financial crime

Combating Corruption: The Relevance & Capacities of Faith-Based Organizations

Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly Against Corruption (UNGASS)

Side meeting: “Combating Corruption: The Relevance and Capacities of Faith-Based Organizations”

Representatives from diverse faith traditions, along with UN officials with direct experience in combating and proposing solutions to corruption—trafficking, public corruption, organized crime—will discuss the role of FBOs in corruption prevention and intervention efforts to improve ethics, justice, rule of law, good governance, and sustainable development.

Moderator: Dr. Thomas G. Walsh, Chairman, Universal Peace Federation; Co-Chair, Coalition of Faith-Based Organizations, USA

Panelists:

  • Amb. Thomas Stelzer, Dean, International Anti-Corruption Center, Vienna
  • Mrs. Livia Krings, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer in the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Austria
  • Dr. Liberato “Levi” Bautista, President of The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CoNGO) in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations and Main Representative to the UN for the United Methodist Church-General Board of Church and Society
  • Imam Sheikh Mohammad Ismail, The Muslim Chaplain, The University of Sheffield, The Octagon Centre, Sheffield, UK
  • Bishop Munib Younan, Former President, Lutheran World Federation; Honorary President, Religions for Peace, State of Palestine

Question and Answer:

For Q&A, please email questions to coalitionfbo@gmail.com Thank you!

This webinar is sponsored by:

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Drugs & Crime-NY, please visit nyngoc.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org.

Celebrate International Women’s Day with the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY

The NGO Committee on Ageing calls your attention to our next Program Meeting on Thursday, March 4th, from 11:00am to 12:30pm EST.

Register here!

Program Agenda

Welcome and Announcements: Cynthia Stuen, Chair, NGO CoA

Moderator: Sandra Timmermann, Co-Chair, NGO CoA Program Subcommittee

Updates on OEWGA and other business: Frances Zainoeddin, Vice-Chair, NGO CoA

The COVID19 “She-Session”: The Impact of the Pandemic on the Economic Security of Older Women

  • Melissa Grober-Morrow, Thought Leadership Director, Financial Resilience, AARP
  • Ben F. Bolton, Director, Global Partnership Engagement, Office of International Affairs, AARP

Q & A and Discussion: Erica Dhar, AARP

Plans for the Commission on the Status of Women and CoA Member Input: Susan Somers, INPEA (Time will be allotted for member organizations to discuss their plans for CSW.)

The NGO CoA thanks the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) for hosting the meeting on Zoom.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com.

UN Webinar on the COVID-19 Impact on Transfer Pricing

The COVID-19 outbreak is not only a health crisis, but a jobs crisis, a humanitarian crisis and a development crisis of unprecedented scale and dimension and it demands unprecedented efforts, including to finance the response and recovery.

The UN Webinar on the COVID-19 Impact on Transfer Pricing will be a 4-hour virtual learning event on the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the policy and administrative aspects of the transfer pricing analyses for developing countries in their efforts to mobilize domestic resources for response and recovery. Given the relevance of the topic to stakeholders from all regions and multiple disciplines, the event will be open to the public. The forthcoming update of the Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries, approved by UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters in its 21st Session, will be considered in light of the COVID-19-related crisis.

Register here!

The webinar is designed to:

• Give participants a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted business’ value chains and how the rapid changes and economic downturn have impacted the transfer pricing position of taxpayers and posed a challenge to tax administrations in assessing transfer prices under these circumstances.

• Identify some of the specific issues faced by developing countries on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the transfer pricing position of their taxpayers and suggest practical solutions to these challenges.

• Give particular attention to the issue of the lack of local comparables to undertake the transfer pricing analysis based on the arm’s length principle. It is acknowledged that this issue is not exclusive of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been exacerbated by it.

• It is acknowledged that while many businesses have incurred losses, some may have experienced extraordinary gains. It is important for developing countries to identify these different circumstances and have a better understanding of how to deal with extraordinary losses, as undue treatment of losses can further erode the tax base.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org

Launch of FACTI Panel Final Report

The FACTI Panel is the High Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda. It aims to improve the world’s chances of achieving sustainable development by making recommendations that both strengthen current efforts to combat illicit financial flows, and close remaining gaps in the international system.

The FACTI Panel is set to launch its final report at 8:00-10:30 (EST) on Thursday, 25 February 2021. The event will be conducted virtually with simultaneous interpretation for all UN official languages.

All interested participants can register by clicking the registration link below and filling out the form. After registering the FACTI Panel Secretariat will directly send you connection details to attend the launch.

Register here.

Read the FACTI Panel interim report here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-New York, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Intersessional Meeting of the COP to the UN Convention Against Corruption: Asset Recovery

Intersessional meeting of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption: Thematic focus on asset recovery (Vienna)

This meeting is second of five preparatory meetings to be held before the Special Session of the General Assembly Against Corruption.

Tentative timeline available here: https://ungass2021.unodc.org/uploads/ungass2021/documents/session1/UNGASS2021_tentative_timeline.pdf

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CoNGO Notes: For more information the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org

[UN observance] International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2020: “Acting together to achieve social and environmental justice for all”

To follow the worldwide commemoration,

  • A global interactive event in FRENCH and ENGLISH will be organized on Facebook Watch Party at 11 am New York /3pm UTC/5 pm Paris /6pm Nairobi.
  • For those not able to attend the Facebook Watch Party, the video of the global commemoration will be uploaded on ATD Fourth World’s Youtube channel on October 17, at midnight EST.

Register here

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org or facebook.com/NGOCSocD. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org

Launch of FACTI Panel Interim Report

Launch of the Interim Report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda

High-Level Launch Event and Panel Discussion
24 September 2020, 12.00 – 14.30 (UTC) / 8.00 – 10.30 (EDT)

The event is being convened to present the interim report of the FACTI Panel, which identifies the major gaps in implementation and the systemic shortcomings of the existing international frameworks for tax cooperation, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering. It will provide a high-level forum for discussing the priority actions for addressing the identified challenges, particularly in light of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on progress toward the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The event will bring the FACTI Panel chairs together with high-level representatives from Member States. It will also foster a discussion amongst civil society, international institutions, academia and the business sector to explore the issues highlighted in the FACTI Panel’s interim report.

The event will consist of two parts: a high-level segment and a moderated panel discussion among invited speakers with a brief interactive dialogue.

*Registration is required. Please register here to receive the connections details.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org

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