The UAE celebrates International Anti-Corruption Day

The UAE celebrates International Anti-Corruption Day, which falls on December 9 of each year, amid qualitative achievements and advanced global ranks in the areas of good governance, transparency, anti-corruption, and institutional excellence.

In the context of its sustainable development aspirations, the state adopted these standards by taking a number of measures and steps aimed at achieving its goals, including enacting laws and legislation aimed at strengthening these principles, in addition to signing international agreements concerned with combating corruption in all its forms, in addition to hosting international conferences specialized in this regard.

The UAE ranked fourth in the world in the field of government efficiency, for the year 2025, according to the annual competitiveness report issued by the Global Competitiveness Center, and first in the world in the absence of bureaucracy. These statistics clearly reflect that the country is working to enhance the performance and efficiency of the government apparatus and rationalize its performance in accordance with international standards.

The UAE has not overlooked the importance of international coordination in confronting the scourge of corruption and combating financial crimes, as it has intensified its efforts to enhance international coordination and exchange experiences in consolidating the principles of transparency, integrity, and combating financial crimes.

In this regard, the capital, Abu Dhabi, hosted a number of international conferences during the year 2025 that attracted an elite group of international experts and specialists, most notably the “Interpol Global Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery Conference,” which discussed best practices in government procurement, recovery of illicit assets, and cooperation between investigation and oversight bodies and the private sector.

A conference was also held last September on “The Role of Central Authorities in Asset Recovery,” with the participation of official delegations and experts from 14 countries, along with a number of specialized international organizations. The sessions centered on exchanging best practices and exploring new opportunities to enhance international cooperation in combating economic crimes and developing mechanisms for recovering cross-border assets, in a way that supports the common goal of establishing justice.

In a step that reflects the growing presence of the state in the international regulatory arena, the Emirates Accounting Authority won membership in the Executive Council of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), during the organization’s meeting held during the current year. This achievement is considered a milestone added to the state’s record in the field of good governance and financial oversight. The Authority was also elected to membership in the Executive Council of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, which constituted regional recognition of the state’s capabilities and its advanced position in supporting governance and business development. regulatory authority in the Asian continent.

The country’s achievement of this tangible progress over the past few years in the anti-corruption index and its achievement of advanced global ranks is due to its ability to use effective methods in confronting administrative and financial corruption through a package of legislation and laws, which have greatly contributed to combating financial crimes at the local and international levels.

In this context, the UAE is committed to the highest international standards in combating international financial crimes, through its efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, through effective measures to confront financial crime, which has consolidated its global position in combating financial crimes and illicit financing.

These efforts culminated in the UAE being removed from the “Enhanced Monitoring” list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the organization concerned with combating money laundering and terrorist financing, after the Supreme Committee for Supervising the National Strategy to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing succeeded in achieving this achievement, which enhances the country’s global reputation and confidence in its financial system and its national framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and serves its strategic plans to establish commercial and economic partnerships with various countries of the world.

International agreements represent an important part of countries’ commitment to the basic provisions and principles contained in these agreements, and because they have a positive impact in ensuring countries’ commitment to what is stated in them.

In this context, in 2005, the UAE signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and was open for signature from December 9 to 11, 2003, then ratified on February 22, 2006. It also signed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime on December 9, 2005 and ratified it on February 22, 2006.

The country joined as a founding member of the Financial Action Task Force for the Middle East and North Africa, which was established on November 30, 2004 as a voluntary regional association to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.