US assistance for combatting corruption in Sri Lanka

The United States has announced its continued assistance to four countries including Sri Lanka to prevent and combat corruption.

The US said it has contributed $1 million to the World Bank and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) to organize Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) and provide technical assistance to support country-level capacity building and coordination on asset recovery cases. 

GFAR provides a platform to enable the four focus countries - Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Ukraine - to make tangible progress on significant asset recovery cases in connection with financial centers and other jurisdictions, the US Department of State said in a statement.

In addition to co-hosting GFAR, the United States said it has provided significant technical assistance to the four focus countries to strengthen anticorruption and asset recovery efforts. 

Since 2016, the U.S. government has provided foreign assistance for anti-corruption efforts in Sri Lanka to improve the functioning of Sri Lanka’s legal system and civil society, and to enhance good governance.

Programs include the provision of a Resident Legal Advisor to provide anti-corruption and asset recovery training, and support to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption.