Forming the state anti-corruption policy in Ukraine based on data and best international practices is one of the main tasks of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). We continue to talk about the results of the work of the "rebooted" NACP 2.0 over four years.
"The most important achievement of the NACP in 2020-2023 was the development and implementation of key documents - the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2021-2025 (hereinafter– the Strategy) and the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025 (hereinafter – SACP). The adoption of these documents by the Parliament and the Government not only laid the foundation for a systematic and coordinated state policy in the field of preventing and combating corruption, but also contributed to Ukraine's European integration. The NACP involves civil society organizations, international partners and all stakeholders in their development, improvement and implementation to the maximum extent possible," said the Head of NACP, Oleksandr Novikov.
The Strategy and SACP are a response to the public's demand for justice. These documents should increase the effectiveness of institutional mechanisms for preventing and combating corruption, eliminate corrupt practices in various areas of public life (justice, urban planning and land relations, customs and taxation, defense, healthcare, social protection, etc.), and promote building integrity based on the recommendations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The adoption of these fundamental documents was preceded by several years of hard work by the team of the rebooted NACP.
In 2020, the renewed NACP's priority was to prepare a draft Anti-Corruption Strategy. In less than half a year, after a series of public discussions and approval procedures, the National Agency supported the draft Anti-Corruption Strategy in the Government and submitted it to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In November 2020, the Parliament adopted the draft law "On the Principles of State Anti-Corruption Policy for 2020-2024" in the first reading, and in May 2021, the draft law was prepared for the second reading.
Despite the full-scale invasion of Russia, 2022 was a landmark year for the state anti-corruption policy, as on June 20, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine No. 2322-IX "On the Principles of the State Anti-Corruption Policy for 2021-2025", which approved the Anti-Corruption Strategy. Its adoption was one of the conditions for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union. This is the first approved Anti-Corruption Strategy developed by the NACP (the previous Strategy was developed by the Ministry of Justice).
In the same year, to ensure the implementation of the Strategy, the NACP developed a draft SACP, which was prepared with the support of international partners and involved dozens of experts in the areas covered by the Strategy. Ensuring inclusiveness of the process of preparing the SACP, the NACP held 11 public discussions, which were attended by more than 300 registered participants and more than 9,500 viewers of the broadcasts on the National Agency's social media pages.
Already in March 2023, the Government approved the ANP, which identified 73 key issues, formed 271 strategic results and provided for 1,187 measures to achieve them. According to rough estimates, the economic effect of the implementation of the SACP will amount to more than UAH 200 billion annually.
In 2023, a system of coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the state anti-corruption policy was introduced for the first time. For this purpose, the NACP has developed a number of acts regulating the relevant processes, as well as a new digital tool - Information System for Monitoring the Implementation of State Anti-Corruption Policy,
This is a unique digital product that combines tools for organizing internal management processes in the bodies implementing the SACP with tools for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the Strategy and the SACP. The OECD Observatory for Public Sector Innovation has included the Information System for Monitoring the Implementation of State Anti-Corruption Policy, in the list of best practices in the public sector.
In June 2023, the Information System for Monitoring the Implementation of State Anti-Corruption Policy, was put into commercial operation, and in August, access to its public part was opened, which allows every citizen to track the progress of the SACP implementation by the authorities (https://dap.nazk.gov.ua/) and provide feedback on the results of the implementation of measures. In addition, the National Agency has provided access to the English-language version of the Information System for Monitoring the Implementation of State Anti-Corruption Policy.
In December 2023, the NACP, together with the public authorities, presented the first results of the implementation of the SACP.
It should be noted that the achievements in the field of anti-corruption policy development and implementation were among the key ones for the European Commission when making decisions on granting Ukraine candidate status and further decisions on Ukraine's membership in the European Union.
"These are just some of the achievements in the area of state anti-corruption policy that became possible due to the NACP's teamwork, cooperation with the authorities, active position of experts and NGOs, international partners who supported the NACP's initiatives," said Dmytro Kalmykov, Head of the NACP's Anti-Corruption Policy Department.
As a reminder, we reported on the NACP's work to improve and simplify the declaration process in 2020-2023 here, on the results of explanatory work and advisory assistance on the application of legislation here, and on the institution of whistleblowing here.
