OECD report appreciates Azerbaijan's policy in combating against corruption
By Aynur Jafarova
The policy carried out in Azerbaijan in the field of fight against corruption is commendable, a report adopted in Paris on September 23-25 by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) within the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Eastern Europe and Central Asia said.
The evaluation was implemented in the directions, including anti-corruption policy, anti-corruption legislation and extinction of corruption in Azerbaijan.
The report appreciating the measures in the field of fight against corruption conducted in Azerbaijan in 2010-2013 mentioned the National Action Plan on Open Government and the National Action Plan on Combating Corruption approved by orders of president of Azerbaijan, activity of "ASAN xidmet" centers established by the initiative of the president, which provide services to the citizens, decrees and orders on expansion of scope sphere of online services signed by head of state as a result of strong political will of the leadership of the country in this field.
The Action Plan on Open Government defines measures for state bodies on delivering information about their activity to the public, increasing the role of the public in decision-making, expanding online services and increasing the quality of services provided to citizens.
The report also said that the Azerbaijani legislation in the field of fight against corruption meets all international requirement and all the recommendations made earlier by the organization have been absolutely implemented.
The measures for providing the activity of the Department to Combat Corruption under the Prosecutor General, its model, and assignment of it with special authority in the field of operational-investigative activity for corruption crimes were mentioned in the report as progressive experience.
The report also indicated the active participation of Azerbaijan's state oil fund SOFAZ in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) as a step towards providing transparency.
Involvement of members of civil society to the development, implementation and monitoring of measures on combat against corruption and adoption of the draft law "On civil participation" in the second reading which envisages further strengthening of this cooperation are the positive facts, the report said.
The report also determined the recommendations in various fields. They cover providing continuation of measures in the field of fight against corruption and management, further improvement of transparency in the activity of governmental bodies, conduction of deep researches and polls related with combat against corruption and others.
The meeting was held in the OECD headquarter with the participation of representatives of member countries, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Bank and other leading international organizations.
Established in 1961, OECD has 34 member countries. The mission of the organization is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. It provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems.
The Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013 report released in July showed that the overall level of corruption has decreased in Azerbaijan.
According to the report, 73 percent of responders said the level of corruption in their country has not increased and 68 percent of respondents hailed the measures taken by the government to fight corruption as effective and the indicator is three times more than the average world rate of 22 percent.
The combat against corruption is one of the main trends in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has joined the UN Convention against Corruption, the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe, the Civil Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe as well as the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.