05 December 2011
Half the Arab countries find themselves in the bottom half of Transparency International's Corruption Index, highlighting the sorry state of reforms and anti-corruption enforcement in the region.
Most of the countries that were affected by the Arab Spring also faired poorly in the Corruption Index. Libya was the 168th most corrupt country out of 182 nations, although the most corrupt country in the region was Iraq, which came in 175th globally.
Other poor performers were Yemen (164th globally), Lebanon (134 th), Syria (129 th) and Iran (120th). Egypt and Algeria, tied for 112th position globally, rounded up the bottom half of the Arab League nations. They find themselves in the company of African states, CIS states and a smattering of Latin American and Asian nations.
"This year we have seen corruption on protestors' banners be they rich or poor. Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government," said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries according to their perceived levels of public-sector corruption. The 2011 index draws on different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions. The surveys and assessments used to compile the index include questions relating to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public-sector anti-corruption efforts.
Most Arab Spring countries rank in the lower half of the index, scoring below 4. Before the Arab Spring, a Transparency International report on the region warned that nepotism, bribery and patronage were so deeply engrained in daily life that even existing anti-corruption laws had little impact.
Even so, there is no clear link between corruption and countries affected by the Arab Spring. Tunisia, which finds itself at a relatively very respectable global rank of 73, was the epicentre of the Arab Spring, but many regional nations worse off than Tunisia, such as Algeria and Iraq did not see any meaningful demand for change.
Meanwhile, Bahrain which is the third least corrupt nation in the region, saw massive unrest and could have seen greater unrest had it not been for the intervention of its powerful Gulf allies.
"Interestingly, we note that Iraq, which has enjoyed relative stability, scores extremely badly (1.8), which reflects the high level of corruption in the public sector and people's low level of faith in many of the country's institutions, which are poorly run," says Arwa Hassan, Senior Programme Coordinator in Transparency International's Middle East and North Africa department.
QATAR LEADS
At the other end of the corruption spectrum, Qatar leads the region as the 22nd least corrupt nation on earth, with the UAE placed second in the region, and 28th globally as the two shining lights for the region.
"The Gulf States tend to be better at distributing the country's wealth amongst the populace, but pockets of extreme poverty and human rights abuse still persist (as in Bahrain, for example), and criticism of the ruling powers is rarely tolerated," says Hassan.
Still, Bahrain (46th), Kuwait (54th) and Saudi Arabia (57th), all put up a respectable performance, although there is massive room for improvement and no reason for complacency.
The index, which scores 183 countries and territories from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean) based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. It uses data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest.
Globally 66% of ranked countries scored less than 5, but in the Arab World that figure stood at 83%.
GLOBAL TRENDS
New Zealand emerged as the world's least corrupt nation, followed by Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden - in that order. Singapore is the sole non-OECD nation at number five, with Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and Canada completing the top 10.
Interestingly, the United States was the 24th least corrupt nation on earth - behind regional stalwart Qatar.
While corruption can have a crippling impact on economies, it is possible for nations to succeed without strong government and business accountability.
The BRIC nations fared poorly on the corruption index, but have been the key drivers of global growth over the past few years. Brazil emerged as the least corrupt BRIC nation at 73, followed by China (75 th), followed by India (95th), Russia (143rd). © alifarabia.com 2011
Half the Arab countries find themselves in the bottom half of Transparency International's Corruption Index, highlighting the sorry state of reforms and anti-corruption enforcement in the region.
Most of the countries that were affected by the Arab Spring also faired poorly in the Corruption Index. Libya was the 168th most corrupt country out of 182 nations, although the most corrupt country in the region was Iraq, which came in 175th globally.
Other poor performers were Yemen (164th globally), Lebanon (134 th), Syria (129 th) and Iran (120th). Egypt and Algeria, tied for 112th position globally, rounded up the bottom half of the Arab League nations. They find themselves in the company of African states, CIS states and a smattering of Latin American and Asian nations.
"This year we have seen corruption on protestors' banners be they rich or poor. Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government," said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries according to their perceived levels of public-sector corruption. The 2011 index draws on different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions. The surveys and assessments used to compile the index include questions relating to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public-sector anti-corruption efforts.
Most Arab Spring countries rank in the lower half of the index, scoring below 4. Before the Arab Spring, a Transparency International report on the region warned that nepotism, bribery and patronage were so deeply engrained in daily life that even existing anti-corruption laws had little impact.
Even so, there is no clear link between corruption and countries affected by the Arab Spring. Tunisia, which finds itself at a relatively very respectable global rank of 73, was the epicentre of the Arab Spring, but many regional nations worse off than Tunisia, such as Algeria and Iraq did not see any meaningful demand for change.
Meanwhile, Bahrain which is the third least corrupt nation in the region, saw massive unrest and could have seen greater unrest had it not been for the intervention of its powerful Gulf allies.
"Interestingly, we note that Iraq, which has enjoyed relative stability, scores extremely badly (1.8), which reflects the high level of corruption in the public sector and people's low level of faith in many of the country's institutions, which are poorly run," says Arwa Hassan, Senior Programme Coordinator in Transparency International's Middle East and North Africa department.
QATAR LEADS
At the other end of the corruption spectrum, Qatar leads the region as the 22nd least corrupt nation on earth, with the UAE placed second in the region, and 28th globally as the two shining lights for the region.
"The Gulf States tend to be better at distributing the country's wealth amongst the populace, but pockets of extreme poverty and human rights abuse still persist (as in Bahrain, for example), and criticism of the ruling powers is rarely tolerated," says Hassan.
Still, Bahrain (46th), Kuwait (54th) and Saudi Arabia (57th), all put up a respectable performance, although there is massive room for improvement and no reason for complacency.
The index, which scores 183 countries and territories from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean) based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. It uses data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest.
Globally 66% of ranked countries scored less than 5, but in the Arab World that figure stood at 83%.
GLOBAL TRENDS
New Zealand emerged as the world's least corrupt nation, followed by Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden - in that order. Singapore is the sole non-OECD nation at number five, with Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and Canada completing the top 10.
Interestingly, the United States was the 24th least corrupt nation on earth - behind regional stalwart Qatar.
While corruption can have a crippling impact on economies, it is possible for nations to succeed without strong government and business accountability.
The BRIC nations fared poorly on the corruption index, but have been the key drivers of global growth over the past few years. Brazil emerged as the least corrupt BRIC nation at 73, followed by China (75 th), followed by India (95th), Russia (143rd). © alifarabia.com 2011
