The UN General Assembly, on Thursday, unanimously adopted
Nigeria-sponsored resolution on: “Promotion of International Cooperation to
Combat Illicit Financial Flows” in order to foster sustainable development.
The Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York,
reports that the resolution was strongly supported at various levels by the
African Group and the G-77 including China.
NAN also reports that: “The resolution
reiterated its deep concern about the impact of illicit financial flows, in
particular those caused by tax evasion and corruption, on the economic, social
and political stability and development of societies.”
At the adoption, Akinremi Bolaji,
Minister Plenipotentiary and Head, Second Committee, reiterated his earlier
calls on members to pursue policy coherence and create an enabling environment
to combat illicit financial flows.
Bolaji said: “It is important to remind
ourselves that the attainment of sustainable development by most developing
countries, especially African States, would remain a puzzle unless the UN
fulfill its role as a veritable platform for facilitating cooperation among
member states as well as with the UN system.
“Mr. President, it is heart-warming for my delegation
that in our common bid to combat Illicit Financial Flows, the General Assembly
today adopts this resolution entitled, Promotion of International Cooperation
to Combat Illicit Financial Flows in order to Foster Sustainable Development.
“The resolution aptly linked realisation of sustainable
development to combating Illicit Financial Flows and calls on Member States to
scale up cooperation in this aspect. It is essential for Member States to
cooperate among themselves and with other stakeholders, so as to provide
necessary support for national efforts in combating illicit financial flows,
for the attainment of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.”
He called on international financial and monetary institutions and
systems to engage their expertise and mandates to combat such flows and assist
in the recovery of stolen assets. He said their activities, including those of
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), should move beyond data
collection to providing intelligence leads to assist in forestalling and
recovering them.
“In this regards, Nigeria wishes to reiterate earlier calls
upon Member States to pursue policy coherence and create enabling environment
for combating Illicit Financial Flows and achieving sustainable development. More
importantly, we call on the International Financial and Monetary
Institutions/System to engage their expertise and mandates to combat Illicit
Financial Flows and assist in the recovery of stolen assets.
“The activities of these institutions, including the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) should go beyond data collection on
occurrences of illicit financial flows, rather these institutions should
provide intelligence lead that could assist in forestalling and recovering of
such flows,” he
said.
According to him, it is therefore, the understanding of my delegation
that this resolution will provide the necessary political tools for financial
and monetary institutions to facilitate cooperation among Member States, in the
bid to combat illicit financial flows.
“It is imperative to accelerate international cooperation
against illicit financial flows, which undisputedly constitute a major disabler
to sustainable development, having direct negative impact on the ability of
Member States to raise, retain and mobilise national resources to finance
sustainable development.
“More importantly, Nigeria wishes to re-echo the targets set
by Addis Ababa Action Agenda and urge Member States that have not done so, to
ratify and accede to the UN Convention against Corruption.
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