Anti-corruption reforms in Afghanistan slowed in 2019, with fewer legislative and strategic initiatives undertaken to fight the menace than in previous years, the United Nations said in a report on Thursday.
The report outlines how Afghanistan’s 2017 anti-corruption strategy, which was a temporary policy document, ended without a successor.
In addition, the report notes, the institutional gaps left by stalled progress in both strategy and implementation were not filled by the expected establishment of an independent anti-corruption commission.
It said that previous anti-corruption efforts had yet to positively impact the lives of most Afghans, and concludes that, notwithstanding the many legal and policy reforms that have been undertaken, corruption remains one of the most significant obstacles to Afghanistan’s long-term peace and prosperity.
“Anti-corruption efforts and integrity reforms must be key priorities for Afghanistan’s leadership, especially so given the country’s pressing challenges and opportunities around peace and development,” said Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. “Addressing the COVID-19 crisis and building a peaceful, healthy and prosperous Afghanistan requires integrity and accountability – fundamental principles for the future of any nation.”
The report also acknowledges notable areas of progress, such as the Anti-Corruption Justice Centre enhancing its ability to prosecute and adjudicate high-level corruption cases.
“Additional progress in all areas of the fight against corruption is crucial, as the international community faces daunting economic challenges that continue to draw attention away from Afghanistan,” said Lyons, who is also head of UNAMA. “The upcoming development coordination conference in Geneva is expected to reinvigorate much-needed international support to Afghanistan, but the country needs to make further headway in battling corruption.”
The report recommends that the government develop a realistic long-term strategy that builds on past achievements; that the anti-corruption commission be swiftly established; that the law-enforcement capacity dedicated to corruption investigations and related arrests be boosted; that oversight and management of public resources be strengthened; and that justice sector reforms be prioritized by fostering judicial independence.
Sediq Sediqi, an Afghan presidential spokesman, however, said that the government had remarkable achievements in the fight against corruption last year.
