NEW YORK, MAY 16 – During a General Assembly meeting on the international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows, Italy underscored their global impact of on socioeconomic development. “Countering them is crucial to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, Deputy Permanent representative Stefano Stefanile said today stressing that, although difficult to estimate in terms of precise value, they certainly have a grave impact on social and economic development on a global scale.
This is recognized also in the outcome document of the recent ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development, that Italy co-facilitated, which contains a strong appeal to increase the efforts against illicit financial flows in an effective, coherent and cohesive manner. It is foreseeable that adequate attention will be devoted to the issue also in the context of the High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development scheduled for next September, said the Deputy PR.
Fully supporting the strengthening of international cooperation in tackling illicit financial flows and promoting asset recovery and return, Italy is at the forefront of all the international conventions, institutions, fora and initiatives that are most directly committed to this fight: from the UN Conventions against corruption and transnational organized crime to the Financial Action Task Force; from the Global Forum on Asset Recovery to the OECD’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual Cooperation in Tax Matters and its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project.
In this context, Italy is actively engaged, both at the national and international level, to promote actions to fight corruption, organized crime and money laundering as well as to create a new global framework for asset recovery. On the basis of its national experience and know how, Italy is also committed to supporting international partners through specific capacity building and technical support initiatives on asset recovery, particularly in the framework of UNODC programmes. “The “Plan de Apoyo” in Central America is an example of this successful engagement”, said Stefanile mentioning, in this context, the Memorandum of Understanding recently signed in Rome between the Italian “Guardia di Finanza” and the UN Office of Counter Terrorism, dedicated to the training of law enforcement officials of developing countries.
Italy will host, from May 27 to May 29, at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, the preparatory Conference for the review of SDG 16. This Conference will be organized in partnership with DESA and the International Development Law Organization. A specific session will be devoted to “combat corruption, illicit flows and organized crime”. Several Ministers of justice from all regions of the world have already confirmed their attendance. (@OnuItalia)