December 9 was designated as International Anti-Corruption Day by the United Nation’s General Assembly on October 31, 2003. This was done in order to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in combating and preventing it. Since then, the international community has celebrated this day every year in an effort to fulfill the UN’s goal of bring attention to the means of addressing corruption.
This year in particular, in the months leading up to this day, we have seen a number of initiatives focusing on this issue. Transparency International recently published its annual corruption perceptions index (CPI), and state parties and NGOs convened in Doha to discuss a review mechanism for the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
Every year, the release of the CPI prompts responses from states unhappy with their rankings including moral actions by state leaders trying to demonstrate they are not in fact corrupt. President Museveni of Uganda, for example, has received attention for flying economy class this month in an effort to discourage big spending by Ugandan civil servants. Meanwhile, the Ugandan Parliament is investigating the disappearance of more than $60 million and excessive state spending on luxury items, such as a second private jet for the president, which is common despite Uganda’s impoverished schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.
In essence, corruption, whether political or of a different nature, is simply waste. Political corruption in particular includes vote-buying, the abuse of state resources, personal enrichment, and contributions for favors, among many others. It can have massive ramifications. In some countries, for example, corruption is cited as one of the greatest obstacles to building strong institutions that provide even such basic services as access to clean drinking water. In order to fight this cancer, we must constantly consider sustainable methods of lessening the grip of corruption on the political process in the work that we do. This involves increasing efforts, already in place in some cases, to enhance transparency, accountability, and increase public awareness of rights.
Anti-corruption work can at times be dangerous. In the early hours of April 9, 2009, IFES partner and an anti-corruption activist, Ernest Manirumva, Vice President of OLUCOME (Observatoire de Lutte Contre la Corruption et les Malversations Economiques), was brutally assassinated. There continue to be many other examples of intimidation and violence against anti-corruption activists around the world.
Recently, IFES has wrapped up two innovative anti-corruption projects, one in Burundi and another in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project in Burundi resulted in a practical handbook that provides practical information on how to deter corruption through state and non-state actors.