10 May 2012, by Lizzie Johnson, Transparency International.

The UNCAC Coalition Coordination Committee got off to a flying start into their second year, following elections held between 18 and 24 April 2012.

Five of the 12 Committee members were up for re-election after only one year, based on a special rule for the first elected Committee. These were AfriCOG (Gladwell Otieno), for one of the Sub-Saharan Africa seats; 5th Pillar (Vijay Anand), for the South Asia seat; SHERPA (Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere), for one of the Europe seats; Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ) (Ezequiel Nino) for the Americas seat; and, Christian Aid (Eric Gutierrez), for one of the International Organisation seats. All were uncontested and elected this time around for a regular two-year term.

With the entire Committee remaining together for another year, it can grow and build on the shared experience gained over the Committee’s first year of existence.

Each year, 5 or 6 Committee seats will be up for election to give other Members a chance to lead the Coalition. At the same time, the continuing Committee representatives can share their knowledge with any newcomers to help strengthen the Committee and work towards a more effective Coalition. The Committee term of office is normally two years. This year, the five seats up for re-election were identified by choosing names out of a hat.

Rotation of the Chair

Alongside the elections, Vincent Lazatin of TAN in the Philippines began a six-month term as Coordination Committee Chair, rotating from his previous position as Vice Chair and taking over from Professor Slagjana Taseva of TI Macedonia. This rotation was based on a decision last year of the Coordination Committee. Slagjana Taseva, led the Committee for the first 10 months of its existence, and will now serve as one of two Vice-Chairs in addition to Gladwell Otieno. The Coordination Committee sent Prof. Taseva a letter of thanks for her leadership during her term as Chair. Greatly admired and appreciated is Professor Taseva’s professionalism and initiative, particularly around the Fourth Conference of States Parties (COSP) in Marrakech, 2011.