Private sector tackles Code of Ethics
Executives and representatives of eleven National Private Sector Organisations (NPSO) were consulted and introduced to best practice Codes of Conduct in the Pacific at the Pacific Islands Private Sector’s (PIPSO) Regional Capacity Building workshop recently held in Nadi.
The UN-Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) Project facilitated the morning session during the PIPSO workshop to enable the NPSOs who are all PIPSO members to take ownership of a new Code of Conduct relevant to today’s Pacific private sector.
PIPSO chairman Howard Politini, said that private sector operators wanted to make sure they were always striving to improve and conduct themselves fairly with customers, staff and colleagues.
“PIPSO initiated a research project with UN-PRAC after finding out that very few Chambers of Commerce in the Pacific have a contemporary Code of Conduct - so we decided this is an issue that we should address at our annual conference in Nadi,” said Mr Politini.
The anti corruption sessions follows on from an integrity and anticorruption regional UN-PRAC-PIPSO workshop in 2015.
The Code of Conduct was put forward for consideration at the PIPSO Annual General Meeting on 26 July 2017.
The Chambers present also welcomed UN-PRAC to undertake more workshops and training in-country with their national private sector membership so national chambers can develop or review their own Codes of Conduct. “UN-PRAC has worked closely with the private sector in the Pacific and feedback from this latest PIPSO workshop shows the Pacific private sector wants to be a more active partner in boosting integrity, addressing corruption and assisting governments to review their obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC),” said UNDP Anti-Corruption programme associate Luisa Senibulu.
The workshop was from the 24 th to the 26 th of July 2017.
The United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) Project supports 15 Pacific island countries (PICs) to strengthen their capacity to address corruption and provide better services.
This four-year project, funded by the Australian Government, is jointly implemented by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
PIPSO is the peak private sector organisation in the Pacific Islands region that advocates the interests of private sectors at regional level and contributes to the development of policies and strategies for private sector development and growth.