Malé (UNA) – The proceedings of the First International Forum on Promoting Integrity and Combating Corruption continued on Wednesday, 7 May 2025, in Malé, Maldives. The forum is organized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in partnership with the Republic of Maldives and in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), with broad and high-level participation from OIC Member States and the presence of international organizations specializing in anti-corruption efforts.
On its second and final day, the forum addressed a range of issues related to combating corruption in the tourism sector, with the aim of formulating collective solutions and measures to promote integrity in this field.
During the first main session on the second day of the forum, Mr. Kamel Al-Ayadi, Board Member of the World Justice Project, addressed anti-corruption strategies and the factors contributing to their failure in achieving intended goals. He pointed to issues such as the lack of genuine political will, an excessive focus on law enforcement and prosecution at the expense of prevention, overemphasis on compliance with insufficient attention to integrity and ethical culture, and weak alignment between local strategies and international development and anti-corruption standards.
He further noted that many developing countries lack some of the necessary tools to combat corruption—particularly professional tools to address corruption at the administrative level.
Al-Ayadi cautioned against the excessive reliance on global anti-corruption indices, as they often highlight shortcomings while overlooking local progress and success stories. He stressed the need for alternative indicators that focus on local contexts and offer practical, applicable tools for combating and measuring corruption.
He also praised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its leading role in promoting integrity, strengthening transparency, and combating corruption through its national strategies.
In a session on "A Call for Strong Integrity Standards in Tourism," a number of experts and officials from the Maldives spoke about the risks of corruption in the tourism sector, their country's experience in combating these risks, and reconciling tourism with environmental sustainability.
During the session "The Role of Cooperation and Information Exchange in Combating Corruption in the Tourism Sector," a number of international experts highlighted the challenges, international cooperation, and mechanisms for enhancing information exchange as part of efforts to support the integrity of the tourism sector.
Anga Raj Timilsina, Anti-Corruption Programme Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), also presented on the Global Corruption Measurement Initiative, which aims to develop evidence-based indicators to assess countries’ progress and efforts in combating corruption, and to identify policy recommendations and reforms to support anti-corruption strategies and enhance transparency and accountability worldwide.
At the conclusion of its proceedings, the conference is expected to issue recommendations on enhancing integrity in the tourism sector and building international cooperation in this field.
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