CoI and central statistical office held an extended seminar in Al-Khuld hall today, in which they launched their joint report named (corruption and integrity challenges in the public sector of Iraq).

Head of anti corruption joint council Ali Al-Alaq commended the report prepared in cooperation with UNDP, UNODC and Kurdistan region statistical office. He said that the report reflects the perspectives of 31 thousands officials in all governorates of Iraq including Kurdistan region.

He stressed the importance of the report as a result of the important conclusions that help state and institutions and other parties supporting the fight against the scourge of corruption and addressing the phenomenon of bribery in the institutions of the state. He called for supplementing this effort with subsequent steps deal with the problem of corruption and bribery through other related or affected levels.

CoI commissioner Judge aala Jawad Hameed described the report as a distinct and positive effort to create a vast database on the phenomenon of corruption and said that its main sources were the annual reports of CoI, survey of Iraq knowledge network, survey of civil servants integrity and the statistics and data on the Kurdistan region and all of them were characterized by wide samples, coverage of all the country and adopting scientific context in statistics and analysis.

But the commissioner has focused on the fact that reading this study in isolation from the primitives or graders from which they were launched make the study far from the expected objective. He pointed out that the focus of study on the phenomenon of bribery that directly touches the citizen does not mean it is the most serious of crimes of corruption and we hope that other negative phenomena are given the proper attention that equals their seriousness in study and analysis.

In the other hand CoI commissioner noted that the study depended on a period of time of Iraqis life characterized by severe turbulence and very exaggerated violence where it threatened society and State, along with the reality of the poor performance of state enterprises, which produced a tough work environment and the emergence of clear indicators of corruption and he said that those overshadowed the results of the studies on which the study depended.

He clarified that reaching reliable scientific results requires marking the time period covered by the study to be an assessment of the previous phase before 2012 and the study requires similar study to evaluate the work environment and the integrity of public service in Iraq for the directly ensuing period for the purpose of providing the conditions and requirements of the comparison and marking remedies achieved.

And the judge concluded that these observations don`t break the importance of study as the broader work that embodied significant cooperation among many national and international institutions, and opens the way for building more meaningful work relationships.

Acting minister of planning Dr. Mahdi Al-Alaq viewed details of chapters and the contents of the study which he considered as a serious attempt to highlight and expose the corruption in Iraq.

He explained that the study involves new evidences not to achieve a deeper understanding of the reality of corruption in Iraq and determine the forms but also to ensure that the analysis of the obstacles to attempts of State to address, control and conduct a realistic assessment of the corners of the weaknesses of the integrity system in government offices.

And the study presents, in its main chapters (bribery and corruption and integrity), causes of bribery prevalence and its nature and methods of the staff in the extortion of clients and social categories most vulnerable to such practice and such disease.

On the other hand, the study addressed the role of citizens in the fight against corruption through reporting corrupt practices and the role of awareness and education in this respect and psychological reflection of oversight institutions on staff attempt to seek bribery and reaction created by investigative reports and revealing corrupts and cases disclosure, and referrals to justice and persons convicted with corruption.

The study views the reality of integrity at the personal and institutional level, the role and the nature of the recruitment of persons and their experience levels and laws guaranteeing their rights in spreading out culture of integrity with transparency measures and procedures to control corrupt practices , expanding training opportunities and appropriate working environment and ensure appropriate wages levels.

The study includes annexes on officials in Iraq and data related to staff of ministries prepared in light of statements prepared by state institutions.