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13th December, 2010
DAVID ADAMS
Six out of 10 people around the world believe corruption has increased, according to the findings of the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer.
The report, released by Transparency International earlier this month, also found that one in four people said they had paid a bribe in the past year. Police are said to be the most frequent recipient of bribes with 29 per cent of people who said they’d had contact with police reporting paying a bribe.
More than 91,000 people living in 86 different countries and territories were surveyed for the report.
“Institutions everywhere must be resolute in their efforts to restore good governance and trust,” she said. “It is heartening that so many people are ready to take a stand against corruption. This willingness must be mobilised.”
- Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International.
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Views on corruption were found to be most negative in Europe and North America where 73 per cent and 67 per cent of people think corruption has increased over the past three years while figure drops to 47 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region and 45 per cent in newly independent states (this includes Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Armenia and Georgia).
Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International, says that this view was partly shaped by the fall-out from the financial crisis.
“Institutions everywhere must be resolute in their efforts to restore good governance and trust,” she said. “It is heartening that so many people are ready to take a stand against corruption. This willingness must be mobilised.”
When paying bribes, sub-Saharan Africans fared worst with more than one in two reporting paying a bribe in the past 12 months. The figure dropped to 36 per cent in the Middle East and North Africa, 32 per cent in newly independent states, 23 per cent in South America and 19 per cent in the Western Balkans and Turkey. In the Asia-Pacific, the figure was 11 per cent while in the European Union and North America, it was just five per cent.
More than 20 countries reported an increase in bribery rates since 2006 with the largest number of bribery payments made in countries including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cameroon, India, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
Almost half of those surveyed say they paid bribes to avoid problems with authorities and a quarter say it was to speed up a process. Bribes to police, meanwhile, have doubled since 2006. More people also report paying bribes to the judiciary and for registry and permit services than five years ago.
As in the past, lower income earners report paying more bribes than higher income earners – poorer people are twice as likely to pay bribes for basic services such as utilities, medical services and education.
When it comes to politics, eight out of 10 people says political parties are corrupt or extremely corrupt. Half of those surveyed say their government’s actions aimed at stemming corruption are ineffective.
While seven out of 10 people say they would report a corrupt act if they saw one, the willingness to do drops to about five out of 10 people if the person is themselves a victim of corruption.
Ms Labelle says the report shows that corruption is insidious. She says better whistleblower protection and greater access to information are critical.
“Public engagement in the fight against corruption will force those in authority to act and will give people further courage to speak out and stand up for a cleaner, more transparent world.”
~ www.transparency.org |
