To: Date: Monday, February 23, 2009, 11:12 AM FYI. Follow the link and check out Cambodia.
========= Hello all, Global Integrity, a non-profit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends around the world has just released their 2008 report on the level of corruption in 57 countries. You may find it interesting and/or useful:http://report.globalintegrity.org/ Here is a short summary: Unregulated Money in Politics Is Greatest Corruption Threat Globally, Study Finds Iraq and Somalia Included For First Time in New Report Assessing Anti-Corruption Mechanisms and Government Accountability in 57 Countries (Washington D.C.) ? Regardless of income levels, the #1 corruption threat facing a majority of countries is the unregulated flow of money into the political process, a new report finds. The report, a major investigative study of 57 countries, was released today by Global Integrity, an award-winning international nonprofit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends globally. ?For the third straight year, poor transparency around the financing of political parties and candidates was the weakest element of most countries? anti-corruption frameworks,? said Global Integrity?s Managing Director, Nathaniel Heller. ?If we?re serious about rolling back corruption and abuse of power in both the developed and developing worlds, more effective safeguards to curb the influence of money in politics are desperately needed. The Rod Blagojevichs of the world are just the tip of the iceberg.? The Global Integrity Report: 2008 covers developed countries such as Canada, Japan and Italy as well as dozens of the world?s emerging markets and developing nations, from Argentina and China to the West Bank and Iraq. Rather than measure perceptions of corruption, the report assesses the accountability mechanisms and transparency measures in place (or not) to prevent corruption through more than 300 ?Integrity Indicators.? Gaps in those safeguards suggest where corruption is more likely to occur. Global Integrity?s new Grand Corruption Watch List, introduced as part of the 2008 report, includes Angola, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Iraq, Montenegro, Morocco, Nicaragua, Serbia, Somalia, the West Bank, and Yemen, all countries viewed at serious risk for high-level corruption. The Watch List identifies countries where the lack of effective conflicts of interest regulations, unregulated flows of money into the political process, and poor oversight over large state-owned enterprises combine to pose a systemic risk of large-scale theft of public resources. ?Watch List countries are unfortunately characterized by a toxic mix of corruption risk factors that should be cause for alarm,? said Heller. Other major findings of the report include the following: ? The most significant anti-corruption failure in much of the Arab world is poor access to government information. While the countries in the Middle East and North Africa assessed in the 2008 Report struggle to match global medians on many factors, their comprehensive lack of effective access to government information is virtually double those countries? deficit on any other issue assessed by Global Integrity. ? Several key countries experienced gains or backsliding since 2007. Important anti-corruption improvements were noted in Bangladesh and Nigeria; in China, a more positive assessment was linked to the introduction of a new regulation granting citizens access to government information. Noticeable decliners included Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ecuador; Georgia also slipped for the second straight year and continues to struggle consolidating democratic gains since the 2003 Rose Revolution. ? Corruption and transparency challenges appear to be worsening on the Horn of Africa, threatening to exacerbate tensions in an already-fragile security situation. Drops in performance in Kenya and Ethiopia, combined with Somalia?s ignominious honor of boasting the worst-ever overall Global Integrity country score, do not bode well for establishing the kinds of checks and balances in all three countries that could promote good governance and improve stability. ?The country assessments that comprise the Report offer among the most detailed, evidence-based evaluations of anti-corruption mechanisms available anywhere in the world,? said Global Integrity?s International Director, Marianne Camerer. ?They provide policymakers, investors, and citizens alike with the information to understand the governance challenges unique to each country and to take action.? The report is the product of months of on-the-ground reporting and data gathering by a team of more than 260 in-country journalists and researchers who prepared more than a million words of text and 20,000 data points for their respective countries. -- "There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." ~ Aldous Huxley --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
