Tuesday, December 19, 2023
From December 9-13, Dominique Hasler, Liechtenstein’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport, traveled to Atlanta, Georgia where she participated in the opening of the 10th Session of the Conference of the State Parties (CoSP) to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) hosted by the United States.
At the Conference’s general debate, Minister Hasler reiterated that corruption undermines all three United Nations pillars: Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights. She emphasized that a successful fight against corruption is only achieved with the involvement of all stakeholders including the private sector. Moreover, she strongly encouraged all UNCAC State Parties to promote the active participation of civil society and to redouble efforts to ensure a safe and enabling environment, in which civil society and all other relevant actors can operate free from intimidation and reprisals. In addition, Minister Hasler highlighted Liechtenstein’s Presidency of the Council of Europe and made it clear that corruption represents a major threat to the values of the Council of Europe and that it is thus of the utmost importance to combat it effectively.
Foreign Minister Dominique Hasler also participated in the High-Level Segment of the UNCAC which focused on the topic of fighting “Green Corruption” – that is corruption associated with environmental crime, such as illegal mining, wildlife trafficking, logging and waste dumping. This is a key area of Liechtenstein's leadership in the anti-corruption agenda. Liechtenstein and the US-Presidency of the conference made this a main topic of the conference. In her remarks the Foreign Minister emphasized concrete ways to combat green corruption, such as public-private partnerships to boost due diligence and to share resources and know-how to “follow the money."
Minister Hasler was also able to meet with members of the US hosting delegation, including Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations, and Richard Nephew, the US Department of State’s Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption and President of the Conference. She thanked Liechtenstein’s American friends for their great hospitality and the opportunity to further advance the excellent Liechtenstein-US partnerships in the areas of Rule of Law, Human Rights, and Democracy.
In partnership with the Basel Institute on Governance and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, Minister Hasler hosted a reception on the occasion of the opening of the 10th Conference of State Parties of the UN Convention Against Corruption. The reception was attended by numerous State Party delegates, members of civil society, as well as local Atlanta residents involved in global affairs.
Minister Hasler and her delegation, including Georg Sparber, Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the US, also took the opportunity to visit the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which is dedicated to the history of the US civil rights movement and human rights movements all around the world. She and her team also paid a visit to Kaiser’s Chophouse, an upscale American-style steakhouse led by Chef Peter Kaiser who comes from Liechtenstein. Kaiser began his career under the tutelage of one of Liechtenstein’s leading restaurants and has been living in the US since the mid-1980s.
