Vienna (Austria), 6 May 2022 – on 27-29 April in Dushanbe (Tajikistan) UNODC delegation headed by UNODC Regional Anti-Corruption advisor held meetings with experts from the Agency for State Financial Control and Fight against Corruption, Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies as well as the representatives of civil society organizations to discuss technical assistance needs in anti-corruption, specifically as concerning UNCAC implementation.
In recent years, the declared political will to fight corruption led to the launch of some initiatives in Tajikistan; once the first anti-corruption national strategy expired (2013-2020) the new strategy to counteract corruption was developed and adopted in a timely manner and is now paving the way for anti-corruption policy in the country until 2030. Notably, the design process was inclusive and provided space for civil society participation and recommendations, however, the mechanism for monitoring its implementation is still lacking strategic civil society involvement.
The Agency for State Financial Control and Fight against Corruption demonstrated openness and readiness to cooperate with civil society in the implementation of the strategy as well as during the second UNCAC review cycle. On the latter, a working group, with guidance from UNODC, is currently working on completing the self-assessment checklist for the second UNCAC review cycle.
The observations from the missions to Tajikistan will form the basis for the development of the technical assistance activities in the area of anti-corruption, including for the second phase of the project on enhancing capacities of civil society on good governance in region, funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.