National conference on accreditation according to international standards as a tool to prevent corruption

On May 18, 2023, the Institute for Accreditation of the Republic of North Macedonia (IARNM), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), organised the “National Conference on Accreditation of International Standards as a tool to prevent corruption”.

       The thematic content of the Conference was aimed at familiarising the public with the role and significance of the need to incorporate international standards ISO 37001 and ISO 27001 and groups of related standards through accredited certification in the public and private sectors, as available tools for preventing corruption and for security protection of information systems.

       The event was opened and moderated by Mr.Sloboden Chokrevski – director of IARNM, and the following held their speeches:

– Slavica Grkovska, M.Sc. – Deputy of the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia

– Don Karmin – acting representative of USAID in the Republic of North Macedonia

– Iona Kosma, Director – International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)

– Mirela Zecevic, M.Sc., director of the Croatian Accreditation Agency (HAA) and

– Dražan Primorac, M.Sc., director of the Institute for Accreditation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BATA).

       The event was attended by numerous participants: government officials, representatives from the public and business sectors, representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), representatives of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), employees of IARNM, representatives of conformity assessment bodies and journalists.

      The conference is included among the activities of the current “Activity for Anti-Corruption and Integrity”, financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).


      Experienced experts/lecturers spoke to the participants about the essence, meaning and benefits of the introduction/incorporation of international standards and certification of management systems by accredited certification bodies.

      On the topic “ISO 37001:2016 – Anti-corruption management system and increasing trust in institutions”, the expert elaborations were presented by:

      – PhD. Aneta Arnaudovska, International Anti-corruption Adviser and

      – PhD. Goce Naumovski, professor at the Faculty of Law “Justinian the First” at UKIM – Skopje.

Nina Ugrinoska, international lead auditor for ISO 27001, ISO 20000-1 and ISO 22301, gave an expert presentation on the topic: “ISO 27001: Information Security Management System”.

      Finally, Mr.Sloboden Chokrevski, director of the Institute for Accreditation, spoke about the significance of the accreditation system for the horizontal application of ISO 37001 and ISO 27001 in institutions and in the private sector.