Global anti-corruption efforts faltering – survey
BERLIN: Efforts to fight public sector corruption are faltering around the world, in part because of a “global decline in justice and the rule of law since 2016,” according to a corruption index released Tuesday.
Transparency International, which compiles the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, found 23 countries at their worst level since the global ranking began almost three decades ago, including both high-ranking democracies and authoritarian states.
“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check,” Transparency International Chairman François Valérian said in a statement.
The organization measures the perception of public sector corruption according to 13 data sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and private risk and consulting companies. It ranks 180 countries and territories on a scale from a “highly corrupt” 0 to a “very clean” 100.
Among the countries hitting their lowest level were relatively high-scoring democracies such as Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain. Authoritarian countries, including Iran, Russia and Venezuela, also dropped.
Denmark led the index with the highest score for the sixth consecutive year, with 90. It was followed by Finland with 87 and New Zealand with 85. The others in the top 10 were Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.The Philippines scored 34, one point higher than the previous year. It was in 115th place.
Somalia again had the weakest score with 11. It was followed by South Sudan, Syria and Venezuela with 13 each; Yemen with 16; and Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, North Korea and Nicaragua with 17 each. AP
The report found “little to no meaningful progress” toward curbing corruption in the Asia-Pacific region..
Ukraine, with a score of 36, continued an 11-year improvement despite Russia’s invasion by focusing on reforms of the judicial system, which are an element of its bid to join the EU.