists and therefore leads them to ignore this issue and combat it with self-serving greed. This disputable topic caused quite a spark in the committee and eventually led to some strongly-worded debate, with the delegate from Russia rushing to defend their nation.

The next topic that was brought to the floor was the importance of transparency from the Russian government. The delegate from Tanzania set the stage for this moderated caucus by saying that, “we cannot act upon what we cannot see.” This sparked an intense debate on whether Russian transparency would be an effective solution to this issue, and with some delegates arguing that transparency alone is not enough, this debate seemed to be divisive within the committee. The majority of the delegates began to lean towards the idea of sanctions along with accountability. The delegate from the United States felt strongly that as one of the world's leading powers, the U.S. needed to step up in this committee and help lead everyone to a reasonable and ethical solution. This delegate argued that to hold Russia accountable, this committee must first threaten them with sanctions to prove the severity of this specific case of corruption. The energy was high and the debate was lively in UNGASS today, showcasing the probable high-stakes for the next two days.