A cooperation agreement was signed today between the National Coordination Committee to Combat Corruption, headed by the Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki, and the United Nations Development Programme in Cairo. The agreement sought to create a new organization aimed at formulating new methods to combat corruption and provide logistical support with a new database cataloguing instances of corruption. The signing of the agreement was overseen by Minister of Information Salah Abdel-Maqsud, Hisham Ganina, President of Egypt's Central Auditing Organisation, and ambassador Amr Abu Aish, aid to the Foreign Minister. Mekki stated after the signing that he was not pleased with Egypt's recent downgrade from 112 to 116 on the world ranking of countries committed to combating corruption, labelling this downgrade as a betrayal to the ideals of the 25 January revolution. He reinforced the need to review and renew legislation aimed at combating corruption, and creating new institutions to implement such policies. He added, “New legislative packages need to be proposed that will transform Egypt into a society that is seen worldwide as the country that works hardest to combat corruption". He went on to say that only legislation enjoying the support of the Egyptian people would be sent to the Shura Council, and that such legislation would not be implemented until consultations with all the relevant stakeholders. Mekki added that a number of new pieces of legislation aimed at fighting corruption were being considered, including laws aimed at preventing conflicts of interest, witness protection, and freedom of information. The National Co-ordination Committee stated that it was working through its sub-committees in reviewing new national strategies to combat corruption.
