Published for the first time, this OECD publication analyses international practices and tools available for anti-corruption policy planning, promoting integrity and reducing corruption risks in public administration. The OECD has based its analysis on the data provided by countries between 2020 and 2024.
Anna Aļošina, Head of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) Policy Planning and Communication Department: “KNAB is pleased that Latvia’s contribution to the anti-corruption field is highly appreciated at the international level. Efficient anti-corruption policy planning is also crucial for the successful prevention of conflicts of interest. Therefore, there is no reason to rest on international laurels, and KNAB is already carrying out activities to assess the conflict of interest prevention framework to ensure that its application is modern and relevant to the current situation.”
It assesses the performance of 31 OECD countries in six categories — anti-corruption strategy, corruption risk management, lobbying, prevention of conflicts of interest, financing of political parties, and access to public information. Latvia scored highest in the category analysing anti-corruption strategies. Latvia ranks among the highest in categories such as prevention of conflicts of interest and financing of political parties.
According to the OECD, Latvia’s superior performance in the development, implementation and enforcement of its anti-corruption strategy is due to its strategic planning and the policy planning document developed by KNAB as the lead anti-corruption institution. It includes various measures to fight corruption, and several public sector institutions are responsible for their implementation.
Latvia’s conflict of interest prevention framework and its application in practice are highly assessed and ranked on par with the approaches of France, Lithuania and the United States of America. In order to make this framework and its application more comprehensible, KNAB has set up a working group comprising both public and non-governmental sector institutions. The working group, taking into account, inter alia, the OECD assessment, is aware of the need to improve the regulatory framework and will prepare possible amendments.
In addition, the international organisation has highlighted the importance of openness and accessibility of information in ensuring the transparency of public institutions and their decisions. According to the OECD, the importance thereof in Latvia is evidenced by publicly available minutes and agendas of government meetings, data on public procurements, etc.
The full OECD summary and conclusions can be found in English at the website.