Corruption impedes development and human rights, Ban says on International Day

(December 10, 2008) Corruption is partly to blame for the current global financial crisis and is also an obstacle to the achievement of development and human rights goals, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling for stepped up efforts to wipe out the scourge. Greed and corruption have to some degree propelled the economic turmoil, leading to a plummeting of confidence in the financial system and the loss of life savings of many people around the world, Mr. Ban said in a message marking International Anti-Corruption Day, held on the 9^th of December. “This is bad enough, yet another silent financial crisis afflicting the world’s poorest people attracts far less attention,” he said. Throughout the developing world, billions of dollars urgently needed for health care, education, clean water and infrastructure are drained through bribes and other offenses. “This makes it harder to provide basic services and achieve the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs],” the Secretary-General noted, referring to the eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline. “It denies people their fundamental human rights.” The UN is taking action against the scourge, he said, through the UN Convention against Corruption, which contains strong measures to boost integrity that are applicable to both the public and private sectors. Nearly 130 nations are Parties to the pact, which entered into force in December 2005.