U.S. National Statement, International Development Law Organization (IDLO) Assembly of Parties (as delivered)
Rome, November 23, 2021
Congratulations to you, Ambassador Saleem, and the Pakistani Mission on a very successful first year as President of this extremely important organization.
I would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Vice Minister Sereni, Director General Marrapodi, Ambassador Lomonaco, and our Italian hosts for making possible today’s in-person meeting.
Let me please also welcome IDLO’s newest member party, Mauritania. Your presence – as well as Cyprus’s intention to join soon – confirms that the world is increasingly focused on the rule of law and access to justice as essential ingredients for sustainable development, peace, and human rights.
We Member Parties know that IDLO is a unique institution, capable of delivering concrete results in challenging environments. I sincerely hope that soon, we might have the chance to travel together and experience first-hand how IDLO’s empowering of justice seekers transforms individual lives and lifts up entire communities.
With the respect to the DG’s report:
The United States strongly welcomes IDLO’s growing contribution to global anti-corruption efforts. Corruption undermines public trust, wastes public resources, exacerbates inequalities, and eats away at the foundations of democratic societies.
For these reasons, President Biden has identified combatting corruption as a core U.S. national security priority. The President has initiated a comprehensive review of U.S. anticorruption efforts – at home and abroad – to include efforts to curb illicit finance and hold corrupt actors accountable.
We are proud to support IDLO’s anti-corruption programming in Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, and we are encouraged by IDLO’s participation in the G-20 Anti-Corruption Working Group and the UN General Assembly Special Session Against Corruption.
Climate change and COVID-19 affect each and every one of us, and yet already marginalized individuals and communities are often disproportionally impacted. Vulnerable groups often lack built-up resilience to handle climate or public health shocks, and often struggle to access emergency assistance available to others.
We therefore welcome IDLO’s research into the linkages between climate action and the rule of law. And we enthusiastically endorse IDLO’s partnerships with the FAO and the WHO, looking
into pandemic response measures that also safeguard vulnerable groups’ access to safe foods and health services. The United States urges IDLO to continue to use its growing Operation Fund to launch such initiatives, which can then be taken up more systematically with donor support.
Before I close, I would also like to congratulate Liberia on the recent votes by the legislature to revise its anti-trafficking in persons law – with IDLO’s support – in keeping with international standards. This is a great example of the concrete results IDLO programming delivers for vulnerable communities through its rule-of-law approach.
We appreciate the Director General’s regular updates on IDLO operations in Afghanistan, including today. Safety and security of IDLO staff and families is of utmost importance to us. We look forward to partnering closely to shore up gains made on the Rule of Law over the last twenty years.
We also welcome further updates on IDLO’s forthcoming human resources strategy, as well as on ongoing negotiations to secure appropriate recognition of IDLO’s legal status, including through Host Country Agreements. We request the Secretariat keep member parties apprised on these important topic.