Immediately End Corruption to End Poverty

Healthful Vitality | 07/27/2021 | By Governance Contributor | Immediately End Corruption to End Poverty

Corruption—deceptive, criminal, and self-serving misuse of power by people in positions of authority, and poverty—the state of having little to no access to sufficient resources for the provision of the bare necessities of life—are related. Yet, someone might wonder how these entirely dissimilar phenomena—“corruption” and “poverty”— are connected. So how to end corruption to end poverty? Well, the answer to that is governance. Governance is the connecting line between poverty and corruption because both underscore one of the fundamental obligations of any government: good governance.

A good government cannot be corrupt. However, to be good governance in any state or nation, those in power must dutifully perform their functions. These functions include enforcing economic policies that facilitate good living standards for the people. Having established the interconnectedness of these two things, it can say that the absence of one will lead to the lack of the other. Thus, the beginning of the end of poverty anywhere starts with the eradication of corruption.

Why Ending Corruption Will Eventually End Poverty

The 2013 Global Corruption Barometer surveyed 107 countries. A tally of over 114,000 participants discovered that one in four people had paid a bribe while attempting to access the most basic services in their country. Furthermore, this number is worse in the poorest countries, increasing to one in two people. [1] Several of these people even admitted that they have had to pay bribes to access some of these services that ought to be free!

The impact of corruption in a country is always disproportionate. With the poor constantly getting the short end of the stick and suffering the consequences of corruption the most. [2] Any situation rife with corruption always yields the results of the rich getting richer. And the poor being left vulnerable to bear the brunt of these corrupt activities.

This situation realizes a modern-day Robin Hood state of affairs whereby the poor are continuously robbed to pay the rich. Just like in the fictional tale, reality usually culminates in a revolt of the masses. However, to avoid a large-scale uprising, the global culture of corruption needs to end now to tackle poverty ultimately.

Corruption Impedes Development

Another indicator that ending corruption will finally solve the problem of worldwide poverty is the fact that the nonexistence of corruption will open up any state to a whole new world of opportunities for development. This situation will, in turn, facilitate means to elevate the people to better standards of living.

Corruption defrauds the government of revenue for state advancement projects. A good instance of this is the issuing of unofficial payments—or, in other words, bribes—to unscrupulous officials to assist in the evasion of taxes. Likewise, when a country is notorious for its corrupt leaders, genuine investors are deterred from coming to the country to invest. These occurrences infinitely deny the government of its revenue sources and ultimately hold it back from being able to perform its functions seamlessly towards the people. Where there is no funding, there can be no development.

Corruption Impedes Access to the Bare Necessities

Besides having to pay or issue bribes to access services, such as education, healthcare, clean water, better infrastructure, and sanitation—which should all be given for free by the people put in power by the masses—there are more ways corruption inhibits the people’s access to the basic things they have a right to have.

When free healthcare is indeed not free and, at times, too expensive to be accessible to the commoner, another fallout is the resulting introduction of counterfeit and harmful drugs or treatments into the healthcare system. Some people have no choice. But to opt for these dangerous products because they are cheaper. However, the long-term health consequences of these treatments are far worse than the financial costs.

Free education is a right of every child. But in many countries, it is not uncommon to find corrupt government officials siphoning off funds meant to build public schools and using these funds to establish “private institutions” with a higher quality education that are supposed to be open to all. Yet, this education will only remain accessible to a few with the money to pay for it, ultimately profiting these corrupt government officials. Indeed, learning poverty is unquestionably global and complex. Healthful Vitality states ending learning poverty requires participation from all stakeholders. [3]

Corruption Impedes Justice

Any country with corrupt leaders is 99.9% likely to have a corrupt justice system. This system, more often than not, works in favor of the wealthy and subjects the poor to continuous injustice time and time again. Corruption of justice is another social issue entirely on its own but still falls under the broad corruption troupe and similarly affects the people.

Corruption culture is a global phenomenon. The institutions of power in developing countries have continued for years to facilitate the outflow of money and other resources that should be invested in their own country’s development to wealthier countries. This situation is one of the most significant and unjust forms of corruption today.

How to End Corruption to End Poverty?

Global implementation of more effective policies to fight corruption is the takeoff point in the journey toward ending poverty. Unquestionably, we must implement measures to create more accountable governments with better and more open processes. Besides, professional accountability systems and the latest advanced technologies achieve robust oversight and monitoring of government actions and prevent, detect, and deter corrupt behavior. [4]

Out with the Old and Bad, and in with the New and Good

For actual change to realize fully, there must be a cleansing of corrupt individuals from positions of power. Then, a new, renegade generation of leaders with integrity must take the reins from these people. However, this new generation of leaders cannot just march in on their own and take over the decades. And, in some cases, centuries of political history and established government processes already in place. They require the support and the uplifting of their people to be able to be the change that patriots want to see. And this is something that can only be achieved when the people of nations come together to join heads and hands in a united front.

Professional Accountability Systems

Technology has evolved miles beyond cars and airplanes. Today, foolproof technology can effectually monitor government and increase accountability through increased accessibility between the key stakeholders in a state. These stakeholders include the government, its citizens, organizations, businesses, civil society groups, NGOs, the press, etc. Social media is a brilliant example of this currently.

Rewards and Sanctions

Reward and sanction systems are another set of effective weapons in the fight against corruption. Employing anti-corruption and integrity incentives or awards will help to promote a corruption-free government and bring about a poverty-free state.

In addition, the most influential attempts to combat any ills in society consist of using punishments and fighting corruption isn’t any different. Therefore, there must be adequate, spelled-out sanctions for corrupt actions or activities in the legal framework of any government or state for its anti-corruption efforts to indeed be fruitful.

Creating Awareness

A profound legal professor once said that when you find yourself in a situation where your fundamental human rights are being infringed upon, the best way to get restitution is to speak up and cry out if you need to. Corruption culture is an infringement of the rights of the masses, and silence will never be the solution. Anyone seeking change needs to speak up so that everyone is aware of the state of affairs and rallies to do something about it as a united front.

Political participation, voting, participating in the press, joining involved and influential NGOs, use of advanced technology, and raising awareness at both local and global levels are some strategic ways to establish adequate understanding.

Conclusion

A transparent and accountable government will always ensure that all its people are well-provided for their urges. Hence, it is up to the citizens to do all they can to win the global war against corruption. Finally, it must give any strategies implemented adequate and regular evaluation to ensure that they are well-suited and adaptable to that specific country’s political, economic, and social climates.

References

1. Ending Corruption to End Poverty, 25 September 2013; Available from https://www.transparency.org/en/news/ending-corruption-to-end-poverty#
2. Combating Corruption, 14 December 2020; Available from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance/brief/anti-corruption.
3. Ending Learning Poverty: All Stakeholders Are Invited, 22 May, 2021: Available from https://healthfulvitality.com/ending-learning-poverty-all-stakeholders-are-invited/.
4. Combating Corruption (supra).