The conference on "Strengthening the National Framework for Integrity in the Public Sector" took place on Tuesday 23.04.2024 at the Wyndham Grand Athens Hotel (2, Megalou Alexandrou Street, Athens), where more than 400 public sector executives (online and in person) had the opportunity to attend the conference, during which the results and actions of the cooperation between the National Transparency Authority and the OECD were discussed and analyzed.
This project aimed to support the effective implementation of the priorities of the National Strategic Plan for Anti-Corruption (NSP) and the National Integrity System (NIS), with actions to strengthen the institutional framework and upgrade the operational capacity of public institutions.
Executives from the OECD and the NTA presented and commented on the following topics:
- The results of the mapping of national and international practices on how to identify, disclose, address, prevent, detect and manage existing and potential conflict of interest situations of public officials, officials, and functionaries.
- Report on proposals to consider possible legislative changes, good practices and tools relating to the management of conflicts of interest in the public sector.
- An online tool (training video) with seminars for public officials on conflict of interest.
Ms. Alexandra Rogakou, Interim Governor of the NTA, noted that " The National Transparency Authority has the coordinating role in this national effort to gradually change the mindset in our country and create a culture of zero tolerance for corruption". Referring to the National Strategic Plan for the Fight against Corruption for the period 2022-2025 and the National Integrity System, she noted that they have been developed by the National Transparency Authority and constitute the basic regulatory framework of Greece for the effective prevention of corruption and the promotion of integrity and transparency in the Greek public sector, as integral elements and indicators of quality of good governance.
Ms. M. Konstantinidou, Head of the Directorate General for Integrity and Accountability of the NTA, referring to the thematic section "online tool (training video) with seminars for public officials on conflict of interest" presented a video with the following topics: (a) introduction to public integrity; (b) the New Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Public Servants; (c) the Integrity Advisor; (d) the Protection of persons reporting violations of EU law and offenses of bribery and influence peddling.
In between the screening of the videos via the Mentimeter platform, questions were posed to the audience based on these themes.
Mr. Ioannis Foustanakis, Head of the Strategic Planning and Behavioral Analysis Department, presented and commented on the results of the survey conducted with the participation of approximately 3,100 civil servants to measure the implementation and impact of integrity policies applied in the Greek public administration.
It should be noted that the Conference is taking place in the framework of the implementation of the project "Strengthening the Framework for Integrity, Transparency and Anti-Corruption", co-funded by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (EEA Grants/ EEA Grants) 2014-2021, representing the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.
Presentations of speakers and a video of the conference can be found at the following link:
Watch the conference proceedings again on the NTA YouTube channel: