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1. Creating transparency of governance in Syria by focusing on corruption and abuses of power Positioning paper Lebanon defines corruption as the behaviour of private individuals or public officials who deviate from set responsibilities and use their position of power in order to serve private ends and secure private gains. Corruption is one of the major issues affecting both the developing and the developed nations around the world. It is an issue that has many dimensions related to political, social and environmental effects. In political sphere, corruption impedes democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system such as Syria and Lebanon, public institutions and offices may lose their legitimacy when they misuse their power for private interest. Corruption may also result in negative consequences such as encoring cynicism and reducing interest of political participation, political instability , reducing political competition, reducing the transparency of governance and decision making, distorting political and economic development and sustaining political activity based on patronage, clientelism and money, etc. Lebanon sees corruption and abuse of power as one of the same thing as they both relate to each other. The delegate strongly believes that corruption should be dealt with accordingly as it one of the major issues that has slowed down lebanon’s growth politically, economically and socially. The use of public funds for private means, clientalism, kickbacks, and abuse of power and influence for financial gain are crippling Lebanon’s ability to recover from fifteen years of civil war. This phenomenon is believed to be driving away investors, hampering the development of a Lebanese identity, and preventing Lebanon from making use of its abundant skills and human capital. Empirical data on corruption and the perceived corruption in Lebanon suggests that the country is indeed in trouble. According to the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2006 which ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist amongst public officials and politicians, Lebanon received a score of 3.6 out of 10. However Realizing the unacceptable levels corruption has reached in Lebanon, and the necessity to act against it, a group of individuals joined forces to found the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), in May 1999. The association was the first Lebanese nongovernmental organization specialized in promoting transparency and fighting corruption. In the midst of public quarrels among political figures and daily exchanges of corruption accusations, the founders of LTA, who are business people, academics, economists, lawyers and intellectuals, believed that a more constructive way to curb corruption would be through civil society. All of them were stakeholders in the cause of limiting corruption, and they all had the same concerns about national interests at stake in such a venture. The effects of corruption on the state and society had taken dimensions that would not permit a citizen to escape its detrimental repercussions. The formation of LTA coincided with an international tendency to support national anti-corruption institutions and activities. A leading organization in this field was Transparency

International (TI); an international NGO specialized in promoting transparency all over the world. Contact between TI and LTA was initiated at LTA's embryonic stage, and cooperation is continuous on various levels. As TI's Lebanese representative, LTA is provided with TI's technical or knowledge support according to LTA's need and TI's experience. LTA follows and is guided by the values of democracy, participation and transparency in its internal functioning just as in the norms it promotes. Since its formation, LTA has increased the base of membership threefold, and strengthened communication and participation among the members significantly. The board holds, on a regular basis, open meetings for all the members, in addition to occasional general assembly meetings to discuss and decide the general guidelines of LTA's strategy. The United Nations Convention against Corruption, which entered into force in 2005, addresses the key issues and necessary measures to prevent and criminalize corruption and to promote international cooperation and technical assistance, and to facilitate asset recovery. This is the most comprehensive, ambitious and diversified anticorruption convention, that reaches out to the greatest possible number of State Parties. Therefore, making this convention a binding and international reference that helps state parties to analyze and compare their anti-corruption plans. The Lebanese Parliament ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption pursuant to Law No. 33 dated 16/10/2008 that mandated the Lebanese Government to conclude and ratify the convention. Lebanon officially joined the International Convention on April 22, 2009, after depositing the instrument of accession with the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations according to Article 67 of the International Convention. In Lebanon, international conventions carry a special importance because they have precedence over other domestic laws. Therefore, after ratification of the convention, it is necessary to amend the respective laws in force or to enact new laws consistent with the Convention articles entitled UNCAC Compliance ReviewLebanon. Corruption is a cancer like disease that needs to be eliminated the minute it’s sported.

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