The Palestinian Academy for Integrity (NAZAHA) represented by Abeer Musleh and the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) represented by Rafiq al-Natsheh signed a memorandum of understanding to cement their cooperation in their war against corruption and effort to enhance integrity and transparency.
Musleh expressed her gratitude to PACC for their interest in the Academy’s work. ‘It is an honor to tie in with PACC’, NAZAHA CEO explained, ‘the Academy’s effort against corruption is civil work per se; still, it rounds off PACC’s battle against corruption.’
Musleh also highlighted that NAZAHA looks forward to finding experts and scholars with a niche specialization in the field of corruption resistance and integrity enhancement. Musleh also said, ‘the cooperative work between the NAZAHA and PACC under this Memorandum of Understanding is but a kickoff of fruitful future cooperation.’
For his part, al-Natsheh underlined that PACC represents all the sections of the Palestinian society and is not a sidekick of any political party or Ministry. ‘Acting in the best interest of the Palestinian people’ the commissioner explained, ‘the Palestinian Law provides for the independence of PACC to consider all the complaints without selectivity and regardless of the complainant. Bottom line, the complaint is what concern us.’
Al-Natsheh added that PACC wields all resources to boost cooperation with all government institutions, CSOs, and NGOs to promote integrity, justice, and legal approach.
The parties agreed under the Memorandum of Understanding to develop a corruption risk management guide for the public institutions in addition to a specizalized guide on public sector governance. The cooperation should also zero in on the introduction of ‘integrity officers’ at the ministries and public institutions. To that end, an assessment paper a reference paper for the integrity officer to be discussed in a workshop with stakeholders.
The Memorandum of Understanding provides for the exchange of awareness activities, training, and joint work on working papers at local and international levels. In the same vein, three media meetings to be held to raise the awareness of corruption resistance at the Palestinian universities and colleges, namely, the American University, The Modern University College, and Hebron University.