From: emmanuel (emmanuel@bayou.com)
Date: Tue Sep 23 2008 - 22:04:47 EDT
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*Corruption creating humanitarian disaster: watchdog *
Reuters | September 23, 2008
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Corruption in poor countries has created a
humanitarian disaster which threatens to derail the global fight against
poverty, Transparency International said.
Releasing its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on Tuesday, the
anti-corruption watchdog said donor countries should address the problem
by carefully targeting aid.
The index ranks 180 countries according to perceived levels of public
sector corruption. The CPI scores countries on a zero to 10 scale, with
zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels.
For the second year running, Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq received the
poorest marks, with Somalia scoring 1.0 and Myanmar and Iraq scoring 1.3
each.
Denmark defended its ranking as the world's least corrupt nation,
alongside Sweden and New Zealand. All scored 9.3.
Transparency International (TI) chair Huguette Labelle called the high
levels of corruption in low-income countries a "humanitarian disaster".
"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law
enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society," Labelle
said in a statement.
"When these institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control
with horrendous consequences for ordinary people, and for justice and
equality in societies more broadly."
The Berlin-based watchdog estimated that unchecked levels of corruption
would add $50 billion -- or nearly half of annual global aid outlays --
to the cost of achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development
Goals on combating poverty.
It urged a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor
community to ensure assistance strengthens institutions of governance
and oversight in recipient countries.
TI also singled out the performance of some wealthy exporting countries
which saw their scores decline from 2007, saying continued evidence of
foreign bribery scandals suggested a broader failure by developed nations.
It said statistically significant declines were seen in 2008 in
Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway and the United Kingdom, which saw
its score dip to 7.7 from 8.4.
TI said the UK's anti-corruption credentials had suffered a setback
following the December 2006 decision to discontinue a criminal
investigation of British defence firm BAE Systems in relation to a
contract in Saudi Arabia.
Significant improvements were seen in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia,
Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.
--- For a table of the best and worst ranked countries click here. <http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2008/cpi2008/cpi_2008_table>*2008 CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX*
http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2008/cpi2008/cpi_2008_table
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