"A recent study by Global Financial Integrity and UNDP estimates that around US$ 9 billion has been diverted because of illicit financial flows from 2002 to 2011," the development partners issuing a joint statement on the occasion of the International Day of Anti-corruption on Wednesday said. "These are resources that could, and should, have been used for social and economic development of Nepal."They added that with the global adoption of the SDGs in September 2015, there is a new momentum for Nepal to recognize that reducing corruption is key to reaching its development targets and that through an adaptive SDG agenda, Nepal can substantially reduce corruption in all its forms.
The Nepal-based development partners have also said that the new constitution of Nepal offers opportunities to promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels of government.
They said Nepal possesses extensive and detailed institutional and legal arrangements for combating corruption.
"A challenge is transformation of laws into real enforcement effort on the ground. Nepal also has a strategy and action plan in place for addressing corruption, however prioritization and closer follow-up from different stakeholders is needed to make real progress," said the international community. "Nepal has been in a transitional context for more than a decade; this has resulted in political instability, weak rule of law and accountability." The 2015 earthquakes set back the achievement of development objectives further, they said.
They have pointed out that Nepal has a unique development opportunity with the current flow of aid in reconstruction and recovery after the earthquakes and that to fully tap into the potential aid flow and mitigate potential corruption risks, we as development partners expect that the Government will step up in its fight against corruption and ensure complete transparency and accountability.
The international development partners concluded that "Nepal has made significant strides toward aligning its agenda to international corruption-reduction standards such as signing the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2003, which was ratified in 2011. Nepal has since undergone its first review of the Convention's chapters on criminalization, law enforcement, and international cooperation."
The UN Country Team in Nepal, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Embassy of Germany, EU Delegation in Nepal, Embassy of Switzerland, the Embassy of the UK and DFID, JICA Nepal Office, Asian Development Bank Nepal, Embassy of Finland and World Bank jointly issued the statement.
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