Following a historic act aimed at continuing the transformation of the Dominican State, the General Directorate of Ethics and Government Integrity (DIGEIG), created the Government Integrity and Regulatory Compliance Commissions (CIGCN) and Integrity Officers of 80 new public institutions in the country, which will work for the implementation of a culture of integrity through regulatory compliance.
In a democratic and equitable manner, the representatives of the CIGCNs and Integrity Officers proceeded to elect the general coordinator of each of the commissions to which they belong, and who will henceforth be responsible for drawing up their risk maps, knowledge and treatment of conflict of interest and anti-bribery policies and standards.
During the ceremony, the general director of the DIGEIG, Dr. Milagros Ortiz Bosch, assured that these commissions represent a possibility of change to prevent, organize and continue building a country where no conflict hinders the sustainable development of the Dominican Republic.
Ortiz Bosch valued the commitment of ministries, directorates and other government agencies for assuming the transformation of Decree No.791-21 of President Luis Abinader which declared as a high priority the transformation of the Public Ethics Commissions into Government Integrity and Regulatory Compliance Commissions, through a process of free and participatory elections taking into account all occupational groups of the public administration.
“With public servants trained in each of the roles they must play to defend the public good, it is a giant step to transform how things are done in public administration and positively change the State for the benefit of all Dominicans,” stressed the director general of the DIGEIG.
She pointed out that the purpose is to continue forging a better country, united with very clear goals, and this is achieved by all putting maximum effort in the same direction.
“This is to make coherence with the policies that the government has been carrying out from the beginning, which was to order that all procedures be carried out in compliance with every detail of the provisions of the government regulations, of the special laws governing public administration,” concluded Ortiz Bosch.
In an unprecedented act
The director of Ethics and Integrity, Yovanny Diaz, assured that this is a process of change where each member of the commissions is there to protect the public administration and strengthen the channels for complaints.
“It is important that we all make a reflection, a commitment, to create a culture of integrity. The great challenge is to internalize these changes,” concluded Diaz.
International panelists
The leading specialist in State Modernization in the Division of Innovation to Serve the Citizen of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Nicolás Dassen, spoke about the Conflict of Interest Law and the importance of public representatives being able to exercise their functions without putting personal matters before the good performance of their assignments as representatives of the population.
Likewise, Frédéric Boehm, specialist in Public Integrity in Latin America, from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), spoke about the work that must be done by the governments of the region to increase the levels of trust in the State, qualifying these points in 5 fundamental axes: integrity, openness, responsiveness, equitable government and reliability.
The process of conformation
Each of the members of these commissions and Integrity Officers have been trained in the ISO 31000 Risk Management, ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System and ISO 37301 Compliance Management System standards, among other training. This knowledge will serve to ensure that the State’s resources are well managed for the benefit of all citizens.
Commitment at the highest level
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by its highest authorities, who pledged to continue working towards a culture of integrity.
Source: presidencia.gov.do
