Corruption is a major obstacle to service delivery and thus to development goals. That is according to the pressure group Transparency International (TI) that is calling on the United Nations to adopt a governance goal and governance targets for its post 2015 development priorities. TI says that this will have a significant effect on reducing poverty and improving the lives of millions of poor people.
2015 and beyond: the governance solution for development, a new working paper published by Transparency International, shows a correlation between the rate of bribery and several key development indicators. In countries where more than 60 per cent of the population pay bribes to access public services more women die in childbirth, fewer people have access to clean water and literacy rates among young people are higher.
โIn setting out new global commitments that look beyond 2015, all governments must establish a stand-alone goal for open, accountable and participatory governance with measurable, intermediate and progressive targets,โ said Huguette Labelle, chair, Transparency International.
โThe evidence is real. A United Nations governance goal would deliver a clear development dividend. More pregnant women would survive childbirth, more children would learn to read and more people would have access to clean water.โ Visit http://www.transparency.org
