ACFO President Calls for Stronger Anti-Corruption Measures at UN Conference
On Thursday June 13th, ACFO President Milt Isaacs was invited to speak at the Public Finance Control and Anti-Corruption Strategies Forum at the 102nd Session of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva Switzerland. ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
Joining Public Service International (PSI) member union leaders, ACFO lent its expertise in public sector financial management to provide advice on combatting corruption to strengthen the integrity of public sector and government decision-making.
Captions available by clicking the button at the bottom of the video player.
Follow this link to listen to the audio from the presentation : http://radiolabour.net/2013/june/corruption-240613.mp3
ACFO has long been an advocate for government transparency and accountability, having published a series of policy papers surrounding improving the Government of Canada’s financial management control framework.
We as financial officers know how corruption can impact a nation. Corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth; it hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition; and it leads to waste or the inefficient use of public resources. The effect of corruption on the financial community and the social fabric is the most damaging of all: it undermines public services, the rule of law and democracy.
At the end of the forum, ACFO and other union leaders presented an anti-corruption resolution to the heads of the International Labour Organization. The resolution calls for an effective legal framework that will bring governments and private entities to improve public trust and advance ethically oriented nations.
In light of recent high-profile cases involving the mismanagement of public funds, ACFO is taking greater action to strengthen global public finance accountability standards both at home and abroad. As the world becomes increasingly more connected, international activities inevitably influence what happens at home. Labour organizations can no longer constrain themselves to domestic affairs; we must be proactive in responding to global issues before they hit our shores.
Therefore, ACFO has increased participation in international activities and partnerships with organizations such as PSI, the ILO, Latin American Union Workers of Control Bodies Network (ULATOC), and other professional associations and labour groups.
Together, we are leveraging our collective voice to impact positive change in the management of public funds and to promote the importance role that financial officers play. Through our membership in PSI, we were able to advance our public sector accountability agenda with the highest international labour order.
As there is always strength in numbers, there is no time more pressing than the present for unions to pull together and work on pursuing the common goals and interests of the global FI Community. What we do as Financial Officers impacts every Canadian; we take pride in the work we do on their behalf.
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