Rome/Doha, 29 June 2021 – the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) Hon. Gennaro Migliore signed a cooperation agreement with H.E. Mr. Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, President of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), in a virtual ceremony.
The agreement is the result of bilateral discussions held with H.E. Ahmad Al Mahmoud earlier this month in Doha, when His Excellency hosted the PAM delegation on the occasion of the official PAM visit to the State of Qatar, in his capacity as the Speaker of the Shura Council.
In his opening address, the President of GOPAC highlighted that Doha serves as the seat of the Global Secretariat of the Organisation and also hosted the last Global Conference of Parliamentarians against corruption in 2019. Under the Presidency of H.E. Ahmad Al Mahmoud, one of the key strategies of GOPAC has been to increase cooperation with key international actors, and that the signing of the MoU with PAM is a strategic milestone for both organizations.
In his speech, Hon. Migliore stressed the fundamental duty of parliamentarians to prevent and combat corruption through legislation, oversight, and leading by ethical example. He noted that anti-corruption has been a priority for PAM, and the Assembly has already produced a dedicated report and unanimously adopted a resolution on “Strategies to Combat Public Sector Corruption in the Mediterranean”.
Through this new partnership, PAM is looking forward to benefiting from the vast knowledge and expertise of GOPAC in this field, and in turn for the Assembly to face with new impetus the issue of corruption in the workplan of its Standing Committees.
Hon. Migliore underlined that by joining forces, PAM and GOPAC can produce a multiplier effect in their common efforts to fight corruption by co-organizing future joint activities.//