Why corruption must take centre stage at the Summit of the Future

In Mozambique in the early 2010s, there was optimism that the country’s newly discovered resources could finally help it to rise beyond the devastating poverty, health crises and educational stagnation that had so long plagued its citizens. But the country’s deep-seated corruption stymied progress. There were numerous incidents, but in the most egregious “hidden debts” scandal, three state-owned companies secured loans from international lenders worth US$2.2 billion. The shadowy dealings, equivalent to two-thirds of the country’s total 2018 budget allocations to education, health, infrastructure and rural development, were corrupt from start to finish. The debt was contracted without any scrutiny or controls from property authorities, hidden from public knowledge, resulting in an estimated US$200 million in bribes and kickbacks that ultimately caused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors to halt all economic support. As a result, the country fell into a fiscal crisis with soaring unemployment and an increase in the already high levels of poverty. Tragically, it has not recovered. Today, Mozambique ranks 183 in the world on the latest Human Development Index, remains in debt that it cannot pay and scores just 25 out of 100 on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

This is not an isolated occurrence; corruption diverts government’s purpose from its citizens, robs scarce resources, enhances inequality and can lead to violence—all of which threaten the world’s ability to collectively achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Corruption interferes with government effectiveness when decision-makers succumb to undue influence or bribes to favour special interests, instead of the public most in need. As in Mozambique, corruption also results in the loss of crucial resources, as government funds are misappropriated, and this skewed allocation means less services delivered less effectively. Illicit financial flows rob further government funds and hide them far from where the money was stolen and away from tax structures. Sexual corruption and discrimination both interfere with government’s responsibility to support vulnerable communities and tarnish public trust in institutions so people don’t access what is available, and won’t support what is needed to affect change.

The world has just six years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 target. In order to do so, countries must ensure the efficiency of government, full resourcing of efforts, equitable and just provision of services, trust in institutions, and peace and security—which means anti-corruption must be at the centre of these efforts. Yet too often, corruption is seen narrowly with a focus on just lost funding or individual cases rather than analysing with a holistic view. That’s why Transparency International, its Defence and Security Programme and 64 chapters from around the world signed on to a letter calling for the prioritisation of anti-corruption efforts at this week’s Summit of the Future.

The Summit of the Future is a high-level summit organised by the UN, held this year from September 22-23 in New York, that attempts to reinvigorate global action, with UN Secretary General António Guterres calling it a “once in a generation opportunity.” Previous summits have set the agenda for what the world wants to achieve together, but this Summit of the Future will emphasise the “how”—making anti-corruption efforts all the more essential.

One of the major outcomes of the Summit will be the “Pact for the Future” that gets into the detail of what countries will do over the next six years. Yet in the most recent draft, “corruption” is only mentioned once as a sub-action focused exclusively on financing. Of course, closing the financing gap is instrumental, and combatting corruption is crucial in this regard. However, inadequate financing levels are hardly the only way corruption imperils the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Most crucially, this one mention does not sufficiently convey the central importance of anti-corruption to ensure an equal, just, prosper and peaceful future.

We call on UN member states to meaningfully consider the role of corruption and the impact that failing to address it will have on all the other priority issues. They should make such considerations in the preamble of the pact, as well as giving corruption more attention in additional relevant actions such as climate policy and peace and security, and introducing a separate action focused specifically on combating corruption and illicit financial flows. UN Member States must also more broadly recommit to international anti-corruption obligations, and promote transparency and accountability within government and to the public.

Even in a time of global upheaval, as the climate crisis intensifies and the world faces multiple wars, it is not too late for leaders to make a plan that will get us to the Sustainable Development Goals. But success requires putting anti-corruption at the centre.