SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
Fighting corruption is a priority, while youth should be empowered to recognise and become resilient to everyday corruption.
That’s the main message from the event headlined “My Anti-Corruption Diary“, which aims to educate youth and young political leaders on ethical leadership and accountable governance. Prior to the start of the event on Tuesday, speakers assessed that through the project, it was expected for youth to take initiative and present proposals to improve the situation within party structures.
The project considers different mechanisms to report corruption and underlines the importance of institutional capacities for efficiently fighting corruption. Trainings aim to build a society that is sounder, where there will be the rule of law, justice, and equity.
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Director Virginia Elliott voiced satisfaction, saying that through the project, multiple young people committed to greater transparency and accountability in everyday life would be able to be seen. She described fighting corruption, strengthening the rule of law, and good governance as one of the top priorities of the U.S. Government.
“We need to fight corruption not only at the highest levels, but where it manifests in everyday life,” the INL Director stated, adding that My Anti-Corruption Diary was a project to empower youth to recognise and to resist the corruption in their everyday life.
Lence Ristoska, Liaison Prosecutor at Eurojust, stated that the project aimed to address corruption from one level to another, that is, from the level of those having the decisive power in the future.
“We’ve chosen youth and young political leaders because we believe that by promoting ethical leadership, a new standard in governance, we will truly be able to face challenges being set by corruption. Our impression that so far, there’s been a lot of talk about corruption, but results have been absent, which is why we think that by addressing this problem precisely among youth and by enhancing their capacities to recognise and build resilience toward corruption, we, as a society, will be able to truly have significant results in fight corruption,” she stressed.
Asked how youth would be encouraged to report such cases considering the truly low level of confidence in the judiciary, the Prosecutor stated that the goal of the project was to consider all mechanisms at the youth’s disposal.
“I don’t think that the judiciary is the only organ where corruption can be reported. The goal of this project is for us to precisely consider all mechanisms at the youth’s disposal. Yesterday, we had a workshop with secondary school students and were pleasantly surprised by the level at which youth feel corruption and how aware they are when it comes to the importance of corruption’s impact on their lives,” she added.
