The Washington, D.C.-based Organization of American States (OAS) says the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is the only international organization of the Joint Summit Working Group (JSWG) that has not signed a pact against corruption.
Without stating the reason, the OAS said on Tuesday that the CDB’s signature was missing among multilaterals, which plan to collaborate to support Lima’s Summit of the Americas Pact against Corruption.
The OAS said the JSWG comprises the CDB, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Bank, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
By signing the pact, the OAS said all members of the JSWG, except the CDB, plans “to harmonize their work and make available to the countries their technical, political and financial resources to face the problem of corruption.”
OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro underscored the agreement reached by regional countries at the Summit of the Americas, which took place in Lima, Peru in April, whose objective is to join efforts in the fight against corruption.
“We must respond directly to a phenomenon that weakens the confidence of citizens and hinders compliance with the [United Nations] 2030 Agenda and a series of commitments on which our democracies are based,” Almagro said.
“This agreement seals the commitment of our institutions to continue working together,” he added.
