Corruption levels are at a worldwide standstill, and in some countries, it’s even getting worse. In a whopping 86 percent of countries, the fight against corruption has either worsened or made no progress.
Furthermore, many governments have used the Covid pandemic in order to erode human rights and democracy.
Transparency International’s annual corruption report found that the global average remained unchanged for corruption for the tenth year in a row. Despite making commitments to tackle corruption, 131 countries made no significant progress in the past decade.
The report said that it is no surprise and no coincidence that as anti-corruption efforts go stagnant, human rights and democracy are under attack. Analysis shows that it is mandatory to protect human rights in order to fight corruption.
Countries that have protected civil liberties tend to score higher in the Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks countries by their perceived level of public sector corruption. Countries are given a mark out of a possible score of 100; the higher the mark, the more ‘clean’ the country is and the less corruption there is.
The Covid pandemic has been used by countries to roll back basic freedoms and also completely sidestep necessary checks and balances.
Chief Executive Officer of Transparency International, Daniel Eriksson, said that social movements are the last remaining check on power, especially in authoritarian contexts where control is owned by only a few. Eriksson said that social movements represent collective power held by ordinary people, and this is what delivers accountability.
Corruption looks very different in different countries. But the report shows that every region in the world has a standstill when it comes to tackling corruption.
The report was first launched in 1995, and has become a leading tracker in the world of corruption.
Denmark ranked as the least corrupt country, with the other top five in order being Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Singapore. The worst country was South Sudan. In order of the most corrupt, the report ranked South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
The United States was ranked 27th, tied with Chile for the slot.
Many countries in Western Europe ranked higher than the U.S., including Germany ranking 10th, the United Kingdom ranking 11th, France ranking 22nd. Canada was ranked higher as well at 13, tied with multiple other countries, including Ireland and Iceland.
The United States received the same CPI score last year. It ranked at its highest point in 2015, and saw a steep drop between 2016 and 2020. 2021 had the same score as 2020.
Be the first to comment