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OAS Anti-Corruption Mechanism to Conduct On-Site Visit to Belize

  March 12, 2014

A Commission from the OAS Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) will conduct, from April 23 to 25, an on-site visit to Belize with the consent of the host country, as part of the follow-up “inter pares” process carried out by the Mechanism in various countries of the region.

The Commission will be made up of representatives of Canada and Jamaica to the Mechanism for Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) who, with the support from the Department of Legal Cooperation of the OAS Secretariat for Legal Affairs, in its capacity as Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC, will meet with representatives of the main oversight bodies of Belize. The purpose of the visit is to collect in-situ information on how these organs perform their functions, which will serve as an input during the preparation of the report on Belize by the MESICIC at its meeting in September 2014.

In addition, it is expected that the Commission will meet with Belize civil society organizations, representatives of the private sector, professional associations, and academics in order to address the topics that are currently being reviewed in the Fourth Round of the MESICIC. Within the framework of the Fourth Round of evaluations, the OAS Anticorruption Mechanism is also expected to visit Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname in April.

The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between states, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, as well as the objective results achieved therein. The incorporation of on-site visits, with the consent of the countries, as a stage and integral part of the analysis represents an innovative and pioneering initiative of the OAS, which has further strengthened this reciprocal review process.

For further information on the MESICIC and the Fourth Round of Review visit the Anticorruption Portal of the Americas.

Reference: E-091/14