Artists Against Corruption will expose the link between corruption and poverty in an effort to show that “corruption is the greatest obstacle to overcoming poverty” (World Bank), and hopefully help to end the tolerance of it.
The links are not immediately obvious, and they are in fact many and varied. They depend on the type of corruption, also many and varied.
On a macro level it is safe to say that “Corruption not only reduces the net income of the poor but also wrecks programmes related to their basic needs, from sanitation to education to health care. It results in the misallocation of resources to the detriment of poverty reduction programmes.” (Transparency International) But the, effects are most dramatically obvious at a micro or personal level when a bribe randomly extorted by a police officer may mean a families cannot afford medicines or even basic food.
Corruption has an impact on the effectiveness of spending by a national government, and on the effectiveness of international development assistance. The money does not always reach the intended beneficiaries because of corruption. in 2006 Donor countries donated US$104bn in official development assistance. This is set to increase to US$130bn by 2010. If this money gets into the wrong hands the Millennium Development Goals will be put at risk, or as Transparency International put it, ”With increasing levels of aid there is concern that corrupt politicians and business people may use this money to enrich themselves rather than improving living conditions for the poor.” This will happen unless corruption is tackled as an integral part of poverty reduction strategies.
Corruption also has a serious impact on development driven by private businesses. In a society where a culture of corruption is dominant trust does not exist and business risks are higher resulting in less risk taking by enterprises. Foreign buisnesses are also less likely to invest. In a recent survey the Economist Intelligence Unit found that, “45% of respondents say they have not entered a specific market or pursued a particular opportunity because of corruption risks.”
It is safe to conclude that societies pay a massive price if they tollerate corruption, but the price paid by the poor is far greater. It is no exageration to say that for many poor people the cost of corruption is their lives. One example is when corrupt officials starve hospitals of resources leaving them unable to save lives, whilst spending public funds on projects that offer financial kickbacks.
Artists Against Corruption supports the general fight against corruption, but our focus is to raise awareness on behalf of those most affected by it.
Given the growing consensus that the problem must be addressed we are hoping for widesread support from institutions, governments, private companies and NGO´s in our effort to raise awareness and a desire to put an end to corruption.
