Emir honours winners of Anti-Corruption Award

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani honoured the winners of ‘Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Anti-Corruption Excellence Award’ in Vienna, Austria yesterday.
Organisations, individuals and groups from Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and Africa were recognised at a ceremony held under the auspices of the United Nations to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day.
The annual awards were inaugurated at the ceremony at the Hofburg Palace in the Austrian capital. Seven recipients were chosen across all four categories: Anti-Corruption Innovation, Anti-Corruption Academic Research, Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity and Anti-Corruption Lifetime Achievement.
HH the Emir presented the award for academic research to both Dr Miodrag Labovic from Canada and the Research Group on Issues of Corruption and Democracy from France.
The innovation award was given to the Afghan group “Art of Lords,” and Ms Hanan Khandakji, a Palestinian journalist who had a prominent role in investigative journalism.
HH the Emir presented the award of creativity of young people to both “Anti-Corruption Youth Greec”, from Greece, and “TM music” from Tanzania, an orchestra involved in spreading the culture of anti-corruption through music.
The lifetime achievement award for the fight against corruption was given to Guatemala’s Attorney General, Thelma Aldana, for her investigations in government corruption and tax evasion.
Addressing the ceremony, Qatar’s Attorney General and UN Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption HE Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri said: “We started preparing for this award last year in St. Petersburg, during the 8th Annual Conference of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities.”
He expressed thanks to HH the Emir for this important and far-reaching initiative which, he said, requires committed and courageous people who have determination to fight corruption at all levels.
For his part, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed thanks to HH the Emir and the Qatar Government for supporting global anti-corruption efforts, crime prevention and the rule of law through the implementation of the Doha Declaration adopted last year at the 13th Crime Congress.
Congratulating the award recipients, the UN chief said: “Corruption is a strangling root that reaches deep into all our societies. It chokes hopes and frustrates opportunities.”
For his part, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, praised HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for launching the award to honour those who are fighting the corrupt practices.
The ambassador of Mexico to Austria Ms Alicia B said on a personal note as Permanent Representative of the International Organisations in Vienna: “It’s my strong personal conviction that multilateral diplomacy must focus on concrete results that contribute to tangible process, including in areas such as accountability and transparency mechanism that live up to the expectations of our societies.
“The impact of the Anti-Corruption Excellence Award in support of the work of the United Nations is an example of such achievements.”
On behalf of the winners, Guatemala’s Attorney General, Thelma Aldana expressed thanks to HH the Emir for launching this award, and to support foster the exchange of knowledge, information and best practices in the fight against corruption, saying “in the name of winners, it’s a great honour to receive an excellence award in the fight against the corruption, and we find ourselves in a defining moment in the anti-corruption efforts in various regions of the world.”
She added that all look forward to promoting the rule of law in various parts of the world.
She also commended the efforts of the UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Yuri Fedotov for their efforts in this area.
The ceremony was attended by senior officials, politicians, academics and intellectuals from around the world and members of the diplomatic corps in Vienna.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is an annual international award is given in co-operation with the United Nations in recognition of His Highness for the pioneers in the field of fight against corruption and crime at the international level.

Emir unveils anti-corruption monument
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday unveiled the monument of “Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Anti-Corruption Excellence Award” in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, at the garden of the Vienna International Centre. The monument, with shape of a hand of steel, symbolises solidarity of all the nations of the world as one hand, for co-operation in order to combat corruption.