Officials from 40 Govt. agencies attend training sessions on transparency in public procurement

Nearly 100 public officials trained to improve transparency in public procurement 

As a measure to reduce corruption and fraud in public procurement, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Short-Term Assistance to Improve Public Financial Management Reform Project (STAIR) conducted a series of training sessions for public officials on Improving Transparency in Public Procurement. 

The sessions were attended by 99 professionals from 40 government entities, including the Ministry of Finance and the Auditor General and Attorney General’s departments. The training sessions were conducted in collaboration with the Department of Public Finance at the Ministry of Finance’s Randora Auditorium from 17-25 November. Topics in the training program included a code of ethics, responsibilities of Cabinet-level procurement committees and the blacklisting of contractors.

STAIR works with agencies in the Government to meet their democratic and economic reform priorities. STAIR aims to reduce corruption in public procurement by educating public officials on sound anti-corruption strategies. Project activities are designed to strengthen the role, capacity and effectiveness of the Government. The project will increase the transparency and accountability of the Government, improve its effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of public services, bolster its capability to communicate with the public, strengthen its ability to incorporate public participation in policymaking and reduce opportunities for and incidences of corruption in public sector institutions.

The American people, through USAID, have provided development and humanitarian assistance in developing countries worldwide for over 50 years. Since 1956, the US Government has invested over $ 2 billion for the benefit of the Sri Lankan people.

For more information, contact the STAIR Project at [email protected]. For further details about USAID/Sri Lanka, go to www.usaid.gov/sri-lanka.