Financial Transparency Coalition

Is it a coincidence that the UN’s International Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Days follow on consecutively. (Friday 9 and Sat 10 December)? Possibly not. After all, human rights abuse and corruption are linked. Not least by opaque corporate ownership structures that can prevent legal redress

It is appropriate that the United Nations officially recognizes Anti-Corruption (9 December) and Human Rights (10 December) on two consecutive days as the two issues are inextricably linked. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services…” Corruption undermines a society’s ability to attain these basic standards. When corrupt individuals and institutions steal aid money, or a Multinational Corporation exploits a country’s...

Socioeconomic rights, such as that “to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one’s family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care” (UDHR, Article 25), are currently, and by far, the most frequently unfulfilled human rights. Their widespread under fulfillment also plays a major role in explaining global deficits in civil and political human rights demanding democracy, due process, and the rule of law. Extremely poor people — often physically and mentally stunted due to malnutrition in infancy, illiterate due to lack of schooling, and much preoccupied with their family’s survival — can...