From: Justice Nazhat Shameem [mailto:nazhatshameem@hotmail.

com] Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 12:13 PM To: Asia Pacific Regional Human Development Network Subject: [ap-hdnet] DISCUSSION: Tackling Corruption, Transforming Lives - how do we do it?

Facilitators note: Justice Nazhat Shameem puts forward strategies for strengthening political will. Firstly, regarding Treaty-enforcement: ensure construction of a close relationship between the Treatys internal monitoring system and the national bodies whose job is implementation. The suggestion is that this problem of implementation possibly in all small countries includes the problem of "a reporting burden". Secondly, transparency is critical; but this is not separable from the problem of capacity/resources, she emphasizes. Moreover, in some contexts, Justice Shameem adds, there is a further issue of misplaced fealty to chiefly traditions; and the challenge of transforming power relations necessarily involves and will test partnerships with civil society. Please send us your contributions also on how the Report is useful in your work, how do you plan to use it. _____________________________________________________________________________ Dear Colleagues, The seven-point agenda summarises a future plan succinctly. But we should not be sanguine about the prognosis. The ratification of UNCAC (which I am happy to say Fiji has recently effected) is only likely where there is political will. Further ratification must be followed by domestic implementation. I suggest strong links between the UNCAC machinery and national implementing bodies. The second major challenge is to achieve transparency in both the public and private sector. Transparency needs not only attitudinal changes but also resources to computerize data, resources to publish and resources to streamline bureaucracies. I see the lack of transparency is a major hurdle in limiting opportunities for corruption in the Pacific. Coupled with the lack of resources to implement (for instance) IT in court registries, is the Pacific culture of silence. You must never ever betray your leader, your chief, your boss. It is better to be silent in the face of rape, pillage, theft and bribery than to betray an authority figure. So a huge challenge for our Pacific cultures is to achieve transparency. It requires civil society partnerships with traditional leaders to break this tradition of silence and of blind loyalty. Justice Nazhat Shameem