UN-backed anti-corruption academy opens in Vienna

(VIENNA) - The United Nations, the European anti-fraud office and the Austrian government launched a new international organisation Thursday focused on anti-corruption training and research.

The International Anti-Corruption Academy based in Laxenburg, outside Vienna, kicked off with a conference attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and about 600 delegates from 92 countries.

Its founding document was signed by some 35 countries with others due to join at a later date, organisers said.

"Corruption is a poison for society and for the state: we must fight this poison with a concentrated effort," Austrian Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner ahead of the inauguration.

The new organisation was created by the Austrian government, the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

The World Bank estimated that worldwide corruption amounted to about 1.0 trillion dollars (780 billion euros).