On 28 January 2021 the National Council on Combatting Corruption, the Anti-corruption Agency and the UNDP Office in Uzbekistan organized a national consultation meeting to discuss the draft of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2021-2025.

The event was attended by representatives of the Oliy Majlis, ministries and agencies, NGOs and the mass media.
 

As noted, in recent years the issue of combating corruption has risen to the national level. This is evidenced by the adoption of more than 70 legal and regulatory acts aimed at combating corruption in all areas of public governance and society.

The results of these reforms are also recognized by international organizations. In particular, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index for 2020, Uzbekistan, ranking 146th out of 180 countries, has improved its position compared to 2019 by seven places (153rd place in 2019).

In his congratulatory adress to the people of Uzbekistan on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that one of the five most important tasks of the country is to continue systematic and comprehensive work in prevention and combating of corruption, and noted that work was being done to develop the National Strategy for combating corruption in Uzbekistan for 2021-2025.

In addition, the issue of combating corruption has been specifically mentioned among other areas in the Address to the Parliament of 29 December 2020. This once again demonstrates the fact that the area has become an integral part of the government policy and that reforms in this area are irreversible.
 

The Head of State stressed the importance of uniting the efforts of all in the fight against corruption. It was noted that all state structures, political parties, public organizations, the media and in general every citizen should be mobilized for this purpose.

According to the above-mentioned tasks, the Anti-Corruption Agency has developed an initial draft National Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2021-2025 based on an in-depth analysis of areas, taking into account general public view and foreign experience.

A series of national and international consultations are planned to finalize the draft and ensure the viability of the tasks in each paragraphs.

The first meeting was held in Tashkent today.

As noted at the event, the National Strategy is a document that defines the main priorities in preventing and combating corruption, uniting and coordinating efforts in this area for the next five years.

In preparing the draft National Strategy, the experiences of foreign countries such as Georgia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Italy and the UK were studied.

The adoption of such document in the abovementioned countries has had a positive impact on preventing and combating corruption, as well as improving the national and international image of the country.

The draft National Strategy outlines the current state of anti-corruption policy, challenges and main directions of the future state anti-corruption policy, developing mechanism for monitoring and financing the implementation of the tasks of the strategy, as well as the expected results of the work done.

At the meeting, which was full of discussions and suggestions, every participant had an opportunity to provide proposals based on their specific directions. In particular, proposals such as ensuring transparency of state bodies, eliminating gaps in legislation, improving the regulatory framework of the civil service, further strengthening the independence of the judiciary, the gradual introduction of an income declaration system, creating effective legal mechanisms for public procurement, ensuring freedom of civil society, and the media were mentioned.

Draft of the National Strategy will be improved and finalized based on proposals and suggestions made at the end of the meeting.