by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
The Office of the Integrity Commission of Grenada, on Friday, embarked on public outreach initiative in the fight against corruption, by staging a march from the Tanteen playing field to the Kirani James Athletic Stadium.
International Anti-Corruption Day is normally recognised on 9 December, however, the Integrity Commission started one day early in order to facilitate some of the nation’s schools.
This year’s theme to mark International Anti-Corruption Day is ‘United Against Corruption for the Development of Peace and Security.’
Members of the Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Office of the Ombudsman were among key stakeholders in the march. According to the United Nations, the 2017 joint international campaign focuses on corruption as one of the biggest impediments to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To mark the 2017 International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has developed a wide-ranging campaign focused on different SDGs and on how tackling corruption is vital to achieving them.
Chairman of the Integrity Commission of Grenada, Lady Avril Anande Trotman-Joseph said only through collaboration can we eradicate corruption in both private and public sector.
“Only together can we not only tackle corruption but we can begin the walk of thousand miles as we begin to collectively address corruption and make all the necessary changes not only towards out attitude but to make sure that we can implement systems that will work to address and combat corruption.”
Operations Manager at the Office of the Integrity Commission, Elizabeth Henry-Greenidge says youth involvement is critical in stamping out corruption. “We have decided that since we need to emphasize the importance of fighting corruption we need to start with youth and hence the involvement of our secondary school students this year in March.”
At present, the Office of the Integrity Commission uses the nation’s coat of arms as its logo, however, Henry-Greenidge said come next year, the nation’s schools will be challenged to design a logo for the commission. “The Grenada Integrity Commission does not have a logo, what we have been using is the Coat of Arms of Grenada, but we need to have our own, so come January we will be sending out criteria to not only schools but general public for people to design a logo that is fitting.”
Meanwhile, the St Andrew Anglican Secondary School placed 1st and 2nd in the Integrity Commission’s Anti-corruption poster competition. They were awarded a desktop computer for one and laptop for two people. Third place went to Bishop College, which was awarded a printer.
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