Transparency International assesses corruption risks and presents recommendations

Posted by: admin | Posted on: Июль 18, 2014

On 18 July 2014 Transparency Azerbaijan organized a presentation of the Azerbaijan National Integrity System Assessment 2014 Report following the international launch of this report in Brussels on 3 July 2014. Mr. Vusal Huseynov, Secretary to the Azerbaijan Anti-corruption Commission spoke of government-civil society cooperation on good governance reforms, whereas Mr. Federico Berna, Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation in Azerbaijan, welcomed the participants and stated that the European Union’s support to the National Integrity System Assessment 2014 highlights the importance the EU is attaching to good governance reforms in its Eastern Neighbourhood region, including in Azerbaijan.
This study, funded by the European Union and based on Transparency International’s unique methodology, assesses systemic corruption risks faced by a given country and produces a set of recommendations on how to mitigate those risks in the future that can then be used by actors in government, civil society, and the private sector for promoting integrity in the country. To date, assessments have been completed by Transparency International local chapters in more than 100 countries. Transparency Azerbaijan alongside with several other CIS chapters carried out the National Integrity System (NIS) assessment starting in 2013.
The assessment focuses on an evaluation of the key public institutions and non-state actors in the country’s governance system with regard to (1) their overall capacity, (2) their internal governance systems and procedures, and (3) their role in the overall integrity system, as well as examines both the formal legal framework of each pillar and the actual institutional practice.
As follows from this report, the Azerbaijan National Integrity System is characterized by a strong executive branch, law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies. The other two branches of power that creates a system of checks and balances, namely, the judiciary and the legislature, need to further develop their capacities. The pillars that perform the watchdog functions (civil society, media, and political parties) are rated as the weaker links. Business is not very strong either. The institutions of Ombudsman and the Chamber of Accounts do not enjoy much independence, as they lack the power of enforcement, but they rate relatively high due to professional performance. The public sector was rated rather well, but delays in reforms in public procurement brought the overall score of the public service somewhat down.
Azerbaijan has recently achieved success in preventing and curbing corruption through criminalization of corruption, improvements in recruitment to civil service, reforms in the law enforcement, establishment of ASAN centres and introduction of electronic services. This progress was recognised by Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013 and Global Corruption Report 2013. On-going reforms in the country take place under two important government strategic documents: the National Anti-corruption Action Plan for 2012-2015 and the Action Plan under Open Government Partnership and some of the recommendations echo with the measures envisioned under either of these Action Plans.
Transparency Azerbaijan would like to underline that the key to success is a further enhancement of the joint efforts already carried out by the Government, the civil society, the media, the business community and the citizens of Azerbaijan