18 November 2009
Corruption Continues to Hobble Social, Economic Progress
Despite international efforts, Afghanistan, Iraq ranked low
Washington — Corruption continues to hobble social and economic progress in most countries, according to the latest report by Transparency International, a nonpartisan, civil society organization that monitors corruption from some 90 offices around the world.
The majority of the 180 countries included in the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score below 5 on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption). CPI rankings measure perceptions of public-sector corruption based on surveys of experts and businesspersons based both in the country and abroad. The rankings focus on the abuse of public power for private benefit.
Countries destabilized by war and ongoing conflict tend to be at the bottom of the index, according to Transparency International. These include Somalia, Burma and Sudan. But ranked at the bottom of the list are also countries that have received a great deal of assistance from the United States and the international community — most notably Afghanistan and Iraq.
Afghanistan ranks as the second from the bottom with a score of 1.3. President Obama has urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who recently was re-elected, to initiate a “new chapter” in the legitimacy of the Afghan government. Obama explained in remarks to the press that Karzai must “take advantage of the international community’s interest in his country to initiate reforms internally.” In remarks on Afghanistan’s elections, Obama said the United States will continue to work with its Afghan partners to strengthen Afghan security, governance and opportunity.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is traveling to Afghanistan to attend Karzai’s November 19 inauguration ceremony and meet with Afghanistan’s leadership, international partners and allies. She has said that if Afghanistan expects to get more U.S. aid, it must rein in corruption. (See “Clinton: Karzai Must Do More to Fight Corruption to Get Aid.”)
As for Iraq, which has a score of 1.5, Transparency International said that country — like others with volatile political and security environments — faces the challenge of establishing solid and transparent public institutions that have the appropriate mechanisms for accountability. Without these essential elements, success in preventing corruption is very difficult, Transparency International said in its 2009 report.
Obama has said that it is time for Iraqis “to take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty. … They are going to have to focus on providing government services that encourage confidence among their citizens.”
According to Huguette Labelle, chairwoman of Transparency International, the international community “must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions.” Stemming corruption, she said, “requires strong oversight by parliaments; a well performing judiciary; independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies; vigorous law enforcement; transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows; as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society.”
Noteworthy examples of countries that have sunk in the CPI rankings from 2008 to 2009 are: Bahrain, Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Malta and Slovakia.
Transparency International found a number of countries have improved their efforts (and their scores) between 2008 and 2009. Among these are: Bangladesh, Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Syria and Tonga.
Countries that scored the highest on the 2009 CPI include New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland. The United States ranked 19th in the world, with a CPI score of 7.5. But Transparency International cautioned that industrialized countries cannot be complacent. “The supply of bribery and the facilitation of corruption often involve businesses based in their countries. Financial-secrecy jurisdictions, linked to many countries that top the CPI, severely undermine efforts to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets,” the 2009 report said.
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