The Anti-Corruption Headquarters NGO presented an anti-corruption programme project for Kharkiv. Throughout this year, our team has been helping locals master corruption prevention tools and identify where corruption risks may be hidden – in documents, procurement, and procedures.
The document contains a list of corruption risks in all areas of the city’s life, as well as measures to reduce corruption. In total, activists identified 39 corruption risks, 21 of which were included in the final document.
“Most of the risks concerned the reconstruction of Kharkiv and housing and communal services, as the Unbreakable City is regularly destroyed by the Russians. The restoration and improvement of urban space entails significant budget expenditures, so it is a potential field for corruption risks,” said Yevheniya Virlich, head of the Anti-Corruption Headquarters NGO project.
Yevhen Lisichkin, coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Headquarters NGO and founder of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Centre, says that Kharkiv is a city with a population of over a million, so the main difficulty during development was its scale: numerous areas of activity, departments, divisions, municipal institutions, and executive bodies. The security situation also complicated the work, as the groups had to meet online. However, this did not prevent the creation of a draft anti-corruption programme, which will subsequently be put to a vote in the city council.
Specialists from the Kharkiv City Council also joined in developing the anti-corruption programme: over 60 employees underwent training and regularly reviewed potential corruption risks.
“It is important for the Kharkiv city authorities to ensure transparency of processes. Only by identifying corruption risks can measures to minimise corruption be formulated. To date, 56 corruption risks have been identified. We are currently finalising the draft programme, which is awaiting a vote in the city council,” said Olena Pavlova, head of the Kharkiv City Council’s Corruption Detection and Prevention Service.
We have practical examples – five anti-corruption programmes adopted in other communities. These documents are already helping to reduce corruption and increase the investment attractiveness of cities and amalgamated territorial communities. After all, processes that minimise the risks of corruption and financial abuse are important to international donors.
The project ‘Developing effective tools to ensure transparent and accountable activities in three communities’ is being implemented with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.
Source: Anti-Corruption Headquarters
