OSCE supports anti-corruption initiative in Uzbekistan

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) held an online workshop in support of open data for anti-corruption on 22 February 2022. The event was jointly organized with the Anti-Corruption Agency of Uzbekistan (ACA) and the International Open Data Charter (ODC).

Participants represented public authorities such as the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics, the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Uzbek Commodity Exchange, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Accounting Chamber of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The workshop was the final event of the open data mapping exercise conducted in 2021 based on the anti-corruption Open Up Guide developed by the ODC. The purpose of this event was to share with national stakeholders the results of the implementation of the first phase of the Guide in Uzbekistan. Natalia Carfi, Executive Director of ODC, presented the results of the implementation to public officials and advocated recommendations and lessons learned through the process of integration into practice. Kateryna Onyiliogwu, EU4DigitalUA Project Manager, showcased best practices on open data capacity-building in Ukraine.  

The workshop also focused on increasing awareness amongst public officials on the importance of interagency co-operation and advancing significant reforms in the field of open data in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan became the third country to implement the anti-corruption Open Up Guide, which was first tested in Mexico in 2017 and implemented in Ecuador in 2021. In recent years, the PCUz facilitated Uzbekistan’s co-operation with the ODC, which resulted in adoption of the ODC Charter by the country in February 2021.