POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS central ASIA Activities Related to General Police Development and Reform Police Development and Reform On 9 April, the Head of Office discussed with the Minister of Internal Affairs in Nur-Sultan the modalities for the implementation of a project, which aims at supporting the ongoing modernization of the police. The Minister expressed the willingness of the MoIA to co-operate on the project and agreed to engage all relevant MoIA structures in support of the project. On 20 December, the Office participated in the WG meeting in Karaganda for the 30 officials who will help implement the police reform. On this occasion, the Office presented its ideas for a project on promoting democratic policing principles through police reform, and also co-ordinated all related project plans in 2020. From 20 to 22 December, the Office organized a training seminar for the newly elected members of inter-departmental WG on police reform in Borovoye. In total, 16 prosecutors, probation officers, labour and social protection workers met to discuss the implementation of a service-based approach to ensure public security. The group was organized with the support of the Akimat in the Karaganda region within the framework of the Community Policing Project. Anti-Corruption On 28 and 29 January, the Office facilitated the participation of four representatives from the Agency for Civil Service Affairs (ACSA), ACA, MoEc, International Green Technologies and Investment Project Centre and CSO Zertteu at the “First Preparatory Meeting of the 27th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum” held in Vienna. During the event, participants discussed issues of good governance and connectivity in developing digital economies and societies, the impact of the ‘digital economy’ in energy co-operation and sustainable economic growth, as well as preventing and fighting corruption. Representatives from the ACSA and ACA jointly delivered a presentation on the progress in the fight against corruption using digitalization. On 21 February, in co-operation with the ACSA and ACA, the Office organized a training seminar in Nur-Sultan for 29 media representatives on the fundamentals of anticorruption practices and the government’s plans to combat the phenomenon. The Office funded experts from civil society highlighted the importance of joining the Open Government Initiative and provided an overview of the implementation of anti-corruption recommendations under the Istanbul AntiCorruption Action Plan. On 1 March, the Head of Office participated in a roundtable discussion on anti-corruption policies organized by the ACA in Almaty. In total, 80 participants from civil society and academia discussed issues related to criminal code, penal system, violations of the penitentiary system, as well as ongoing MoIA reforms. The Head of the ACA highlighted the importance of Kazakhstan’s compliance with OECD recommendations prepared by the Anti-Corruption Network. From 20 to 22 March, the Office participated in the plenary meeting of the “Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia” (ACN), organized in Paris by the ACN Secretariat in the Anti-Corruption Division of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs39. The monitoring meeting included discussion on the 4th round of monitoring reports on Mongolia and Uzbekistan, as well as the progress report for Kazakhstan. On 22 April, in partnership with the ACSA and ACA, the Office organized a training seminar in Almaty on the fundamentals of anti-corruption practices and various international organizations ranking of Kazakhstan’s current performance in this area. During the seminar, some 25 media representatives were familiarized with the government’s policies to combat corruption as well as with the results of international agencies assessment of Kazakhstan’s anti-corruption efforts. In addition, experts also reviewed the country’s implementation of anti-corruption recommendations under the OECD’s Istanbul Action Plan. From 29 April to 2 May, the Office facilitated the participation of six CSO representatives in an OSCE-supported study visit to Tbilisi. The aim of the visit was to familiarize the delegation with the practical steps and measures undertaken by Georgia’s government and non-governmental sectors in combating corruption and ensuring accountability of public entities. On 30 and 31 May, in partnership with the National Anticorruption Bureau in the ACSA and ACA, the Office supported a training seminar in Nur-Sultan on modern methods for identifying, preventing and investigating corruption offences for 40 representatives of the National Anti-corruption Bureau. During the seminar, a Ukrainian expert familiarized participants with the modern tools available to identify corruption offences, especially during state procurement orders. 39 ACN is a regional anti-corruption programme established by the OECD Working Group on Bribery. 119