BEIJING: Saudi Arabia has been appointed the chair of the steering committee of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities for the 2025-2027 period.

The official who will represent the Kingdom on the GlobE Network is Nasser bin Ahmad Abaalkhail, who also serves as deputy for International Collaboration of the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority

The decision was taken at a meeting on Thursday in Beijing, and reflects the trust placed in the Kingdom to tackle international criminal networks, the SPA reported.

Mazin Al-Kahmous, president of the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, also known as Nazaha, congratulated the Saudi leadership on the announcement. He said this achievement reflects the leadership’s directives to position the Kingdom as a pioneering model in various fields, including combating corruption.

The GlobE Network is an initiative launched by the Kingdom during the G20 Summit ministerial meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2020.

It was officially adopted by the UN on Dec. 17, 2021, during the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, held in Egypt.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the Kingdom’s role in creating the network in his speech in 2021 at the opening of the first UN General Assembly special session against corruption

At that time, Spain was appointed chair of the network’s steering committee, while Saudi Arabia was vice chair.

Over the past three years, 219 anti-corruption agencies and international organizations, as well as over 120 countries, have joined the network.