Albania Integrity Week: Dialogue Forum for Students on Access to Information and Corruption Prevention

6 December 2023, Tirana, Albania:  In the run-up to the 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day, it is Integrity Week in Albania. As part of the week’s awareness-raising activities, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) joined a dialogue forum for over 100 students at the Law Faculty in Tirana.

Led by the Ministry of Justice and the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Protection of Personal Data, the session focused on access to information as an essential tool in the fight against corruption.

Linking up with the theme of this year's International Anti-Corruption Day, “UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption”, UNODC briefed the students on the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and gave an overview of UNODC’s work to support States in its implementation.

UNODC supports capacity building on anti-corruption in Albania as part of its regional platform for fast-tracking UNCAC implementation in the Western Balkans. Albania actively participates in this platform and the related Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, endorsed by all Western Balkan jurisdictions in 2021.

In 2023, UNODC worked across the Western Balkans to discuss the role of anti-corruption education in preventing and countering corruption and explore opportunities to join forces using available tools under UNODC’s Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) initiative. A compendium of good practices in anti-corruption education across the region is under preparation.