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Sectors and Themes Water Dams and Development E-paper
Reducing corruptionCorruption is increasingly acknowledged as undermining the development process. On the adoption of the UN Convention against Corruption on 31 October 2003, the UN Secretary General stated: 'Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately-by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government's ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign investment and aid". Text of the UN Convention can be downloaded from the UNODC website. The OECD's Anti-Corruption Convention entered into force in 1999 and as of March 2004 had 35 parties. The Convention 'makes it a crime to offer, promise or give a bribe to a foreign public official in order to obtain or retain international business deals'. The ADB-OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific , launched in December of 2000, is 'the region's forum for policy dialogue and cooperation in the fight against corruption. The Initiative's Action Plan contains legally non-binding principles and standards for strengthening national and regional anti-corruption efforts and unites 23 countries committed to cooperate in their endeavor to reduce the flow of bribery and enhance transparency in public service'. The World Bank identifies the following consequences of corruption: 'The consequences of corruption for economic and social development are detrimental. Corruption deters investment and hinders growth. It spurs inequality and erodes macroeconomic and fiscal stability. It reduces the impact of development assistance and provides an incentive to exploit natural resources, further depleting our environmental assets'. It supports a five pronged strategy for combating corruption based on:
A number of publications on corruption are available through the World Bank website. Transparency International is an international NGO established in 1993 with a worldwide network of national chapters. Its mission is 'to work to create change towards a world free of corruption' Two specific outputs developed by TI are: Different aspects of corruption such as corruption in public contracting and in the public-private interface are examined on the Transparency International website together with example case studies and approaches to combat corruption. A much publicized recent example of tackling corruption on a major dam project is the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in which one of the consulting companies has been fined by the Government for influencing procurement decisions and has been sanctioned by the World Bank. Other cases are ongoing.
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