86% countries slacking in global fight against corruption amid pandemic: Report

A new report has revealed that 86 per cent of the countries are slacking in the global fight against corruption amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The report, which is part of Transparency International’s annual corruption ranking, shows that nations are using the pandemic as an excuse to violate human rights.

Transparency International noted that Uruguay, with the highest score in Latin America, invests heavily in health care, which has helped its response to COVID-19, while low-ranked Bangladesh has seen corruption flourish during the pandemic.

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It also said that countries with more corruption had shown the worst record on the rule of law during the crisis, including the Philippines, where it said the response to COVID-19 had brought major attacks on human rights and media freedom.

“The Philippines has continued its fall beginning in 2014 to a score of 33, as President Rodrigo Duterte has cracked down on freedoms of association and expression since his election in 2016,” said Transparency International.

“It also has an exceptionally high murder rate of human rights defenders, with 20 killed in 2020.”

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The group said that 26 countries had significantly improved their scores since 2012, including Ecuador, Greece, Guyana, Myanmar and South Korea.

Delia Ferreira Rubio, who chairs the global civil society group, said the COVID-19 pandemic was also a corruption crisis.

“The past year has tested governments like no other in memory, and those with higher levels of corruption have been less able to meet the challenge,” she said in a statement.

The corruption perceptions index (CPI) was launched in 1995. It's data is collected from the  World Bank, the World Economic Forum and 13 other sources.

(With inputs from agencies)