Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan: Country monitoring

The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan is the flagship peer-review programme for the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

About

The Istanbul Anti-corruption Action Plan (IAP) is the sub-regional peer-review programme for the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN). Launched in 2003, it supports anti-corruption reforms through country reviews and by monitoring the implementation of recommendations, promoting international standards and good practice in tackling corruption.

Participating countries

Armenia	Moldova
Azerbaijan	Mongolia
Georgia	Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan	Ukraine
Kazakhstan	Uzbekistan

Note:

In a letter dated 16 February 2023, Georgia informed the OECD about its decision not to join the IAP's fifth round of monitoring. The ACN Steering Group discussed the matter at its 28th meeting on 4 October 2023 in the absence of representatives of the Government of Georgia. The Group stressed that Georgia is welcome to rejoin the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan monitoring programme, should the country decide to. The European Commission included this call to Georgia in its enlargement report, as a step to be completed in 2024.

The IAP's fifth round of country monitoring

The ACN revamped the methodology used for the IAP’s fifth monitoring round, combining qualitative and quantitative indicators for better measurement and promotion of progress. This marked a major change from previous rounds under the IAP, where a country was measured against its own earlier performance. The indicators have clear, uniform and tailored benchmarks, set after extensive consultation, and form the basis for standardised, consistent and transparent assessment with more engagement from stakeholders. This allows for comparison between countries and increases incentives to implement reforms covering nine performance areas.

The fifth round of monitoring was launched with a pilot, which was part of the EU for Integrity Action for the Eastern Partnership project. The pilot completed in spring 2022 with monitoring reports for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. ACN's Steering Group adopted the revised methodological documents for the assessment framework and guide in November 2022. A manual for monitoring experts is available and provides guidance on the monitoring process.