Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis – On the 6th of August 2024, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis joined 140 other signatories in acceding to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The nation’s Foreign Minister the Right Honourable Dr. Denzil L. Douglas underscored that, in acceding to the convention, it demonstrated the government’s resolve to elevate multilateral diplomacy, international partnerships, and law enforcement and security cooperation for fulfilling the Government’s good governance agenda and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption was adopted by the UN General on 31st October 2003 and came into force on the 14th of December 2005. The convention is the only universally recognised anti-corruption instrument. According to the United Nations, “the Convention plays a pivotal role in uniting countries against corruption and fostering effective international cooperation.”
The United Nations also, credits the Convention with “fostering numerous impactful anticorruption reforms, prompting important changes to legislative and institutional frameworks while strengthening international cooperation in cross-border cases and asset recovery. The Convention also serves as a crucial tool driving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals forward, addressing the pervasive effects of corruption on all core values and principles of the United
Nations.”
In depositing the instrument at the United Nations, the Federation’s Permanent Representative H.E Dr. Mutryce Williams lauded the work of her team at the Permanent Mission of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the UN, and the United Nations “for its efforts in promoting national, regional and international partnerships to erase and minimize the impacts of corruption on Small Island States, particularly as the Federation works to transform into a Sustainable Island State by 2040.”