Special Report: Combatting corruption in democracies

As of 2021, many of the leaders on the list have gone to court for corruption charges, human rights abuses, and other legal issues arising from their abuse of power.An estimated USD 500 billion in public health spending is lost globally to corruption every year.

Nineteenth century historian Lord Acton said: "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." In the twenty-first century, corruption is more complicated. It takes place globally, is multifaceted and affects billions.

From health to education, sport to humanitarian aid, business to social justice, corruption leaves few sectors untouched. It pervades every continent from Europe to Africa, from Asia to Latin America. Corruption by multinationals levels up the corruption game, the global economy making it a borderless crime.

In 2018 the World Economic Forum put corruption's cost to the global economy at USD 3.6 trillion dollars every year. It means the world loses at least five percent of global gross domestic product, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Businesses and individuals pay more than USD 1 trillion in bribes annually, according to the World Bank.

Corruption also hinders the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. The UN has urged member states to establish national anti-corruption commissions and prosecutorial efforts. And to help combat it by supporting independent judiciaries, a vibrant civil society, freedom of media and effective whistleblower protections. But in some countries, anti-corruption commissions fail to perform, either because they are pushed by foreign donors that ignore the context of local public service or because the corruptors fight back to weaken the prosecutorial bodies. Researchers try to find other ways to understand and solve corruption.

COVID-19 makes the health sector prone to corruption, especially for low-income countries. It is a double threat to them. The urgency to deploy aid tends to ignore the transparency and accountability of how the funding was spent.

In 2003, the world came together to adopt a landmark agreement – the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Since then, 188 parties have committed to the Convention's anti-corruption obligations, and every year the UN marks International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9 to commemorate the ratification of the convention. This year's theme is Uniting the World Against Corruption.

Transparency International found the leaders of five countries shifted USD 28-50 billion of public funding to their own pockets between 1965 and 2000. As of 2021, many of the leaders on the list have gone to court for corruption charges, human rights abuses, and other legal issues arising from their abuse of power.

An estimated USD 500 billion in public health spending is lost globally to corruption every year. This is a lot more than would be required to achieve universal health coverage.

Surveys carried out by the UN body for education, UNESCO, estimate the salaries of absent or ghost teachers may account for 15-20 percent of payroll costs in some countries; in some cases this is equal to half of the funds allocated to improving school buildings, providing better class equipment and buying school textbooks.

Quantifying the overall losses to corruption in construction is nearly impossible. The very nature of the practice makes it difficult to uncover every instance of corruption and determine its full impact. Estimates range from 10 percent to 30 percent of project cost, and even up to 45 percent in developing economies. Without significant interventions, by 2030 up to USD 5 trillion could be lost annually to corruption in construction across the world.