On July 1-4, 2023, a delegation from the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (APK) of Kosovo, led by Director Yll Buleshkaj, made a study visit to the Republic of Korea, where they held meetings at the UNDP Policy Center in Seoul and the Republic of Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC). This visit was carried out within the framework of support for APK from the UNDP Project “Support for Anti-corruption Efforts in Kosovo”. This visit was aimed at presenting and improving the new corruption reporting platform ‘For Kosovo Without Corruption’, inspired by Korea’s ” Clean Portal” system .
In cooperation with the Republic of Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) and the UNDP Seoul Policy Center (USPC), APK is engaged in the implementation of the project to create an effective corruption reporting mechanism in Kosovo, following the model of Korea’s digital system for reporting corruption and public interest violations, known as ” Clean Portal”.
During the visit to Korea, the delegation from Kosovo, in three separate meetings, presented the new corruption reporting platform, discussing the results of the project, challenges encountered and ways for further improvements. The program also included meetings with various experts and presentation and discussion sessions.
The visit started with a welcome session at USPC, presentation of opportunities, as well as a session on next steps by APK, SAEK and USPC. The Kosovar delegation, in addition to USPC experts, was also received by Dr. Anne Juepner , Director of the UNDP Policy Center in Seoul, Youngchan Kim , Policy Specialist, and Gichung Lee , Policy Analyst.
Next, a session was held at the and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea (ACRC), in order to update the developments on the ” Clean Portal” system by the hosts, as well as a presentation by the Kosovar delegation on the current status, achievements and challenges in creating a similar platform in Kosovo. Clean Portal presentations were hosted by Cha – cheol Jang , Director of Inspection Planning, Yeong – hee Song , Director of International Relations, Won – tae Hong, Deputy Director of Inspection Planning and Ga – yeon Lee , Assistant Director for International Relations. On the other hand, Director Buleshkaj presented the process starting from the initial idea, cooperation with UNDP, development of terms of reference, criteria and technical requirements, up to the development and installation and commissioning of the platform. After the presentations, discussions were devoted to the finalization of the platform, how to proceed with the cases accepted outside the platform, technical technological aspects as well as informing the public about this system. Whereas, the expected result of this study visit is an improved platform for reporting corruption, which is based on the feedback received from ACRC.
Director Buleshkaj, invited the representatives of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea (ACRC) and of the USPC to visit Kosovo and become closely acquainted with its progress in preventing and fighting corruption.
This study visit is an important step forward in Kosovo’s efforts to improve transparency and integrity in governance, using international best practices in the fight against corruption.
ACRC press release link HERE https://shorturl.at/aEQEs
