Case Studies

Anti-corruption index

by Mark Rowe

Despite attempts to combat corruption, the majority of countries are moving too slowly in their efforts, according to the anti-corruption pressure group Transparency International. In the last six years many countries have still made little to no progress, says TI according to its annual snapshot of the relative degree of corruption that ranks countries. TI says that its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) indicates that countries with the lowest protections for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption. To view the results, visit: www.transparency.org/cpi2017.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to those in the field and business people, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43. The UK comes joint eighth least corrupt, with Canada, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, each with a score of 82; behind Sweden, Norway and Finland, and Switzerland; but ahead of Germany.

Over the last six years, several countries significantly improved that score, including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and the UK; while several countries declined, including Syria, Yemen and Australia. This year, New Zealand and Denmark rank highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively. The best performing region is western Europe with an average score of 66. The worst performing regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34).

With the index, TI also examined the relationship between corruption, protection of journalistic freedoms and engagement of civil society. It found that almost all journalists killed since 2012 were killed in corrupt countries.

Patricia Moreira, managing director of Transparency International, said: “No activist or reporter should have to fear for their lives when speaking out against corruption. Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up.”

The analysis, which incorporates data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, shows that in the last six years, more than nine out of ten journalists were killed in countries that score 45 or less on the Corruption Perceptions Index. This means that, on average, every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is highly corrupt. One in five of those journalists that died were covering a story about corruption. In most cases, justice was never served.

Moreira said: “Smear campaigns, harassment, lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape are all tools used by certain governments in an effort to quiet those who drive anti-corruption efforts. We’re calling on those governments that hide behind restrictive laws to roll them back immediately and allow for greater civic participation.”

Visit www.transparency.org/research/cpi.

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