This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from the European Commission. The Anti-Corruption Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International and funded by the European Union.
Query
Please provide an overview of corruption and anti-corruption efforts in Kyrgyzstan.
As political instability fades in Kyrgyzstan, the challenge of facing bureaucratic and political corruption, cronyism and nepotism stand in the way of economic development. While countering corruption has been a recurrent promise made by the country’s most recent rulers, results have been poor. Poverty remains widespread and corruption hinders the provision of public services, such as education and water supply. The judiciary remains one of the country’s most corrupt institutions, lacking legitimacy and independence. Substantial, albeit insufficient, legal reforms have taken place, and recent efforts, such as judicial reforms, emphasis on digitisation and joining the Open Government Partnership, are auspicious signs. However, the organisational system for countering corruption remains ineffective, undermining any long-term anti-corruption agenda.
Contents
- Overview of corruption in Kyrgyzstan
- Legal and institutional anti-corruption framework
- Other actors
- References
Main points
- Corruption remains widespread in Kyrgyzstan and poses the biggest challenge, now that political stability seems to have taken hold.
- Education and water supply are both sectors in which bureaucratic corruption manifests itself.
- Digitisation holds the promise of reducing corruption but, so far, results have been mixed in Kyrgyzstan.
- Several legal reforms have recently been implemented, though international observers have already criticised them for their insufficiency. On the institutional front, the organisational system for countering corruption remains ineffective.
Authors
Guilherme France, [email protected]
Reviewer
Roberto Martínez B. Kukutschka, [email protected]
Date
19/09/2019
Tags
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