Transparency International issues global report
Most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption with 95% of countries having made little to no progress since 2017, a closely watched study by an anti-graft organization found Tuesday. Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which scores 180 countries and territories by their perception of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, also found that governments hampered by corruption lack the capacity to protect the people, while public discontent is more likely to turn into violence.
Kuwait fell on the Corruption Perceptions Index for the year 2022 by one degree (from 43 to 42 percent) compared to the 2021 index, which resulted in Kuwait’s ranking dropping 4 places, as it fell from 73 to 77 globally. The Kuwaiti Transparency Society announced the annual report prepared by Transparency International, where Kuwait ranked seventh in the Arab world after the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan and Bahrain, which is the same as its Arab ranking in the previous report. Many of the countries comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a political and economic union including the UAE (67), Qatar (58), Saudi Arabia (51), Bahrain (44) and Oman (44) are also declining on this year’s CPI.
After the Arab Spring, the Gulf states have turned to hyper-nationalism and further repressions of civic space. Without channels for civic participation and easy access to information, the public is left out of decision making and without avenues to drive social change. “Corruption has made our world a more dangerous place. As governments have collectively failed to make progress against it, they fuel the current rise in violence and conflict – and endanger people everywhere,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, the chairperson of Transparency International.
Source- Arab Times.
