GOPAC Secretariat

As Chairman of @GOPAC_Eng’s Global Task Force [GTF] on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption [UNCAC] and in keeping with the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/72/278 to declare 30 June as such - we commemorate and wish all our parliamentary colleagues and friends, regionally and internationally - a Happy International Parliamentarism Day. Established to recognise- - "..the underlining contribution of the legislative institution to the national policies and its roles to enhance transparency and accountability at national and global levels.." - The observance of this day has become increasingly relevant as ensuring integrity in governance has come to the fore in international events in the recent past. In no small part as the need has increased for Parliamentarians to remain adamant in their roles - not just as providers of legislative oversight as some might posit is their primary role in relation to the Executive - but as activators where the need arises, to push for more stringent adherence to international best practices as standards of integrity and Anticorruption have been tested in all jurisdictions in recent years. Defined by observers of governmental systems as- - "a system in which the [executive branch] is legitimised by [parliament]" - Such a system displays that most desirable of governance model features - namely that it displays its sophistication by its very simplicity. The Executive is given the mandate to govern, by being constituted [usually] by members of the Legislature - popularly elected by universal suffrage who form a government that must: - rely on the Legislature for supply in order to administer its policies. - are accountable to answer to the legislature for the expenditure of that supply. - and whose conduct are at all times subject to parliamentary oversight in terms of compliance with international norms of integrity in governance. This may seem at times high a bar to hurdle. And yet the - task remains ours to embrace and implement and the cause remain ours to propel forward into the future. So Happy Parliamentarism Day to all. Propelled by our inimitable Doha Secretariat Staff with the GOPAC GTF on UNCAC, LEGISTrack has been developed. LEGISTrack is an open-ended Database Tracker for anti-corruption and good governance-related legislations that are being formally proposed, tabled, or passed in the Parliament across the regions in 2023. The tracker is designed to provide GOPAC members with awareness of any legislative initiatives exercised by parliament or by parliamentarians. For Full information on LEGISTrack click the link below: gopacnetwork.org/legistrack/ As Chairman of @GOPAC_Eng Oceania we look forward to our national chapters in the Pacific adding to the entries from Tonga🇹🇴and Australia🇦🇺who have already added their 2023 Anticorruption Bills to the LEGISTrack database. And finally, we wish Eid Mubarak to our honourable Global Chairman, our Doha Secretariat staff and all our colleagues in Qatar. As we do to all our members worldwide commemorating these holy days.

As Chairman of @GOPAC_Eng Oceania in light of the open-ended database of 2023 legislative initiatives by our GOPAC Secretariat for our member nations, it is extremely encouraging to see the strides being made by our Oceania/Pacific member nations in this sphere. From - #PapuaNewGuinea 🇵🇬boosting its Leadership Code to enshrine strong financial reporting by MPs & 5yr bans#TeieniwaVision #UNCAC pngfacts.com/news/png-pm-mar… To Samoa's 🇼🇸overall Strengthening of the Public Sector Capacity to boost Integrity accountability across both the governmental/public sector departments and ministries and public enterprises, as well as developing the fourth estate's monitoring and reporting upon this process. This involved a crucial integrity dialogue that occurred in Samoa in line with two important national strategic documents: •The Public Administration Sector Plan; and •The Strategy for the Development of Samoa. With the goal being application of integrity standards across the public sector in Samoa greatly propelled by #UNPRAC. It included Human Resource Officers from @samoagovt's state owned enterprises undergoing #integrity training, under the #UNPRAC project, funded by @MFATNZ. Promoting #anticorruption measures & committing to #ethics to improve service delivery It also included Anticorruption Media capacity building to help Samoa journalists and students from NUS tackling techniques to bolster their anti-corrution reporting This was bolstered by Strong value for Samoa Journalists in linking #UNCAC & #TeieniwaVision commitments to corruption story follow-ups @UNDP_Pacific @UNDP_Samoa #JAWS @vlinneweber @SonjaStTr @samoaobserver @talamuamedia Media representatives in an anti-corruption training workshop. CC: Our GOPAC Oceania Secretary and #UNPRAC's propelling force @JohnHydePerth doing much work behind the scenes to ensure all of the above went smoothly. @Falealea Tonga 🇹🇴 is looking forward to it's turn next month in July – at Auckland, New Zealand