Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption

Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption
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Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption

Egypt to Host International Conference on Combating Corruption

Egypt is scheduled to host the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC/COSP9) in Sharm El Sheikh from 13 December to 17, 2021.

The conference is considered one of the most important international conferences that brings together member states, parliamentarians, international, regional and non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, to discuss anti-corruption matters.

It will review the UN Convention against Corruption, which is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument.

According to Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA), participants will discuss means to prevent and reduce corruption, enhance international cooperation to better confront all forms of corruption, and discuss the ways to recover from the pandemic and to move forward following the first UN General Assembly special session against corruption (UNGASS) that was was held in June.

The conference will touch on various relevant topics, including preventing corruption through education, and through women’s role in promoting integrity, the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, anti-corruption efforts in Africa, the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network, and the challenges and opportunities offered by ICTs and digitalization to fight corruption and the urban governance initiatives intended to reduce corruption.

Cairo had stressed during its participation in the General Assembly’s special session in June on the importance of bolstering international and regional cooperation in the field of building human, technical and technological capacities to pursue corruption crimes.

Egypt said its participation in the special session’s activities reflect “keenness on strengthening efforts to combat corruption being a harmful scourge that undermines efforts to achieve development,” the foreign ministry had stated.



Gaza Rescuers Say 4 Dead, 30 Missing under Rubble after Israeli Strike

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)
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Gaza Rescuers Say 4 Dead, 30 Missing under Rubble after Israeli Strike

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al Farabi school following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 25 April 2025. (EPA)

Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Saturday killed at least four people and left "more than 30" feared buried under the rubble of a house.

"Our crews were able to recover four martyrs and five wounded following the attack," which hit a family home in Gaza City's Sabra neighborhood at dawn, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which more than a month ago had resumed its offensive against Hamas across the Gaza Strip.

Bassal said that "more than 30" people are presumed missing under the rubble of the targeted house in Gaza City, in the territory's north, and "our crews cannot reach them because of the lack of the necessary machinery".

According to figures released Friday by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, the renewed Israeli campaign since March 18 had killed at least 2,062 Palestinians, taking the overall war death toll in the territory to 51,439 people.

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel says the renewed military campaign aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives.