Central Asian countries intend to intensify
cooperation in combating corruption, with priority areas including prevention, involving
civil society in the fight against corruption, the return of illegally acquired
assets, and sector digitization. Experts and representatives from relevant
agencies discussed these issues at an international conference. According to the
UNODC Regional Representative for Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran and Pakistan,
Oliver Stolpe, the Central Asian countries already have many years of
experience in cooperation. He emphasized that a significant tool for
strengthening joint efforts is the regional platform for the accelerated
implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption. For the second consecutive
year, it has served as an effective platform where countries can not only
exchange information and knowledge and conduct training but also agree on
regional anti-corruption policy priorities.
«Our role is predominantly helping the
countries to fully implement the provisions of the Corruption Convention. In
concrete terms, that means we are very much supporting all sorts of policy
initiatives like the development of national anti-corruption plans and, of
course, the revision of existing legislation to bring it in full compliance
with the provisions of the UN Convention against Corruption. We are doing a lot
of training and working increasingly on the issue of asset recovery with our
counterparts,» noted Oliver Stolpe, UNODC Regional Representative for
Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran and Pakistan.
