Last week I wrote about the global phenomenon of corruption and how countries are taking the lead in finding ways to monitor and combat it. The thing about corruption is that most people engage in it without actually considering its devastating effects and that is why I believe that defining it as a term helps explain its unrecognized gravity.
Generally speaking, dictionaries define corruption as “the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public duties”. In essence, corruption is the misuse of public power for private gain and at the core of this basic definition is the root of all evil: Bribery. Bribery undermines good governance, harms economic efficiency, stunts development and distorts trade.
In a global anti-corruption movement the international community has engaged in initiating several charters against this malignant social disease. For one, the declaration of Dec. 9 as an international day for celebrating anti-corruption efforts was announced recently. Another initiative is the historic creation of “The United Nations (UN) Convention against Corruption” to which over 30 countries signed in as its members.
In addition a practical guide is posted on the UN website for member states — or for whoever is interested in doing so — to use as a road map for their journey toward becoming corrupt-free nations.
The Global Program against Corruption is a handy manual and a practical step-by-step resource that outlines how anti-corruption programs can be established and implemented.
Other attempts at promoting anti-corruption treaties are also being adopted by the OECD in the “Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions”, as well as by the Council of Europe in the “Criminal Law Convention on Corruption”. In essence, what these charters aim to do is to ensure that their signatories establish two types of anti-corruption institutions: One to prevent corruption, and the other to combat it through law enforcement processes.
This is all well said and done. But international treaties, legislations, mechanisms and road maps alone cannot combat or reform dishonest attitudes and mindsets. The bottom line on corruption is that it has been, is and always will be mankind’s enemy No. 1.
Corruption and acts of temptation are not new. It is as old as human history. We are paying a heavy price for this historic legacy.
If we are ever to overcome the culture of corruption and bribery we need to come to terms with this vain inherent aspect of human nature. Only by doing so can we be in the position of understanding this phenomenon’s breadth and scope. Corruption is a moral disease that colors the character of a nation, and depletes it from all forms of integrity, honesty, compassion and virtue. Unfortunately this is where most countries of the world stand today.
The only way out from this predicament is to focus on the future while keeping a steady eye on the present. Our first priority should be to establish the two monitoring and anti-corruption agencies that the European Council and the OECD countries are promoting: One for preventing acts of corruption, and the other for combating these acts through law enforcement processes.
Another way out is to rebuild the integrity and character of our nation; and that is by reforming our educational system by introducing the subjects of civic duty, national integrity, ethics, manners, protocol, courtesy and decency. These subjects need to be made a priority and should be at the core of all oncoming educational reform measures. They must also be integrated into the system as early as the kindergarten years — and all the way to the final years of high school.
There is still hope for us to rehabilitate our spirit. Many countries have done so. As I mentioned last week in my column, Transparency International has a system for ranking countries according to a scale from being least corrupt to most corrupt. Within that scale, several countries have reached the mark of no corruption whatsoever. This means that there must be something right being done. All we need to do is to find out what.
I believe that we are already engaged in the solution process. The fact that we talk about it publicly is the first step toward recovery. Now all we have to do is act. Try to remember that the next time you want to thank someone for doing his or her public duty in a timely manner, avoid giving a gift in return, no matter how small, because at the root of this courteous behavior is the seed that will blossom into a bribe which will in turn develop into blackmail. Not only will you be setting a precedent for embedding the culture of compensation for duty delivered, but you will also encourage people to do their jobs only when — and if — a gift is provided in return. This is how bureaucracy and red tape is created.
And always keep in mind that the biggest harm coming from this act falls on none other than the most vulnerable segment of our society — the poor and the underprivileged, the ones who are rarely in a position to bribe anyone. And that on its own leads to chronic socioeconomic devastation and decay. Learn to say, “No”.
— Fatin Bundagji is an institutional development consultant. She is based in Jeddah.
