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SUBJECT Eurasia’s progress in Corruption Perception Index 2012-2017
DATE 2018-02-27
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By Nguyen Thi Thanh

 

 

The Corruption Perception Index 2017 which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople published their newest scores on 21 February 2018.

 

 

The index utilizes a scale of 0 to 100 in which 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. This year’s index concluded that more than two-thirds of the global community scored below 50 with an average score of 43.

 

 

But one of the promising findings of the report is that there is a trend of upward mobility in the corruption index over the time span of the last five years during which the index was published on an annual basis.

 

 

The 27 Member States of the MSEAP saw their average index score rise by more than 3 points from 2012 to 2017 though falling short of global average.

 

 

This, however, illustrates an improvement in Eurasia’s fight against corruption in the public sector and the public’s confidence in their efforts.

 

 

The below table lists the corruption index scores of the 27 MSEAP Member States over a five-year period from 2012 to 2017.     

 

 

Table: Corruption Perception Index 2012-2017 of 27 Eurasian countries (Photo: MSEAP Cyber Secretariat)

 

 

Overall, most Eurasian countries are fighting an uphill battle with countries like Afghanistan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Greece, Laos, Myanmar all experiencing index score increase by more than 5 points.

 

 

Among them, Myanmar’s score almost doubled from 15 to 30 in the last five years. The Czech Republic, Republic of Korea and Slovakia ranked highest with scores of 57, 54, and 50 respectively.

 

 

A more in-depth analysis of the findings shows that the role of activists and media was vital to mitigating public sector corruption. As such, Transparency International calls on the global community to take actions and expend more effort to curb corruption in individual countries.

 

 

The top five policy recommendations by Transparency International were as follows:

 

 

- Governments should encourage free speech, independent media, political dissent and an open and engaged civil society.

 

 

- Governments should reduce regulations on media, ensuring that journalists can work without fear of repression or violence.

 

 

- Civil society and governments should promote laws that focus on access to informationThis access helps enhance transparency and accountability while reducing opportunities for corruption.

 

 

- Activists and governments should take advantage of the momentum generated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to advocate and push for reforms at the national and global level.

 

 

- Governments and businesses should proactively disclose relevant public interest information in open data formats. Proactive disclosure of relevant data, including government budgets, company ownership, public procurement and political party finances allows journalists, civil society and affected communities to identify patterns of corrupt conduct more efficiently.

 

 

In short, governments should prioritize anti-corruption laws and institutions among others. Legal frameworks and access to information are also keys to building a healthy political system where citizens can demand accountability and help prevent corruption.

 

 

The writer is a Master's candidate at Seoul National University studying Public Management and Public Sector Reforms.