It’s Anti-Corruption Day, and here’s why that’s important
December 9th, 2014
Today is International Anti-Corruption Day, which should serve as a day to remind the world why it’s important to speak out against corruption.
Corruption can take many forms. Whether it’s a politician funneling state funds into bank accounts in offshore tax havens, or a multinational corporation skirting their tax responsibilities in a developing country, one thing is clear: corruption stifles development and hinders society. Often, these corrupt acts are facilitated by a lack of transparency in our financial system. From being unable to identify the real owner behind a company to not having access to country by country financial information of corporations, financial secrecy is at the heart of corruption. A World Bank report found that anonymous shell companies were used in 70% of grand corruption cases of the past 30 years.
Feel free to join in the global chorus on Twitter and Facebook by following the hashtags #breakthechain and #anticorruptionday.
Here are just a few highlights from Twitter:
“Corruption is a global phenomenon that strikes hardest at the poor” – Tuesday is Anti-Corruption Day http://t.co/XCPdlCBF91 #breakthechain
— United Nations (@UN) December 9, 2014
Strong access to information laws are part of the framework to prevent corruption. #Endcorruption Now! #Anticorruptionday @uncaccoalition
— Access Info Europe (@Access_Info) December 9, 2014
Corruption negatively impacts #development#stability & #peace. http://t.co/GJ2wCO3FUh#breakthechain
— Jessica Berns (@jessicabberns) December 9, 2014
There are many ways to make your voice heard, and one way is through music. This year, Corruption Watch teamed up with South African recording artist Fiesta Black to create a song dedicated to exposing those who abuse their positions of power.
You can listen here:
Singing out against corruption has been going on for years, so I’ll leave you with a song from Lapiro de Mbanga, the late Cameroonian musician who was put in prison for singing songs against President Paul Biya and the corruption that finds Cameroon ranked as the 136th out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index.