"Corruption-free society”: how was the second day of the X Civil Forum

"Corruption-free society”: how was the second day of the X Civil Forum

November 23, 2021.

The second day of the X Civil Forum has passed. The leitmotif of the events was the theme “Corruption-free society". Experts raised issues of public control, open government, local self-government and the fight against corruption. In addition, they examined the dynamics of interaction between the non-governmental sector and government institutions and the development of civic engagement in rural areas.

In conclusion, expert discussions were held on the solution of social issues and challenges in the labor market in the post-pandemic period.

In the expert discussion “Public Councils: experience and prospects” opening the second day, the participants of the discussion noted the current directions of work of this most important civil institution.

In their opinion, the main activities of the public councils of the third convocation for the coming period until 2024 will be issues of their institutional development and strengthening of regional, republican infrastructure, involvement of civil society institutions and the population to local issues, interaction of public authorities with civil society.

The discussion platform “Zero tolerance in corruption issues” raised the issue of the effectiveness of anti-corruption expertise. The experts noted that taking into consideration the significant corruption risks in the formation of the budget at the regional and national levels, it is necessary to legislate public participation in the budget process as a mandatory public examination, the negative result of which will not allow public authorities to make decisions.

The topic of the dialogue between the authorities and the non-governmental sector was continued during the expert discussion "Open Government Partnership".

The speakers expressed the opinion that it is necessary to exclude the possibility of classifying information as "with limited access" without sufficient grounds”" And also to revise Article 456-1 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including liability for violation of deadlines for providing, posting incomplete information, etc.

During the facilitation session "Local self-government: participation of civil society”, it was proposed to devote one of the next meetings of the National Council of Public Trust to the problem of local self-government, including an analysis of the application with the participation of newly elected mayors of villages, as well as mayors of districts and oblasts. In addition, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan was recommended to consider the formation of a system for collecting and processing statistical information that allows monitoring the picture of the development of local self-government and the socio-economic situation in rural, district formations.

One of the key discussions on the second day of the Forum was the discussion "Public control is the main tool of the "The Hearing State". The public figures who participated in the discussion proposed to introduce an indicator reflecting the status of public control into the system of annual assessment of the effectiveness of the central public and local executive authorities of regions, cities of republican significance, and the capital. In addition, to develop a system of qualification training and selection of experts for public control and to form a pool of thematic experts with appropriate qualifications.

It was proposed to introduce systematic training of representatives of all public authorities on the basis of the developed comprehensive training program on work and interaction with NGOs on the basis of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the facilitation session "Dynamics of interaction of the non-governmental sector with government institutions". The speakers also suggested that during the 4 years of the interforum period, thematic discussions of the created ecosystems should be organized on the basis of the Civil Alliance/meetings in order to discuss and develop systemic measures for the development of the civil sector in various spheres of the economy and society.

The question of the need for extensive information and explanatory work on the mechanisms for allocating state support in the form of a state social order and a grant was raised during the discussion on the development of civic engagement in rural areas. For the effective implementation of social projects in rural areas, it was proposed to distribute state grants through local executive authorities or resource centers.

During the expert discussion “Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – an effective mechanism for solving social problems”, experts came to the conclusion that local executive authorities should strengthen the responsibility to support the EITI at the regional level to organize public discussions, monitoring SIP through Public Councils.

At the next discussion platform "NEET Youth", they talked about the need to strengthen work with NEET youth in terms of their socialization, involvement in socially significant projects. According to experts, it is necessary to identify an authorized public authorities  at the central level, improve the methodology for calculating and maintaining statistics on the registration of NEET youth, increase the effectiveness of information and educational work among this category of youth, and it is also necessary to give access to public organizations working with NEET youth to official statistics with a view to 100% coverage of this category of youth.

The final discussion of the second day of the x Civil Forum was the foresight session "New demands and challenges of the labor market in the post-pandemic period: how the education system should be rebuilt”" The participants voiced the following recommendations: conducting an oratorical art class among civil servants, minimizing the gap between rural and urban schools, providing 100% qualified teaching staff, adapting curricula to new conditions, and more.

Deputies of the Majilis of the Parliament Elnur BEYSENBAYEV, Aikyn KONUROV, Berik ABDYGALI, Aidos SARYM, Dyusenbai TURGANOV, Zhuldyz SULEIMENOVA, heads of major NGOs, scientific centers, members of  Public Councils, public figures Zauresh BATTALOVA, Dos KOSHIM, Evgeny ZHOVTIS, Andrey CHEBOTAREV, Oleg CHERNYSHEV, Marat KOGAMOV, Olga SHIYAN, Serik SEIDUMANOV, Rahim OSHAKBAYEV, Diana OKREMOVA, Togzhan KOZHALY, Alexander BRATENKOV, Svetlana USHAKOVA, Zhanar BUKANOVA, Altynai NURKEEVA, Mayra AISINA and others participated in the discussions at the X Civil Forum today and expressed their opinions and recommendations

All broadcasts take place on special pages of social networks of the MISD of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the links:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/BowcVoV-Hq0 (live broadcast recording)

Instagram: https://instagram.com/azamattyq_forum?utm_medium=copy_link