Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Transparency International (TI), a Berlin-based non-governmental organization, has released its 2009 Corruptions Perception Index (CPI), which measures domestic public sector corruption and ranks states according to their score. TI noted in its release of this year's Index, in connection with the global financial crisis, that "at a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle." The 2009 Index includes 180 countries, of which New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland composed the 5 least-corrupt countries.
Turkey's ranking fell to 61, from 2008's place at number 58. It scored above Egypt (111), Syria (126) and Lebanon (130), but fell behind other Middle Eastern countries like Qatar (22), United Arab Emirates (30), Israel (32) and Jordan (49).Middle Eastern powers Saudi Arabia and Iran were placed at numbers 63and 168respectively. Iran dropped 27 spots between 2008 and 2009 from 141st place to 168th.
Somalia received the lowest ranking of all 180 countries, and was closely followed by Afghanistan, which fell three places from last year, and Myanmar.
"The results demonstrate that countries which are perceived as the most corrupt are also those plagued by long-standing conflicts, which have torn their governance infrastructure," Transparency International said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index report.
Although Transparency International acknowledges that its ranking method may not lend itself well to year-to-year comparisons, it has nevertheless decided to highlight a few noteworthy examples of deteriorations and improvements. Countries that have deteriorated are Bahrain, Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Malta and Slovakia and countries that have improved are Bangladesh, Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Syria and Tonga. For a country to improve on the Index, citizens need to believe that "they have a government that works for them", according to Robin Hodess, Transparency's director of policy and research. He continued that governments have to show "that there is the political will to respond to the needs of the people."
Ebru Ozkan (JTW)
