by
Niall McCarthy
180 countries and territories were ranked on perceived public sector corruption on a scale of 0 to 100. The ones scoring 50 or lower have serious problems while countries closer to 100 are successfully preventing foul play in their public sectors. All in all, more than two-thirds of countries scored below 50 and the average global score was 43.
Some governments have had success in improving their score over the past six years with the Ivory Coast, Senegal and the UK all making steady progress. On the other hand, others have seen their scores slide over the same period with Syria, Yemen and Australia among the countries declining.
Hungary in particular saw its score plummet ten points over the past six years. It could tumble even further in the years ahead if draft legistlation is enacted that could restrict NGOs and revoke their charitable status.
This year, New Zealand was ranked the least corrupt nation worldwide with a score of 89. Denmark came second with 88 while Finland, Norway and Switzerland were tied for third, all scoring 85. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia were at the very bottom of the index with all three countries scoring lower than 15. The United States had a score of 75, placing it 16th overall, along with Austria and Belgium.
Transparency International's managing director Patricia Moreira said that "governments use tools including smear campaigns, harassment, lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape to silence those driving anti-corruption efforts". She called on "those governments that hide behind restrictive laws to roll them back immediately and allow for greater civic participation.”
*First published in forbes.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
