Introduction of Council of Europe Methodology on National Corruption Risk Assessment to the authorities of Kazakhstan

Promoting transparency and action against economic crime

Over the recent years the countries of Central Asia have pursued reforms designed to prevent and punish corrupt practices in order to improve business climate in the region and promote sustainable economic development for the benefit of all. The present Action aims to contribute to improving the conditions for businesses and to enhancing the quality of anti-corruption systems across the region. The Action comprises two components: 1) Business integrity and compliance; 2) Anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and asset recovery systems.

Business integrity and compliance

Enhancing transparency, business integrity and the protection of rights of entrepreneurs is one of the priorities of the countries of the Central Asian region. The current Action focuses on establishing mechanisms and enhancing capacities to address extortion and solicitation from businesses, reducing administrative barriers and enhancing compliance across the business sector. On the regional level, the aim of the intervention is to establish effective mechanisms for sharing good practices and to contribute to developing a clearer understanding of the common regional and cross-border corruption risks facing the business sector. On the national level, the Action focuses on the specific priorities of the respective countries in the abovementioned thematic areas and seeks to provide tailor-made assistance to reforms.

Anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and asset recovery systems

Work in this area concentrates on improving mechanisms and capacities of authorities, including law enforcement, to prevent and tackle corruption, money laundering and economic crime as well as on strengthening national systems to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The regional dimension of the component includes conducting studies on corruption and economic crime focusing on specific regional risks and threats, and regional cascade training programmes for law enforcement personnel and civil service staff. The national dimension focuses on the specific needs and demand, depending on the national contexts and reform processes.

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Back Introduction of Council of Europe Methodology on National Corruption Risk Assessment to the authorities of Kazakhstan

The Council of Europe organised on 20 June 2023 in Strasbourg a workshop with competent authorities of Kazakhstan. It aimed at introducing to the authorities of Kazakhstan the Council of Europe´s Methodology for conducting National Corruption Risk Assessment (NCRA).

The event gathered over 25 public officials from various institutions of Kazakhstan, including the Anti-corruption Agency, the General Prosecutor´s Office, the Office of the Presidency, the Supreme Court, the High Judicial Council, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Election Commission, the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministry of Finance.

The NCRA Methodology was presented as a self-management tool for the national competent authorities to identify national sectors where corruption risks are most prominent. The Methodology is based on risk mapping, which allows to identify and assess sectors, activities and functions with higher risk of corruption in each country. The identification of those risks and the risk factors can be instrumental in developing anti- corruption measures allocating anti-corruption mitigation resources more effectively or performing further in-depth corruption risk assessment with a focus on those priority areas.

The tools and procedures to be used in mapping corruption risks were also presented, including the complementarity of the quantitative and qualitative data that those sources provide.

This activity was organised by the Action “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

Strasbourg (France) 20 June 2023