Doha: HE Ambassador of the State of Qatar and its Permanent Representative to the UN and International Organizations in Vienna, Jassim Yacoub Al Hammadi, affirmed the Arab Group's confirmation of the importance of maintaining the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the gains the Convention has achieved, along with its governmental, comprehensive, neutral, and technical nature, which does not aim to interfere in the internal affairs of States or classify them. This came in a statement HE Al Hammadi delivered on behalf of the Arab Group before the 11th session of the Conference of the States Parties to UNCAC convened in Doha.
According to Qatar News Agency, the statement emphasized the pivotal role of this Convention as a binding global instrument, the sole first-of-its-kind and most comprehensive one addressing diverse aspects of combating corruption. The Arab Group praised the ongoing efforts to achieve the SDGs ahead of 2030, contributed by Arab countries through national, regional, and global action plans, stemming from their conviction that achieving sustainable development constitutes an important incentive for preventing and combating corruption.
Al Hammadi stated that the group highlighted its efforts to combat corruption, particularly the Arab agreements adopted under the umbrella of the Arab League in support of joint Arab cooperation in this framework. He emphasized that the deliberations of the Conference, which aim to assess joint efforts to combat corruption and all related forms of crime, cannot be properly conducted without highlighting the serious and ongoing situations and the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories due to the methodical and brutal practices by Israel, the occupying power, a party to UNCAC.
The Arab Group reiterates its vehement condemnation of the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation for nearly two years in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted, according to the UN, in the killing of approximately 70,000 individuals, mostly women and children, and the injury of over 180,000 persons, in addition to the forced displacement of nearly two million civilians and the devastation of critical infrastructure, including the criminal justice system, he noted.
Al Hammadi further indicated that the Arab Group welcomes the New York 2025 Declaration issued by the International Conference on Peaceful Settlement of the Palestinian Issue, co-chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France, as well as Security Council Resolution 2803 on the cessation of hostilities in Gaza. He elaborated that the group applauds the efforts of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Arab member of the Security Council, in halting the Israeli aggression.
Al Hammadi referred to the Arab Group's welcome of the convening of the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit on Oct. 13, 2025, hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt and attended by a record number of world leaders and heads of governments. The Group extended its gratitude for reaching the Sharm El-Sheikh Agreement to end the war in Gaza and recalled the adoption of the Arab Emergency Summit in March 2025 for the Arab-Islamic Plan for Early Recovery and Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, he highlighted.
Al Hammadi further emphasized that the Group calls upon all donor countries and relevant international organizations to support this plan and to actively participate in the conference which Egypt is convening for this purpose. In the Arab Group Statement, Al Hammadi emphasized that this 11th session convenes concomitantly with the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of UNCAC, in the drafting and formulation of which the Arab States actively engaged, exerting significant efforts to integrate its provisions into their national legal systems.
The Arab States have effectively contributed to supporting the implementation of the Convention since its inception. Jordan hosted the first session in 2006, Qatar hosted the third session in 2009 alongside this current session, Morocco hosted the fourth session in 2011, the United Arab Emirates hosted the eighth session in 2019, and Egypt hosted the ninth session in 2021, which represents half of the total number of Conferences of States Parties since the entry into force of UNCAC, he highlighted.
Al Hammadi noted that the Arab States have actively engaged in efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention and to enhance its mechanisms and objectives through the decisions they have presented over the past years, including the decision submitted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on measuring corruption and the decision submitted by the State of Palestine on the protection of whistleblowers, both of which were adopted during the tenth session.
Al Hammadi also highlighted the Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration adopted during the ninth session, the follow-up decision during the tenth session, the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted during the eighth session, the Marrakech Declaration adopted during the fourth session, as well as the follow-up decisions to these declarations adopted in subsequent sessions.
He added that the Arab Group applauds the Arab draft decisions presented during the current session, including the Palestinian draft decision on enhancing cooperation between anti-corruption bodies and financial intelligence units to take effective measures to combat corruption and recover assets; the Moroccan draft decision on following up the Marrakech Declaration on the prevention of corruption; the Saudi draft decision on strengthening data collection to measure corruption and its impacts, assess the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, and promote integrity; and the Qatari draft decision addressing the second phase of the mechanism for reviewing the implementation of UNCAC.
This is alongside the Doha 2025 Declaration on boosting international cooperation, technical support, capacity building, and leveraging opportunities provided by artificial intelligence systems. He stressed that all of these initiatives are closely related to efforts to combat corruption and reflect the key priority it holds within the Arab States.
The Arab Group urges the States Parties to support these decisions and to adopt a spirit of collaboration in order to reach formulations that take into account the concerns and interests of all States Parties, as well as their right to combat corruption according to their national priorities and domestic laws, Al Hammadi continued.
Al Hammadi affirmed that this should be carried out in full alignment with the provisions of UNCAC and the relevant reference frameworks, while considering the interlinkages with the developmental, economic, and political trajectories of each of the States Parties. He also highlighted the active participation of the Arab States in various aspects of the mechanism for reviewing implementation, and welcomed the achievements of the mechanism while looking forward to the launch of its second phase in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and the relevant reference frameworks previously agreed upon.
The Group, he underlined, appreciates the efforts of the States Parties and the Secretariat in assessing the performance of the mechanism and following up on all its phases. It stresses the importance of preserving the achievements of the mechanism, ensuring that it does not become a tool for classifying or evaluating States, maintaining the voluntary nature of submitting Qatar review reports and the participation of relevant stakeholders in accordance with each State's priorities and domestic laws, and keeping it as a cooperative framework aimed at enhancing States' efforts and sharing expertise.
Al Hammadi further elaborated that the Arab Group underscores the importance of coordinated regional and global efforts to confront and combat corruption, particularly given its transboundary nature, which requires strengthening international cooperation, consistently with the obligations under the Convention, while taking into account the varying capacities and specificities of States and the principles of respecting sovereignty and non-meddling in internal affairs.
The Arab Group emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in responding to requests for mutual legal assistance to prevent, detect, and investigate corruption crimes, and to strengthen efforts to hold perpetrators accountable, he remarked. Al Hammadi noted that stepping up cooperation to prevent and combat corruption, illicit financial flows, and to recover and return confiscated assets in accordance with the provisions of the Convention would contribute to effective resource mobilization and enable States to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development.
The Arab Group underscores that combating corruption is a shared responsibility of all States and the paramount importance of providing technical assistance, he underlined. Accordingly, he said, the Group stresses the imperative of continuing and enhancing support to developing countries, with particular focus on States experiencing conflict or post-conflict situations, through the provision of technical assistance, capacity building, technology transfer, and financial and technical support in a sustainable manner, based on the requests of beneficiary States and in line with their identified needs and priorities.
Al Hammadi noted that the Arab Group urges the States Parties and development partners to contribute to the efforts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in this regard, and to continue global efforts, exchange experiences and best practices, and benefit from initiatives launched under the Office's auspices to prevent and combat corruption.
The Arab Group statement extended gratitude to the State of Qatar for the excellent organization of this conference, highlighting the presidency of the United States during the previous session and its outstanding performance over the past two years. The statement expressed full support to the President of the 11th session in successfully performing his duties, commending the efforts of the UNODC Secretariat in preparing and organizing the current session. The group further noted that the Arab Group aligns its statement with the statement of the Group of 77 and China (G77 and China).