Non-State Actors Experts' Meeting in Laxenburg, Austria
The Basel Institute on Governance co-organised with the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) the Non-State Actors Experts' Meeting, held on 2-3 September 2010 in Laxenburg, Austria. Attendance included prominent non-state actors from both developing and developed countries that play and important and active role in the asset recovery processes.
The participation comprised of five main theme groups: academia, civil society, private sector, service providers and media. Each of these groups play a distinct but equally important role within asset recovery. The meeting sought to clarify the roles of the non-state actors in the field, and draw up areas in which non-state actors have to drive the asset recovery agenda in co-ordination.
The meeting was the first event to be held at the IACA campus – the Palais Kaunitz-Wittgenstein, and was opened by Juanita Olaya, Director, Public and Private Governance, Basel Institute on Governance, Ilka Raddatz, Transition Team of the International Anti-Corruption Academy, and Alberto Groff, Swiss Mission to the United Nations. Martin Kreutner, Chair, IACA International Steering Committee, finalised the meeting with a presentation on the Academy. Andrew Feinstein from Corruption Watch addressed the audience with his keynote presentation on asset recovery, corruption and the arms trade.
The participants discussed important themes linked to asset recovery such as the advocacy work by civil-society organisations in recovering stolen assets, the need to conduct thorough research and collect reliable data in research in the field, the use of civil litigation in asset recovery. The meeting furthered discussed the role of banks, the financial industry and the private sector in general, and the need to engage in collaborative strategies that take the asset recovery efforts one step further.
In order to continue the momentum started by the experts' meeting and ensure transparency of the discussions, the Basel Institute on Governance will launch a publication dedicated to the practical aspects of non-state actors in the asset recovery processes.
