Description
The action/reform submitted for the Challenge is to develop and implement a fundamentally new approach to the development and implementation of anti-corruption policy in Ukraine, which includes the development of an Anti-Corruption Strategy, a state programme for its implementation and the introduction of an innovative digital tool for monitoring the implementation of state anti-corruption policy.
After the 2017 Anti-Corruption Strategy expired without a replacement, Ukraine experienced uncoordinated and ineffective anti-corruption efforts among public institutions. To rectify this, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) developed and secured the adoption of a new Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2021-2025 in 2022, followed by the State Anti-Corruption Programme for 2023-2025 in 2023, to implement the Strategy.
The Strategy and Programme are comprehensive documents that take a holistic approach to both addressing the problems of the anti-corruption system as a whole and eliminating corruption risks in fifteen priority areas, which are the judicial system, prosecution, police, state regulation of the economy, customs, taxation, public and private sectors of the economy, construction, land relations, infrastructure, defence, healthcare, education and science, and social protection.
The Strategy and Programme are structured to link identified problems directly to expected strategic results and specific measures. Implementing these measures should achieve these results, thus resolving the identified problems. Each strategic outcome and measure includes precise objectives and measurable performance indicators, ensuring a focused and effective approach. This approach to the development of the Strategy and Programme is intended to stop the futile practice of adopting anti-corruption programme documents that provide for measures that do not solve any real problems or contain too general and abstract content and performance indicators.
The Strategy and Programme include a novel monitoring tool called the Information System for Monitoring the Implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Policy (ISM SACP). Developed by the NACP, ISM SACP facilitates communication among implementers and serves as a publicly accessible resource. It provides comprehensive data on the problems, expected outcomes, and measures outlined in the Strategy and Programme, along with quarterly updates on the progress of these measures.The ISM SACP allows any person to track the progress of the Strategy and Programme implementation, as well as to leave their own comments on the process and results of the implementation of any measure of the Programme. Moreover, the ISM SACP is also available in English for the international community.
Thus, the Strategy, the Programme and the ISM SACP are an integral system of documents and tools that provide an innovative approach to the development, implementation and monitoring of the progress of the state anti-corruption policy.
Problem(s) Addressed by Reform
In terms of content, the Strategy and Programme aim to address 73 problems in the anti-corruption system as a whole and in the fifteen priority areas, which are the judicial system, prosecution, police, state regulation of the economy, customs, taxation, public and private sectors of the economy, construction, land relations, infrastructure, defence, healthcare, education and science, and social protection.
For example, the Strategy and Programme are designed to address the following problems: lack of effective mechanisms for verifying information on the ultimate beneficial owners of private legal entities in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Associations; excessive classification and low level of competition in defence procurement; excessive influence on political parties and election campaigns by certain individuals and legal entities; non-transparency and non-publicity of the activities of entities that influence (lobby) parliamentary decision-making; lack of open access to up-to-date information on natural resources and dozens of others.
In terms of structure, the Strategy and Programme are aimed at addressing the problem of unbalanced, uncoordinated and ineffective anti-corruption activities of public institutions, adoption of anti-corruption programme documents that provide for measures that cannot solve any real problems or contain rather unspecific content and performance indicators.
In addition, the ISM SACP as a tool for monitoring the implementation of the Strategy and the Programme is intended to solve the problem of the remoteness of civil society from the implementation of anti-corruption policy and to facilitate the ability of all citizens to monitor and influence the implementation of the measures of the Programme.
Having identified 73 priority problems in the anti-corruption area and 271 expected strategic results in the Strategy, the NACP developed and ensured the adoption of the Programme. The Programme defines clear and measurable indicators of achievement for each of the expected strategic results. To achieve each expected strategic result, the Programme provides for a system of measures, the total number of which is 1187. Each measure of the Programme also provides for a clear, measurable indicator of its implementation. Implementation of these measures in the combined total will make it possible to achieve the expected strategic results, and the achievement of the expected strategic results will indicate progress in solving the problems identified in the Strategy.
In addition, such structure of the Strategy and Programme, divided into problems, expected strategic results and measures with clear and measurable indicators of achievement/performance, will allow to stop the ineffective practice of adopting anti-corruption programme documents that provide for measures that do not solve real problems or contain too abstract content and performance indicators.
The functionality of the ISM SACP, which contains data on all problems, expected strategic results and measures provided for in the Strategy and Programme, as well as data on the status of implementation of all measures of the Programme, which are updated on a quarterly basis, allows any person to track the progress of implementation of these documents, as well as to leave their own comments on the process and results of implementation of any measure of the Programme, thus influencing the implementation of the Strategy and Programme.
Relevance to OGP Values
In essence, the Strategy and the Programme are national programme documents in the area of preventing and combating corruption, the ultimate goal of which is to make the Ukrainian authorities more transparent and accountable to citizens for their actions by addressing the problems identified in the Strategy and the Programme.
As a tool for monitoring the implementation of the Strategy and the Programme, the ISM SACP makes information on the status of implementation of the measures of the Programme and achievement of the expected strategic results publicly available, which also makes the process of implementation of the Strategy and the Programme transparent and inclusive. In this way, the implementers of the measures of the Programme also have a greater sense of responsibility to the public for the results of their work on the implementation of the Strategy and the Programme. In addition, providing the public with the opportunity to leave their own comments on the implementation of certain measures of the Programme through the ISM SACP also contributes to their greater involvement in the process of implementing anti-corruption policy.
Moreover, the NACP engages representatives of the public, in particular academics and experts in certain fields and areas, in the implementation of the Strategy and Programme. For instance, the Programme includes measures to conduct sociological and analytical research. In most cases, the NACP engages private organisations and non-governmental experts to conduct such research. Civil society representatives also participate in the preparation of draft laws specified in the Programme. Thus, analytical studies prepared by experts form the basis of some draft laws. In addition, the NACP, which is responsible for implementing the largest number of the measures of the Programme, including those related to legislative work, when developing all draft laws, holds public discussions, during which civil society representatives have the opportunity to express their comments on the chosen legislative solution to a problem.
Intended Results
As of the end of the Strategy and Programme implementation period, 271 expected strategic results are expected to be achieved and 73 identified problems are expected to be solved with the maximum possible public involvement in the implementation of these crucial programme documents, particularly through the ISM SACP.
Milestones
The Strategy and the Programme do not provide for clear milestones. Instead, the Programme defines specific deadlines for the implementation of all measures.