OECD meeting praises Azerbaijan’s anti-corruption reforms

Paris, July 6, AZERTAC The OECD convened the 19th Plenary Meeting of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) in Paris on 3-4 July. The meeting gathered anti-corruption decision-makers from countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, countries of the OECD Working Group on Bribery, and representatives from international organizations and civil society. Within the 19th Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan Meeting of Anti-Corruption Network For Eastern Europe And Central Asia (OECD), the report of Azerbaijan on Fourth Round of Monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan was presented by a delegation headed by Elnur Musayev, Senior Prosecutor for the Anti-Corruption Department in the General Prosecutor's Office, and Amir Ojagverdiyev, Senior Prosecutor of Anti-Corruption Directorate. The delegation gave detailed information about the anti-corruption reforms in Azerbaijan carried out in the last year under the leadership of country’s president Ilham Aliyev. In a separate working meeting, the international expert group had comprehensive discussions with the Azerbaijani delegation and adopted the report. According to the experts, Azerbaijan achieved progress in its anti-corruption efforts in several sectors of public administration such as services delivery, police and education. The perception of corruption in police and education decreased as a result of the measures to reform the education system and the road police. Efficient service delivery by ASAN centres is a commendable achievement. The performance of the Anti-Corruption Directorate increased and the Civil Service Commission started to show progress. Government efforts resulted in increased trust of citizens and positive changes in the level of corruption. Azerbaijan’s anti-corruption policy has been reviewed in the framework of the previous monitoring rounds of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. Aim of the Fourth Monitoring Round is to assess the impact of the policy since the previous monitoring round, its results and efficiency. Senior Prosecutor for the Anti-Corruption Department in the Azerbaijan General Prosecutor's Office Elnur Musayev made certain recommendations on Fourth Round Monitoring reports on Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine (sector evaluation), what was adopted. The final document prepared by international expert group last year on Tajikistan, a member of which was Amir Ojagverdiyev, Senior Prosecutor of Anti-Corruption Directorate, was adopted as a methodological document for the reports arising from the sectoral analyses.