prijava
SARAJEVO, July 2 (FENA) - Corruption is like a computer virus if you have it in your computer, the programs and the system will slow down. Corruption is precisely the reason why investments, healthcare, education and social protection have all been affected, said Peter Duffy, Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in an interview for Klix.ba web portal.
Duffy will soon leave his post, and will be succeeded by Nancy Esslick, who currently leads the USAID Mission in Jordan.
Duffy also underlined that corruption, especially in the judiciary, is the main obstacle for further progress of BiH.
“We have constantly pointed to this fact. We work a lot with prosecutor offices in order for them to prosecute cases of corruption, then with the HJPC to detect corruption in their own ranks. When it comes to corruption, I would say that we are now at a very dangerous point in which people who try to stop corruption, to fight it, disclose, including the people in the judiciary, where there are good people, and in the field of investigative journalism, these people have now become victims and they are being harassed. We cannot allow this situation where people who try to fight and report corruption are viewed as the problem," said Duffy.
However, he stresses the need for an initiative within BiH and the actions of domestic institutions.
“We in USAID are only here to support this work and to help. We truly provide support but real change must happen. If we know that BiH in due time is to start negotiations with the EU and the opening of the first chapters, which are Chapters 23 and 24, the judiciary and the rule of law, how can we be optimistic when the EU will have for partners institutions like the HJPC which at the moment is in the focus of public attention because of corruption within its own ranks," Duffy told Klix.
(FENA) S. R.
