Fighting corruption is a priority direction of the state anti-corruption policy of New Uzbekistan

Member states are required by the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to maintain “effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies” that establish objectives and a list of top priorities in order to fight corruption. Countries are also encouraged to create national anti-corruption plans and strategies by regional and international anti-corruption organizations.

The quality of evaluation, coordination, and monitoring, as well as accountability for their execution, are significantly enhanced by well- developed anti-corruption policies and initiatives and specialized anti-corruption organizations.

Since 2017, Uzbekistan has been implementing rapid anti-corruption reforms. Uzbekistan has followed the path of adopting annual State Anti-Corruption Programs, which define the priority areas of state policy in the field of anti-corruption for the medium term.

Given the complexity and comprehensive nature of implementing anti-corruption measures, anti-corruption activities have been integrated into wider policies and large-scale administrative, judicial and legal reforms, reforms in the socio-economic sphere, most of which contain important elements aimed at increasing transparency, integrity and accountability, raising the institutional potential of legal culture and legal awareness reforms. Thus, Uzbekistan's anti-corruption policy was included in the broader national development plan.

In order to organize systematic work on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the government's decision has defined the measures to reduce the scale of corruption, extremism and bribery in all their manifestations as a national task within the framework of the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.

To achieve the 16th goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, systemic reforms are being implemented that ensure openness and transparency in the activities of state bodies, as well as the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures.

This integration into national and international development plans has proven to be an effective way to encourage interdepartmental and international cooperation in promoting sustainable development.

The “Uzbekistan – 2030” Strategy sets the task of increasing the effectiveness of the system of preventing corruption factors, accelerating the work on forming an uncompromising attitude towards corruption in society. Annual state anti-corruption programs define priority areas and areas for local and interdepartmental measures.

As a result of implementing a targeted anti-corruption policy, Uzbekistan rose 16 positions in the Rule of Law Index, 32 positions in the Corruption Perception Index, 18 positions in the E-Government Development Index, 31 positions in the Economic Freedom Index, 11 positions in the Logistics Efficiency Index and the Global Innovation Index.

Annual national studies of corruption perception show a steady increase in the share of the population who are intolerant of corruption, as in 2023, the share of the population who are intolerant of corruption and aware of its destructive consequences increased by 20 percent compared to 2022.

The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Combating Corruption” defines the legislative foundations, principles, directions of the country's anti-corruption policy, and the institutional system for its implementation. It is a fundamental normative act that systematically forms the legal basis for all anti-corruption measures and programs.

Representatives of all ministries and departments, as well as civil society institutions, academic circles, and the business community are actively involved in the development of draft state programs.

Traditionally, the draft state program is presented for public discussion on the website of the Anti-Corruption Agency, and the practice of professional discussion of projects with the participation of research institutions has been established.

Various measures and ways to ensure broad participation of absolutely all stakeholders in the development of draft anti-corruption strategies and programs are aimed at ensuring the transparency of this process, as well as achieving a balance between public demand and expectations, necessary response measures, opportunities and obligations of the state.

The development of evidence-based policies is facilitated by the fact that the sources of evidence are data provided by government agencies, research results and assessments of third parties (business and the academic community), international organizations such as UNODC, OECD, World Bank, GRECO, FATF, IAP recommendations, surveys conducted by civil society institutions, the National Movement “Yuksalish”, the Center for the Study of Public Opinion.

The “Statistics” single information system collects statistical data on corruption crimes committed by employees of state bodies and organizations. The accessibility and quality of statistical data on corruption is an important condition for the development and implementation of an effective state anti-corruption policy. This allows for an increase in the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures and the adjustment of the anti-corruption strategy in the most problematic areas.

The National Anti-Corruption Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan has been established to coordinate the activities of bodies and organizations engaged in anti-corruption activities.

Responsibility for the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of preventing and countering corruption in Uzbekistan was entrusted to the Anti-Corruption Agency, the creation of which marked the transition from a punitive to a preventive approach in the country's anti-corruption policy.

The Regional Councils established on the basis of the National Council have successfully implemented several regional projects to prepare special reviews on the implementation of anti-corruption programs by local government bodies. In order to regularly assess the activities of regional councils, the methodology for rating assessment and the criteria for combating corruption of regional and Tashkent city councils were approved. A mechanism has been introduced to reward individuals who have reported corruption violations or otherwise contributed to the fight against corruption.

In order to strengthen parliamentary control, anti-corruption and judicial-legal committees have been established in both chambers of parliament. Anti-corruption commissions have been established in the regional representative bodies.

Since the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Law, reforms have been consistently carried out to organize public administration aimed at serving the people and improving public administration.

In particular, the licensing, permitting and registration procedures have been improved. The “Service State” system for the population is being introduced by expanding the scale of digitalization of public services, eliminating bureaucratic procedures in the relationship between the citizen and the state. By 2030, it is planned to increase the share of electronic public services to 100 percent.

The transition from the “Electronic Government” system to the “Digital Government” system is underway.

The Strategy for the Development of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 pays special attention to ensuring the development of legislation based on the principle of “legislation free of corruption”.

A completely new system of public procurement has been launched. The new edition of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Public Procurement" has been adopted, and from 2022, all procedures of public procurement are carried out only in electronic form.

In order to digitalize the process of assessing the implementation of anti-corruption programs, an Electronic system for assessing corruption risks has been launched in Uzbekistan since 2022, integrated with the information systems and databases of relevant ministries and departments through the interagency data transmission network of the Electronic Government.

Internal anti-corruption control systems are being introduced in all state bodies and organizations, internal anti-corruption control structures have been established in 114 state bodies and organizations, including banks.

Also, in order to digitize the activities of internal control structures and reduce financial risks, the “E-Anticor.uz” electronic platform was launched for the first time in the republic.

Every year, the Anti-Corruption Agency publishes the results of the “Openness Index” of state bodies and organizations on the index.anticorruption.uz platform. The “openness index” is assessed based on the effectiveness and efficiency of the work carried out in this area.

To ensure objectivity, transparency and validity in the process of making state decisions, a range of legal and institutional measures are applied to ensure proper legal administrative procedures, including measures to resolve conflicts of interest.

In this regard, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed the relevant Law “On Conflict of Interest” aimed at regulating relations related to conflict of interest.

According to the government's decision, in 2019, the “Corruption-Free Field” project began to be implemented in the capital construction and higher education sectors. Therefore, anti-corruption policy is aimed at areas and sectors with a high risk of corruption, which are determined through research. The positive experience of implementing sectoral anti-corruption programs has stimulated its spread to the healthcare, public procurement, and banking sectors.

Measuring and monitoring corruption is an integral part of any anti-corruption strategy. On a regular basis, the Anti-Corruption Agency monitors the timely and high-quality implementation of the measures provided for in the state program and at the end of each quarter submits information to the National Anti-Corruption Council, which quarterly conducts a critical discussion of the implementation of the measures provided for in the state program.

The Agency's report on the assessment of the implementation of the state program is published on the Internet, which reflects the written comments of all non-governmental stakeholders.

Annual reports on the implementation of sectoral and industry-based programs are also heard at meetings of the National Anti-Corruption Council with the participation of members of the National and Territorial Anti-Corruption Councils, heads of ministries and departments, NGOs and media workers. Following the discussions, the relevant decisions of the National Council are adopted and new “roadmaps” for the implementation of the “corruption-free sphere” project are approved.

Regular assessment of the implementation of internal departmental and sectoral anti-corruption programs is carried out on the basis of the national system for rating the effectiveness of anti-corruption work. The rating assessment is carried out through the electronic platform “E-Anticor.uz”.

According to IAP experts, Uzbekistan has improved the quality of strategic planning, and work is being carried out to develop and implement state anti-corruption programs based on the requirements of UNCAC provisions. Strategic political and legal frameworks are becoming effective tools in promoting anti-corruption reforms.

One of the main directions of the state anti-corruption policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan is to raise the legal awareness and legal culture of the population, to form in society an intolerant attitude towards corruption.

In accordance with the government's decision, in 2024, measures were taken to introduce a system of continuous upgrading of the knowledge of the population and civil servants in the field of combating corruption.

The Government supported the initiative of the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan to introduce the "Virtual Anti-Corruption Academy" electronic platform, which is directly aimed at continuously improving the knowledge of citizens and civil servants in the field of combating corruption.

The objective is to provide the population with equal and wide access to quality anti-corruption education, continuous training of specialists and practitioners from different sectors and levels of the state service, relevant research, as well as to create a platform for dialogue and support of expert networks of practitioners and researchers.

Anti-corruption research plays a central role in the development and implementation of an effective anti-corruption policy, providing a fact-based basis for making informed decisions, improving anti-corruption strategies and methods.

The Virtual Academy is an electronic database of achievements in the field of combating corruption, domestic and foreign experience, scientific, methodological and practical developments, solutions and research works. The Virtual Academy's electronic platform and its mobile application will be launched on January 1, 2025.

Therefore, anti-corruption education and research will not only support and complement other preventive measures to combat corruption in the country, but also become the basis for the development and implementation of an effective anti-corruption policy, ensuring zero tolerance to corruption. They provide the awareness, competence and analytical basis for taking effective measures to prevent and combat corruption in various sectors of the public service.

HUDOYBERDI TURSUNBEKOV,

Scientific and Educational Center for Combating Corruption

Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan