*EPF411 06/10/2004
G8 Joins Peru, Georgia, Nicaragua, Nigeria to Fight Corruption
(Leaders announce new "compacts" to promote transparency) (380)

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial powers have announced plans to work with the governments of Georgia, Peru, Nicaragua and Nigeria to support their efforts to eradicate corruption.

In separate statements issued June 10, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced new compacts with each of the four countries to promote transparency as a means of strengthening democracy and boosting development.

The action builds on the G8 Anti-Corruption Action Plan issued during the leaders' 2003 summit in Evian, France. The leaders met for their 2004 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, from June 8-10.

Under the transparency compacts, G8 countries will provide technical assistance to partner countries, work with them to develop action plans to achieve measurable results, and enlist the support of private companies, civil society and international institutions to enhance public financing and accounting methods, the G8 said.

Each of the four countries named as new G8 partners expressed its commitment to fighting corruption and outlined areas in which it seeks G8 assistance and support.

"Better governance is not just a campaign slogan: it is a national mission," the government of Georgia said in a statement. Georgia's main priorities include monitoring and control of national finances, establishment of an e-government initiative to make laws, regulations and other relevant information available to the public, and adoption of financial disclosure rules for public officials, according to the statement.

In Nicaragua, the government is pursuing a legislative agenda in 2004 that includes a public service ethics law, a judicial service career law that ensures a competitive merit-based system for selecting judicial officials, and reforms to laws on government procurement, according to the Nicaraguan government's statement.

Nigeria's anti-corruption program includes concrete measures -- preventive as well as punitive -- that address issues of accountability, transparency and efficiency, the government said. Reforms in Nigeria include efforts to maintain macro-economic stability, enact public financing reforms and accelerate privatization, according to the statement.

Peru's plans include increasing financial resources for the anti-corruption judiciary system and recommending that the judiciary give priority to prosecuting the most important cases of corruption.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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